What about our local Church?
I recently read the quote that had been recorded in a Christian Blog. The quote was that of an individual who was not a Christian or a church-goer. The article of this skeptic got my attention and made me begin to really think.
The skeptic wrote –
“The churches in America are major failures. They own the best properties in the area they are in. Church communities stay empty most days and nights during the week. All they do is sponge off the people in these communities and churches do not help anybody.”
I as the Pastor of a great local church wanted to standup and argue this statement with this skeptical individual. This individual just does not understand the operation or the purpose of the church. Apparently he has just simply never attended church or for that matter never attended the right church.
Not knowing this individual and not understanding his perspective I see no need to argue or exchange my views with him. I feel that it would best for me to ask myself, “Is there any truth to this man’s stated view?”
Jesus came to this world as a man, was born a Jew into a very religious Jewish culture in which people were following the Law and thought they were doing just fine. The people in the day Jesus lived had real hurts, pains, struggles, hang-ups, and so many bad habits. These people were frustrated and began to flock to Jesus because He ministered to their needs. The established Jewish religion of the day just did not have any real power, had no answers for their many needs.
Jesus challenged His disciples to think differently about faith. He preached the Sermon on the Mount for several reasons, but one was to set the record straight and let His disciples understand the need and the purpose of His call. Throughout the discourse, He kept saying things like “You’ve heard it said that —, but I say to you —.”
Right after the beatitudes, Jesus sets the record straight on what disciples should be, what they should look like and what they should be accomplishing. He makes it plain and clear that there is very little point in the pointlessness that characterized the religious system of that day.
Jesus let it be known that it is useless to act like salt but not be salty. It is also foolish for people to pretend to be light and yet not be shining and brighten anything around them. In all of this Jesus describes what we who are in the church should be, even today.
Matthew 5:13-16 NLT
You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world — like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
His own Words are telling us that we must refuse to be irrelevant and useless in this present world. Jesus was saying,
“If you are going to claim to be salt, be salty, if you are going to claim to be light, be bright enough to light the way for other people so they can find their way to Truth and Salvation.”
“If you are going to call yourself the church, make sure you are a useful church, a life-changing church, a church that fulfills God’s purposes for you in a real and relevant way.”
There are some very important lessons for the church of today to learn from Jesus Christ Words about salt and light.
We do know and understand that salt does at least three major and important things.
1st – Salt Preserves
In the south we have country hams. There is nothing to compare to the taste like good ole Country Ham. When we drive through the states such as Arkansas and Tennessee just to mention a couple we can see these country hams hanging from racks in the grocery stores, unrefrigerated, but preserved. People from all over wonder how is it possible to leave pork hanging in the warmth of a store for weeks on end, and they are still eatable? The secret is “SALT”. These folks who cure and process these hams rub enough salt into the meat and it will last for months on end.
The modern day churches should be a preserving agent in the lives of all of the people in their surrounding areas and they should be changing the very cultural that is surrounding the local churches.
Today we as the saints of God can close ourselves off and complain about how bad the world is getting, how prevalent sin is or how hard Satan is at work opposing the work of our churches, or we can we can make up our minds and determine that we are going to be the bright spots in the middle of all the darkness of this modern day. We who have been filled with the baptism of the Holy Ghost can and should be preserving our communities from the decay of our culture as we live out God’s purposes in the midst of this day and age.
Salt is very Irritating
If you have ever cut your foot in the sand at the beach and then step into the salty seawater, your foot begins to sting! Salt is so irritating, but while it is stinging with the pain of irritation it is doing so in a healing way, not just in a hurtful and painful way.
The churches in America today (especially some of us who are holiness people) have been quite guilty of irritating the world in a way that turns people away from Jesus Christ and not pointing them to our wonderful Savior. But this is not the purpose that Jesus had for us as His called out people, the Church. We are called to irritate the world in a healing way a way of preserving them.
It is irritation that causes an oyster to turn a grain of sand into a valuable beautiful pearl. Saints of God sometimes it is our persistent irritation, our resilience and unwillingness to give up on our community, our families and our friends that brings them healing and also brings their preservation.
A salty church says, “We are not going away. We are going to keep loving and serving our communities no matter how resistant people are because we love all people and we want to see change happen in our communities, towns and cities.”
