Who Is Your Pastor?

A friend of mine called this week to talk about some disturbing things going on in their church. Apparently the pastor was behaving in a way that my friend thought appalling. The pastor was saying some things that one would just never expect a pastor to say. Overall, the effect was very detrimental on those involved.

Lots of people got hurt and healing those wounds would take a long time. It got me to thinking about A.W. Tozier (one of my favorite Christian authors) and some of what he's had to say about pastors and church leaders.

1 Thessalonians 2:10 says this, "You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe ..."

The work of a minister is altogether too difficult for any man. We are driven to God for wisdom. I think I would be afraid of the pastor that is a different man when he enters the pulpit than he might be elsewhere. I don't think a pastor should ever think a thought or say or do anything that he couldn't do from the pulpit without embarrassment. He should never be a different man or get a new voice and a new sense of holiness when he enters the pulpit. Basically, I think he should be able to be the same man, with the same spirit he exhibits when talking to someone about the common affairs of life.

Is that right for today's pastors? When we look at Christians behaving badly, is anyone surprised to find pastors can just as easily be found there? I'm not. After all, they are broken humans living in a fallen world. Why would we expect such different standards for pastors? Don't those seem like unrealistic expectations? Well, maybe and maybe not.

I pastor would have a hard time living up to the 1 Thessalonians standards on his own. Who among us, including pastors, can be good all by himself? I would pity the man who tries. But the pastor who submits himself to godly counsel in a loving relationship might do well to hear some of the "truth in love" being spoken from time to time. Call it accountability, but I've never seen accountability do such great things for pastors. Mostly the common man seems to withdraw from confronting a pastor.

So what's to be done? I have a dream. It's a world where pastors can be challenged in love, where they can work on their stuff, express their fears, frustrations, hurts and hang-ups. In my dream world, all pastors would never fail, because they'd have the arms held up through the battles they face. And they wouldn't be wounding their own sheep with their own brokenness.

Let's all pray for our pastors, and ask God to give them intimate, male support that can help them be the men God created them to be ... in the pulpit or out of it.