How Well Do You Know Your Pastor?
I was sitting here reading the blog of a pastor from a local church. I started thinking about how I agree with this pastor’s beliefs on the Bible and his theological leanings. I then started wondering if his congregation agreed with him. This led me to a question.
I wonder if they know if they agree with him or not?
Sadly, my best guess is the majority of his congregation doesn’t know if they agree with him or not. Not because he’s a good or bad preacher. It’s because they haven’t searched the Scriptures themselves to know what they believe. I feel like this is the biggest problem with emergent churches and churches where false gospels are taught. The members of the churches aren’t discerning enough to line up the pastor’s teaching with Scripture.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Being a Christian is like being a politician. We have to know what we believe on EVERY issue and be able to contend for our faith. Would you vote for a Presidential candidate without first knowing their stance on certain issues? Would you walk into the ballot booth with a blindfold on and start pushing buttons? I would hope not!
Why then, are churches alright with sitting under a pastor’s preaching and not knowing if they agree with him or not? I truly feel that if members of Joel Osteen’s church cracked the Bible open for themselves and started seeing its truths, they’d begin to see the problems with his message. Too many Christians are alright with accepting what the pastor says as truth, without searching it out for themselves.
My advice? First, read your Bible - more than on Sunday morning or Wednesday night. Second, start asking yourself questions and searching for the answers in Scripture (What do I think about homosexuality? Is drinking a sin? What does the Bible say about tithing?). Third, ask your pastor what he (emphasis on “he” - if it’s a “she,” you might want to look into what Scripture says about that!) thinks about these issues. Do you agree with him? Does he back his answers up with specific references to Scripture? If you disagree, talk about your differences. Are they Biblically based, or based on opinion or feelings? It should be pointed out that you don’t have to have 100% agreement on every issue. But, there are certain truths that must be agreed upon for unity in the church.
The answers to some of these questions might determine if you stay at that church or start looking for a new church. Or, maybe the pastor is in the wrong and it’s time to round up enough church support to send him packing (based on Biblical principles, of course). This is a very important issue to me. I’m thankful that I’m part of a church that I know my pastor well and know he preaches Biblical truth.
“Why then, are churches alright with sitting under a pastor’s preaching and not knowing if they agree with him or not?”
I hate to sound like Mr. Critical but I think the answer to your questions lies in the preachers philosophy of preaching. Each pastor has a reasoning behing why the choose to preach on the things that they do. And the majority of pastors that I have known personally preach about percieved needs or felt needs rather than preaching the bible. Sermons tend to be topical in nature with very little mention of the passage’s true context and meaning. As a youth pastor I know the reasoning behind doing this. It is very tempting for me to do that. I believe that is part of the reason why most youth bible studies are so focused on sexual temptation and self-esteem helps. They will use scripture but only to defend a position, not to teach the scriptures themselves. Have you ever tried to find a youth bible study on the books of the bible? They are hard to find but should be commonplace.
Don’t misunderstand me, I do think that there is a time to address certain needs or clarify confusion but the pulpit on sunday mornings should not be the primary place for that. I will cut to the chase since this is getting long.
When a preacher is focused on you, you don’t care what he believes about theology. If he seems to be on your side, that’s all really matters for many. I heard a guy once say, “As a preacher, you have to decide whether you believe the bible to be a book primarily about you or a book primarily about God. That will determine the way you preach.” It’s easy to preach topical sermons and never tackle the tough issues in scripture. I think that expositional preaching has to be the norm in the pulpit. Sorry so long:)
Josh,
I think you’re spot on. Expositional preaching is key to true Biblical preaching. I guess my point is that too many members of churches are okay with not exploring sound doctrine for themselves and letting their pastor be their only source of doctrine.
I think people in churches like Joel Osteen’s, Rob Bell’s, etc. may not be exploring sound doctrine themselves and just accepting what’s being shelled out to them as truth. Church members should take it upon themselves to be accountable for what they’re being taught.
Does that clear it up a bit?
My bad. I wasn’t confused with what you were saying. I totally agree.