Salt Flavors
I watched my parents use salt to flavor so much of the food they prepared while I was a child. I am originally from Louisiana and I love good ole Louisiana Cajun cooking, where salt is the base of most of the seasonings that we use. My wife tells me that I am a salt-a-holic. I salt salads, vegetables, meats, fish and so many other foods. Why do I use salt? I use salt because salt adds flavor, seasoning to my otherwise bland food. We as the local church should flavor the lives of people in the communities all around us. The preaching of the Word of God may offend some individuals who attend our local church, but heaven forbid that we the saints of God offend these people who are attending our churches with our personality or with our brash, harsh approach. We who are involved in the local churches should never be guilty of pushing people away from the hearing the preaching of the Word of God or from being involved with our worship services.
Jesus also calls we who are His disciple’s, light. Notice, Jesus identifies us with His identity. He is “the light of the world” and we are to be like Him. But, He labels us both salt and light in His Word. Jesus goal in this setting is not to get us to doubt what we are, but rather for us to realize what we really are with a challenge to live this calling before all men in our daily living.
I know we have all had to light a candle in a totally darkened room? We have seen for our self a little bit of light goes a very long way it literally burst forth through darkness. I have taken tours of caves in Arkansas and in New Mexico. When the tour guides turn all the lights out for a momentary viewing, it seemed like the darkest place on earth, but when they turned on a single tiny key ring flash light, that tiny light fills the room. So ought we to fill the earth with the light of the Lord.
People all around us in our families, communities, towns and cities are trapped in sin and its devastating consequences. Shame and guilt keep people bound, chained and enshrouded in darkness, but our light can break through their darkness and expose all of Satan’s deceptions and set people free to live in the light of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine landing a plane on a runway at night with no runway lights, or imagine cruising through the busiest intersection in our towns when all the traffic lights are out. Light guides us I every facet of our life.
It is great to know and understand who we are as saints of God and members of the local church. We have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light of truth, to be like Him. When we really understand who we are and identity ourselves with His light and reflect His light to a lost and dying world the way Jesus wants us to reflect His light into the dark world. There are three BIG words that we who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ need to keep at the forefront of our minds as salt and light: SPEAK. LIVE. ACT.
As salt and light, we who are members of the local church need to speak the gospel, live the gospel, and act as the gospel teaches us to act. Jesus Christ has already paid the debt to redeem men and women of this world from their sins. We who are members of the local church have the timeless mission to reach back into the world to evangelize and bring people into the light of this marvelous Savior and bring them to the knowledge of truth.
Even we who are members of the local church deserve hell for the sins of our life, but Jesus Christ forgave us when we realized we were sinners and repented of our sinful ways. Jesus Christ paid our sin debt by giving His life through death on the cross of Calvary. Then after His resurrection He called the church and commanded us to go into the world and preach the gospel to every individual. That call from Jesus Christ is still for the local churches today to join Him in this great work of reconciling a lost and hopeless world back to Himself. There is no greater privilege for the local church and its members than living out our purpose as His salt and light.
What good is our church, anyway? Are we really satisfied with merely meeting on Sunday and “having worship?” then gathering on Wednesday night for our traditional teaching time, I hope not…I hope we want our church to fulfill the perfect will of God reaching the lost at any cost.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
JUST THINKING ON THIS MONDAY, JULY 11, 2011
I was awakened early this morning with so many thoughts in my mind. I got out of bed as the sun was coming up and started brewing a pot of FOLGER’S to get my morning off to a great start. What a refreshing time to be up, while everything is still and quiet. I spent my time with the Lord in prayer and in reading my Bible thinking I could get away from all these thoughts that were still in my mind so here goes, I just decided to write.
My life has been so different than many of my peers. I do understand each and every one of us has our own unique life stories to tell.
When I was a child in elementary school I struggled with my studies and it got so much worse as I passed on from one grade to another. I loved school, my teachers and those that were my classmates, but I had a learning problem; I could not retain anything I read therefore putting me at a great disadvantage. Most of the teachers in that day did not understand anything about learning disabilities, so I struggled and went to school frustrated because of this, but I did graduate but was just by the skin of my teeth. I was told by many of those who taught me, that I would never amount to anything I just did not have it they would say. I had one teacher that I credit with helping me, having faith in me and understanding my problem. She worked with me one on one and even during the summer I would go to her house for reading help. Her name was Mrs. Arlene McCurley, a student’s friend, who was serious about our education.
I developed my own method of reading when I became an adult. I still have a retention problem, I find myself loosing interest in reading even today. I have a problem with transposing numbers, letters and even words to this day. The difference is I know I have these problems and I work very hard in making sure I understand. I read so many books in a year now that it sometimes scares me. I have even published three of my own books. I write an average of three messages that I preach each week and sometimes more.
