Problem Pastors

Understanding the Role of Pastors

So we’re going to enter into a series where we talk about Pastors – specifically, Problem Pastors. If there was a surgeon in practice who operated outside of accepted procedures we would want to discuss them openly as a means to warn the unsuspecting public, right? I mean lets suppose that there was an orthodedic surgeon who told people that ito n order for them to have him operate on their bones they would have to also:

• Turn all of their finances and estate over to Him, or that
• They were to adopt his religious beliefs, or
• That they were to provide him with sexual services.

It would be important to report and expose him, right? Perhaps the surgeon does none of these things but simply employs a questionable unorthodox approach to replacing a knee – perhaps he cuts off the limb, sets it in the desert for a week, then reattaches it. He would need to be exposed. So when it comes to people who are put in a position of responsibility there are established standards that go along with the performance of their duties.

Standards Set by God

When it comes to pastors, and this is important, the established standards are NOT established by religious traditions nor are they what men approve. This is what makes pastors and the work they do very, very different from any other profession because the standards set for the Pastor are set by God as contained in a contextual application of His Word. First of all, let’s examine the word Pastor. In the Greek the terms is POIMANE and it means . . . shepherd.

So we automatically have a working image/mindset in play for the nature and work of a pastor – they should be shepherds. What do we know about shepherds from scripture? We know shepherds are in place to FEED, LEAD, PROTECT the flock and to give their lives for it. They know the sheep’s names. They will seek after the lost sheep of their flock, and they stay with them in good and bad times. All of these things are included in God’s words to Ezekiel way back in the day.

God’s Words to Ezekiel

I will emphasize some of the key Word to prove my point – so God says:

2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. 4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. 5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. 7 ¶ Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 8 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; 9 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

FROM the words of God to Ezekiel we read the following expressions:

• “should not the shepherds feed the flocks?”

Role of Pastors

“But ye feed not the flock.” “The diseased have ye not strengthened,” “neither have ye healed that which was sick,” “neither have ye bound up that which was broken,” “neither have ye brought again that which was driven away,” “neither have ye sought that which was lost;” “but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.”

Responsibilities of Shepherds

(Then dropping down to verse 8 God gives us number 9, saying) “but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock.”

So there is God and his view of the role of people who call themselves pastors.

Personal Reflection

If you have a pastor in your life, I would encourage you to begin to examine the role He is serving in your life. Ask yourself,

Does he/she feed me? Strengthen me? Seek me out? Bind my wounds? Or does he/she with force and cruelty rule over me. And feed his or herself.

OUT!