I have a resume’ that is very long, I have been involved in so many different types of jobs, sales, marketing’s, businesses and even several types of ministry. I look back and remember when I started out as a young man I just wanted a good job to support my young family. I was not a lazy young man I always had a decent job. I often worked a part-time job and always did sideline things to make enough money for my family. In 1976 I quite my full time job with Continental Oil Company and went into business.
The struggles of those early years, I had no direction in my life and had really no dreams or lifetime goals. I acted and react through those first years of marriage and even as a dad. My life was always in turmoil. I struggled in being a good husband and a good father. My spiritual life was so affected by my own personal struggles in life.
In 1978 my family moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana, our lives were in such turmoil and in shambles. We started attending Apostolic Temple, pastored by Rev. M. D. Treece who began teaching us how to live life and to live spiritually. His teaching changed my life for sure.
I was 29 years old when we moved to Lake Charles and my life was upside down in every phase of it. Once I began to get my spiritual life in focus, everything else started to fall into place. None of these things happened overnight, it was a process of time, but my life began to change for the better. Ten and one half years later I decided it was time for me to heed the call of God that I felt was on my life. My two sons were grown and on their own. My wife began to travel around the nation with me from one church to another, as I would preach revival meetings. I was forty years old. All I had on my mind was seeing people being forgiven of their sins and being filled with the Holy Ghost and their lives being changed.
What great stories we have to tell about our travels all over the USA and even into Canada. I traveled as an evangelist for over eleven years. I preached revivals in sixteen different states, went to Alaska eleven times and into Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada nine times.
We saw so many great things happen during this time of our evangelistic ministry. Thousands of people came to the altar and repented and were filled with the Holy Ghost. We saw the power of God in action as He performed miracles, signs and wonders too numerous to even begin to mention. People were delivered from drugs, alcohol and all types of perversions. Broken hearts were mended, lives were changed and families were brought back together again. Such a wonderful experience we had as we traveled preaching this great gospel for eleven years.
At the end of 1999 we were called to a small church just outside Rome, Georgia. This was a new phase in our ministry endeavor. I went there with a mission, purpose and a vision. I had set some short-term attainable goals and some long-term attainable goals. The first year and a half everything seemed to be so good and we were making some progress and were actually setting so many church records. Then it happened, people started to leave. I would call them and they would say, “Brother it has nothing to do with you or your wife, we just feel the Lord leading us in a new direction.” Then the feedback would come in from other people in the church who were their friends and they would tell me the people were offended by my preaching or they said they were just not getting fed.
I have since moved to a small country church just outside Collins, Mississippi. I have found the problems that I left behind in Rome, Georgia are as prevalent in this church that I now pastor. I came here also with dreams and goals, but I have not been able to be successful in seeing any of them come to fruition. I have found this to be a non-progressive church. They do not want change or growth of any type. They do not desire to grow in spiritual ways either. This church is stuck in their old handed down traditions. When I as the pastor do preach truth to them they as a whole cannot or will not tolerate it.
Oh the pains of being a pastor and the pressures of trying to pastor people without offending them. I have found the people that I work hardest to rescue from sin; the ones that I put the most efforts in at keeping them together are the ones that it seems to hurt me the most. Usually after about three to four years some of these decide they want to go back to their old lifestyles and live in carnality and sin once again. They do not want anyone to think less of them, so most often they first change churches. They find a church that is growing and is becoming larger than most, and this church is usually not in their town.
This is the kind of notes pastors receive from those who are leaving the church: “Dear pastor...there are no words to express how much I and my family love you and your wife. No matter what you have heard, you have never offended us...never. You have always shown my family love and I know that was never put on. You are a sincere man and a great preacher, best pastor we have ever known. I have learned, that sometimes in life individuals and even families have to step away from what everyone expects them to be, to become who they really need to be. Our walk with God has never been any stronger than it is today and we owe the majority of that to you. You have taught us how to be true Christians by the life we have seen you live. No matter where we go, or how long we stay, the church we are leaving will always be our home. We love you, with all our hearts hope you do well, as we go.”
I no longer have the drive nor the stamina to deal with this type pain and these pressures that come from people that I really do love and want to see succeed in their living for God. It is sad to say, but when I leave this little country church I have made a vow to myself and to my wife that I will never pastor another church again. I will continue to preach, teach and minister this gospel of truth. I will write teaching series for younger pastors to use, I will write books, blogs and love the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart.
My life has been so different than many of my peers. I do understand each and every one of us has our own unique life stories to tell.
When I was a child in elementary school I struggled with my studies and it got so much worse as I passed on from one grade to another. I loved school, my teachers and those that were my classmates, but I had a learning problem; I could not retain anything I read therefore putting me at a great disadvantage. Most of the teachers in that day did not understand anything about learning disabilities, so I struggled and went to school frustrated because of this, but I did graduate but was just by the skin of my teeth. I was told by many of those who taught me, that I would never amount to anything I just did not have it they would say. I had one teacher that I credit with helping me, having faith in me and understanding my problem. She worked with me one on one and even during the summer I would go to her house for reading help. Her name was Mrs. Arlene McCurley, a student’s friend, who was serious about our education.
I developed my own method of reading when I became an adult. I still have a retention problem, I find myself loosing interest in reading even today. I have a problem with transposing numbers, letters and even words to this day. The difference is I know I have these problems and I work very hard in making sure I understand. I read so many books in a year now that it sometimes scares me. I have even published three of my own books. I write an average of three messages that I preach each week and sometimes more.
I have a resume’ that is very long, I have been involved in so many different types of jobs, sales, marketing’s, businesses and even several types of ministry. I look back and remember when I started out as a young man I just wanted a good job to support my young family. I was not a lazy young man I always had a decent job. I often worked a part-time job and always did sideline things to make enough money for my family. In 1976 I quite my full time job with Continental Oil Company and went into business.
The struggles of those early years, I had no direction in my life and had really no dreams or lifetime goals. I acted and react through those first years of marriage and even as a dad. My life was always in turmoil. I struggled in being a good husband and a good father. My spiritual life was so affected by my own personal struggles in life.
In 1978 my family moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana, our lives were in such turmoil and in shambles. We started attending Apostolic Temple, pastored by Rev. M. D. Treece who began teaching us how to live life and to live spiritually. His teaching changed my life for sure.
I was 29 years old when we moved to Lake Charles and my life was upside down in every phase of it. Once I began to get my spiritual life in focus, everything else started to fall into place. None of these things happened overnight, it was a process of time, but my life began to change for the better. Ten and one half years later I decided it was time for me to heed the call of God that I felt was on my life. My two sons were grown and on their own. My wife began to travel around the nation with me from one church to another, as I would preach revival meetings. I was forty years old. All I had on my mind was seeing people being forgiven of their sins and being filled with the Holy Ghost and their lives being changed.
What great stories we have to tell about our travels all over the USA and even into Canada. I traveled as an evangelist for over eleven years. I preached revivals in sixteen different states, went to Alaska eleven times and into Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada nine times.
We saw so many great things happen during this time of our evangelistic ministry. Thousands of people came to the altar and repented and were filled with the Holy Ghost. We saw the power of God in action as He performed miracles, signs and wonders too numerous to even begin to mention. People were delivered from drugs, alcohol and all types of perversions. Broken hearts were mended, lives were changed and families were brought back together again. Such a wonderful experience we had as we traveled preaching this great gospel for eleven years.
At the end of 1999 we were called to a small church just outside Rome, Georgia. This was a new phase in our ministry endeavor. I went there with a mission, purpose and a vision. I had set some short-term attainable goals and some long-term attainable goals. The first year and a half everything seemed to be so good and we were making some progress and were actually setting so many church records. Then it happened, people started to leave. I would call them and they would say, “Brother it has nothing to do with you or your wife, we just feel the Lord leading us in a new direction.” Then the feedback would come in from other people in the church who were their friends and they would tell me the people were offended by my preaching or they said they were just not getting fed.
I have since moved to a small country church just outside Collins, Mississippi. I have found the problems that I left behind in Rome, Georgia are as prevalent in this church that I now pastor. I came here also with dreams and goals, but I have not been able to be successful in seeing any of them come to fruition. I have found this to be a non-progressive church. They do not want change or growth of any type. They do not desire to grow in spiritual ways either. This church is stuck in their old handed down traditions. When I as the pastor do preach truth to them they as a whole cannot or will not tolerate it.
Oh the pains of being a pastor and the pressures of trying to pastor people without offending them. I have found the people that I work hardest to rescue from sin; the ones that I put the most efforts in at keeping them together are the ones that it seems to hurt me the most. Usually after about three to four years some of these decide they want to go back to their old lifestyles and live in carnality and sin once again. They do not want anyone to think less of them, so most often they first change churches. They find a church that is growing and is becoming larger than most, and this church is usually not in their town.
This is the kind of notes pastors receive from those who are leaving the church: “Dear pastor...there are no words to express how much I and my family love you and your wife. No matter what you have heard, you have never offended us...never. You have always shown my family love and I know that was never put on. You are a sincere man and a great preacher, best pastor we have ever known. I have learned, that sometimes in life individuals and even families have to step away from what everyone expects them to be, to become who they really need to be. Our walk with God has never been any stronger than it is today and we owe the majority of that to you. You have taught us how to be true Christians by the life we have seen you live. No matter where we go, or how long we stay, the church we are leaving will always be our home. We love you, with all our hearts hope you do well, as we go.”
I no longer have the drive nor the stamina to deal with this type pain and these pressures that come from people that I really do love and want to see succeed in their living for God. It is sad to say, but when I leave this little country church I have made a vow to myself and to my wife that I will never pastor another church again. I will continue to preach, teach and minister this gospel of truth. I will write teaching series for younger pastors to use, I will write books, blogs and love the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart.
Friday, July 8, 2011
jUST THINKING ON THIS FRIDAY MORNING, JULY 8, 2011
THE DEATH OF THE LOCAL CHURCH
In both the churches I have pastored I would class them both small and both of them were proud of no change and the fact they were small.
The first church I pastored would seat 185 to 250. When I went to the first church I was voted in by 100% of the 32 adult members. During my tenure of five years we averaged 75 – 85 on Sunday. This church had not had much success in the growth department. The church members were satisfied being a small church and did not welcome new members. They had a church board that had self-appointed themselves to control the pastor and they would kill every program that was started. This church did not have a reputation of running their pastors off, but they had a reputation of controlling and also of not accepting outsiders. They loved to see their church as it was slowly on a slow road of death and decline.
The second church has a seating capacity of 300 to 350 when I first got to this church I was voted in by 87% of 82 adult members. During the tenure of seven years we have averaged 105 – 120 on Sunday. This church also like the first one I pastored has not had much success in the growth department. The church members are satisfied with being a small church and they do not welcome outsiders. They have a church board, that has over the years taken control and they kill every program that is started. This local church has a very terrible reputation in the area. They have a reputation for terrible business meetings, bad tempers and gossiping about everyone. This church also eats pastors and pastor’s wives. The average pastorate term for this church for the first seven pastors was about three years. The last three of us have had a lengthier tenure. But even these three have had to literally fight for everything that has been accomplished. These three have had a struggle to just keep the church alive these past few years.
This second church had just gone through a very tough time of struggles that caused the pastor to leave. They had fired so many pastors since they had formed this little church. Now one thing they had going for them was the last two pastors had been with them for a longer period of time. One pastor had been here for over seventeen years and suddenly and unexpectedly died. The pastor that followed him stayed for eight years, but after he was here for about six years the people who had placed themselves in positions of control were doing everything they could to make him leave. He was not fired, but chose to leave when things begin to affect his wife and children.
This second church that I now pastor has changed very little for 35 to 40 years. This local church continually goes up in down in number, but when the shaking takes place, the same groups and families are still seated on the pews. They now have become so stiff-necked and controlling that they really cannot be changed or moved. This church has been declining since it’s peak in 1983 and the average age of the congregation is over 60 years of age. This church is bearing no fruit and they are dying a very slow death. The only “hope” they seem to have is the money from the pastor’s percentages from his pay account. This keeps them with money enough to pay their monthly bills. They were in a financial deficit when I came to this second church. In fact I gave them my first two weeks of pay from the pastor’s account to help them out of the deficit. The money from the pastor’s pay account is not really any hope at all…it is a life support that is basically breathing for them. It is almost like they have forgotten that Jesus did not say, “I came to give them life through a life-support system.” When our local church finds security in anything other than Jesus Christ, we have started the process of sticking our heads in the sand and dying a slow spiritual death.
Mark 11:12-19 tells the story of Jesus cursing a fig tree for not bearing fruit then immediately driving the money changers and merchants out of the temple. Both of these images are powerful reminders of God’s views of the local church:
1. God hates it when the church does not bear evangelistic fruit.
2. The local church does not exist for our own personal benefit.
All too often local churches becomes inward, focusing on their own needs, desires, hopes, and preferences. When this happens to a local church they have become like the money – changers in the temple, they have made the church about themselves and no longer all about Jesus. The tragic result of this is a church that bears less and less fruit. I have seen so many churches like this when I evangelized, now I have personally pastored two of these type churches, this saddens me and it makes me weep.
Why do we as Pentecostals let our churches get into this shape? What sends our local churches down this road to its death? I believe it’s because we miss the passage of Scripture that follows this story. The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it was withered from the roots. Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Teacher! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I assure you that you can say to this mountain, `May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. ~Mark 11:20-23 (NLT)
Somewhere along the way you stopped believing in a mountain-moving God because:
A pastor (or pastors) hurt you, so you don’t believe God can bring a pastor into your local church, who has integrity and anointing?
A small group of people in the church did not meet your expectations or treated you in an ill fashion, so you now believe God has failed and mistreated you.
The people you invited to church came but did not receive the Holy Ghost and they did not continue to attend with you, so you no longer believe that the Lord can use you to reach the lost.
You tithe and give in the offering but you have still suffered a tragedy in your life, so you stopped believing that God can or will bless your obedience.
After we as a local church have stopped believing in a mountain-moving God:
We begin to establish more policies and put together more committees that help the church steer clear of any painful change.
We have gotten ourselves stuck in our favorite methods and ways to “do” church so we now feel safe and secure as we make ourselves feel good. (We call this sticking to the old paths.)
We have become so accustom to criticizing our leadership for simply suggesting the making of any changes.
We chose to be suspicious of our leaders rather than trusting. We then manipulate and control the church.
We now have shied away from making any difficult decisions.
We have actually begun to believe that the local church is simply all about us, it is here for us and no one else.
We now call this local church our church, my church or our little family church and we are happy to keep it that way.
Please remember that Jesus never promised us that mountain moving would be easy or painless. He did not say that it would require no risk. He did not tell us that mountain moving required action on God’s part, but none on ours. He said, “Have faith.” Jesus’ brother, James, asks us pointedly, “what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions?” (James 2:14 NLT).
In order for our local church to be blessed and bear fruit we must stop focusing on ourselves. Stop making our local church about our feelings, our needs, our desires and our wants. Let us instead focus on those who do not know the truth about the fullness of Jesus Christ while at the same time focusing our attention on the amazing power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us believe that our local church can be amazing and powerful in these communities! Let us be confident that our local church will witness mountain-moving miracles in our midst. Let us choose to believe that God can and will do the impossible for us. Let us choose to believe it and act accordingly. May our actions in this local church portray the faith in our hearts!
In both the churches I have pastored I would class them both small and both of them were proud of no change and the fact they were small.
The first church I pastored would seat 185 to 250. When I went to the first church I was voted in by 100% of the 32 adult members. During my tenure of five years we averaged 75 – 85 on Sunday. This church had not had much success in the growth department. The church members were satisfied being a small church and did not welcome new members. They had a church board that had self-appointed themselves to control the pastor and they would kill every program that was started. This church did not have a reputation of running their pastors off, but they had a reputation of controlling and also of not accepting outsiders. They loved to see their church as it was slowly on a slow road of death and decline.
The second church has a seating capacity of 300 to 350 when I first got to this church I was voted in by 87% of 82 adult members. During the tenure of seven years we have averaged 105 – 120 on Sunday. This church also like the first one I pastored has not had much success in the growth department. The church members are satisfied with being a small church and they do not welcome outsiders. They have a church board, that has over the years taken control and they kill every program that is started. This local church has a very terrible reputation in the area. They have a reputation for terrible business meetings, bad tempers and gossiping about everyone. This church also eats pastors and pastor’s wives. The average pastorate term for this church for the first seven pastors was about three years. The last three of us have had a lengthier tenure. But even these three have had to literally fight for everything that has been accomplished. These three have had a struggle to just keep the church alive these past few years.
This second church had just gone through a very tough time of struggles that caused the pastor to leave. They had fired so many pastors since they had formed this little church. Now one thing they had going for them was the last two pastors had been with them for a longer period of time. One pastor had been here for over seventeen years and suddenly and unexpectedly died. The pastor that followed him stayed for eight years, but after he was here for about six years the people who had placed themselves in positions of control were doing everything they could to make him leave. He was not fired, but chose to leave when things begin to affect his wife and children.
This second church that I now pastor has changed very little for 35 to 40 years. This local church continually goes up in down in number, but when the shaking takes place, the same groups and families are still seated on the pews. They now have become so stiff-necked and controlling that they really cannot be changed or moved. This church has been declining since it’s peak in 1983 and the average age of the congregation is over 60 years of age. This church is bearing no fruit and they are dying a very slow death. The only “hope” they seem to have is the money from the pastor’s percentages from his pay account. This keeps them with money enough to pay their monthly bills. They were in a financial deficit when I came to this second church. In fact I gave them my first two weeks of pay from the pastor’s account to help them out of the deficit. The money from the pastor’s pay account is not really any hope at all…it is a life support that is basically breathing for them. It is almost like they have forgotten that Jesus did not say, “I came to give them life through a life-support system.” When our local church finds security in anything other than Jesus Christ, we have started the process of sticking our heads in the sand and dying a slow spiritual death.
Mark 11:12-19 tells the story of Jesus cursing a fig tree for not bearing fruit then immediately driving the money changers and merchants out of the temple. Both of these images are powerful reminders of God’s views of the local church:
1. God hates it when the church does not bear evangelistic fruit.
2. The local church does not exist for our own personal benefit.
All too often local churches becomes inward, focusing on their own needs, desires, hopes, and preferences. When this happens to a local church they have become like the money – changers in the temple, they have made the church about themselves and no longer all about Jesus. The tragic result of this is a church that bears less and less fruit. I have seen so many churches like this when I evangelized, now I have personally pastored two of these type churches, this saddens me and it makes me weep.
Why do we as Pentecostals let our churches get into this shape? What sends our local churches down this road to its death? I believe it’s because we miss the passage of Scripture that follows this story. The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it was withered from the roots. Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Teacher! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I assure you that you can say to this mountain, `May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. ~Mark 11:20-23 (NLT)
Somewhere along the way you stopped believing in a mountain-moving God because:
A pastor (or pastors) hurt you, so you don’t believe God can bring a pastor into your local church, who has integrity and anointing?
A small group of people in the church did not meet your expectations or treated you in an ill fashion, so you now believe God has failed and mistreated you.
The people you invited to church came but did not receive the Holy Ghost and they did not continue to attend with you, so you no longer believe that the Lord can use you to reach the lost.
You tithe and give in the offering but you have still suffered a tragedy in your life, so you stopped believing that God can or will bless your obedience.
After we as a local church have stopped believing in a mountain-moving God:
We begin to establish more policies and put together more committees that help the church steer clear of any painful change.
We have gotten ourselves stuck in our favorite methods and ways to “do” church so we now feel safe and secure as we make ourselves feel good. (We call this sticking to the old paths.)
We have become so accustom to criticizing our leadership for simply suggesting the making of any changes.
We chose to be suspicious of our leaders rather than trusting. We then manipulate and control the church.
We now have shied away from making any difficult decisions.
We have actually begun to believe that the local church is simply all about us, it is here for us and no one else.
We now call this local church our church, my church or our little family church and we are happy to keep it that way.
Please remember that Jesus never promised us that mountain moving would be easy or painless. He did not say that it would require no risk. He did not tell us that mountain moving required action on God’s part, but none on ours. He said, “Have faith.” Jesus’ brother, James, asks us pointedly, “what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions?” (James 2:14 NLT).
In order for our local church to be blessed and bear fruit we must stop focusing on ourselves. Stop making our local church about our feelings, our needs, our desires and our wants. Let us instead focus on those who do not know the truth about the fullness of Jesus Christ while at the same time focusing our attention on the amazing power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us believe that our local church can be amazing and powerful in these communities! Let us be confident that our local church will witness mountain-moving miracles in our midst. Let us choose to believe that God can and will do the impossible for us. Let us choose to believe it and act accordingly. May our actions in this local church portray the faith in our hearts!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
JUST THINKING ON THIS THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 7, 2011
“TO GROW OR NOT TO GROW THE LOCAL CHURCH”
Most churches start small. The problem is that some stay small. The even bigger problem in all this is that sometimes that smallness is due to distorted thinking (although often well intentioned) on the part of the leaders and lay people alike.
What does that thinking look and sound like, and how might the church overcome this idea of smallness?
1. So many folks want to blame the small size of the local church on God.
“If God wants our church to grow, it will grow humanity says.” This is our easy way out of the obligation to the work of God. Now as human beings we shift the blame from us to Him. If one thinks through such a thought pattern, the folly of such thinking is so feeble on our part. For example, does that mean that churches that are growing are the result of God playing favorites? I don’t think so. Should saints of God ask God to allow a church to grow when He may have already decided that is not His plan? Where is such thinking found in Scripture? I can honestly say it is not. If a church is small simply because few people live within driving distance from the church, that is understandable. But otherwise, God wants a church to grow because it’s winning the lost and making disciples of them and teaching them to reach other people for the cause of Christ. The answer: Look inward, not upward. Ask the question, “Why is our church not growing?” Usually when we find the real problem we find people standing in the way. Those people in the way may be church members and even church leaders who have not taken time to be involved in evangelism and surely they have not trained their people in evangelism.
Internal strife may make the church everything but inviting to outsiders in the community who have heard that the church specializes more in squabbling and infighting than fellowship.
2. These saints see their neighbors but not the needs of their neighbors or their neighborhood.
The thinking of the average saint of God in a small church is like this “If one person receives the Holy Ghost this year, it’s worth our being here. God may have us here for just one person He wants to bring to Himself through us.”
No one should, could or would question the value of one soul, but God’s love doesn’t stop with one; it extends to everyone whosoever will. It is not only the person up the street that needs salvation, but it is every person on every street who is in need of salvation.
The answer to the small church syndrome is called vision. If we will simply specialize in contacting people and let God specialize in conversions. Bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone within driving distance of the church. As the Seed is sown, God in His time will bring forth fruit of His harvest. God responds to prayer and vision from His Church. The issue is not the worth of a soul who lives within the community; it is the worth of every soul who lives within every community.
3. Have a church that is spiritually attractive but is physically repulsive
Forgive my frankness, but some churches look like the building needs to be redeemed, not just the people. I Samuel 16:7 says man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
Both parts of that sentence are true, not just the latter part. God looks at the heart, but man looks at the outward appearance.
I said to a pastor, “Let’s drive by your church as non-Christians.” We did and he saw my point. The church had a chain length fence around it to prevent burglaries. It made it look like the headquarters of a cult. They took the fence down and the church started to grow. Another had a sign on the front of the church facing the street. It read, “It is appointed unto man once to die and after this, the judgment”. It made it appear that the two things that church specialized in were death and judgment. The answer: Do what I encouraged my pastor friend to do. Drive past the church as a non-Christian. Would your church beckon me in or scare me away? It’s amazing what a little paint, flowers, a cleanup crew and a little remodeling might do.
4. Shifting pastors every few years keeps a church from growing.
Anything solid is built on consistent long-term stability. Starting over in any organization every few years is seldom productive. Adjustment and readjusting takes its toll. Try doing 5- or 10-year planning when the leadership may change every 2 or 3 years. The answer: Go for long-term leaders—ones who come to stay and develop a reputation that enhances that of the church. That way the community not only becomes part of them, they become part of the community. Since they have developed a spirit of trust about them, people respond with an attitude “Lead on, and we’ll follow”. Since they have seen him weather good and bad times, they know he’ll be there even if there are roadblocks along the way. Ask a new pastor, “Is this a stopping point or staying point?” The staying point may not be 30-40 years but it ought not to be just 2-3 years either.
5. No prayer no planning keeps a church small.
Planning is a must, but planning without prayer doesn’t work nor does prayer without planning. An unbeatable combination is when God does His part and we do our part also. Some churches stay small because they do not have a personal relationship where they can talk to God and ask God to do His part and in like manner neither do they do their part either.
The answer is very simple, pray as you plan and plan as you pray. For the sake of the lost, ask God to help the church to grow. We must pray that God will help us see the essentiality of evangelism. “As we grow there may be many people we do not know” and who do not know us, nor what our position in the church is? It is more important that others know Him than that others know us.
We must plan and decide how many we are going to contact with the gospel, over the next week, month and year?
Conclusion: God is not hung up on numbers nor should we be. But, God is concerned for the lost and a church that impacts the lost grows by conversion and that equals numbers. Numbers ought to be one indicator of His blessing. The church grows when God and His people are in partnership. The focus then is so on the work of God that people are asking God to increase the small church. More people in the local church mean more workers, more funds, and more giftedness-all things that increase the influence of a church in the surrounding communities.
Some of these ideas were derived from other writers...but all made me start thinking and writing.
Most churches start small. The problem is that some stay small. The even bigger problem in all this is that sometimes that smallness is due to distorted thinking (although often well intentioned) on the part of the leaders and lay people alike.
What does that thinking look and sound like, and how might the church overcome this idea of smallness?
1. So many folks want to blame the small size of the local church on God.
“If God wants our church to grow, it will grow humanity says.” This is our easy way out of the obligation to the work of God. Now as human beings we shift the blame from us to Him. If one thinks through such a thought pattern, the folly of such thinking is so feeble on our part. For example, does that mean that churches that are growing are the result of God playing favorites? I don’t think so. Should saints of God ask God to allow a church to grow when He may have already decided that is not His plan? Where is such thinking found in Scripture? I can honestly say it is not. If a church is small simply because few people live within driving distance from the church, that is understandable. But otherwise, God wants a church to grow because it’s winning the lost and making disciples of them and teaching them to reach other people for the cause of Christ. The answer: Look inward, not upward. Ask the question, “Why is our church not growing?” Usually when we find the real problem we find people standing in the way. Those people in the way may be church members and even church leaders who have not taken time to be involved in evangelism and surely they have not trained their people in evangelism.
Internal strife may make the church everything but inviting to outsiders in the community who have heard that the church specializes more in squabbling and infighting than fellowship.
2. These saints see their neighbors but not the needs of their neighbors or their neighborhood.
The thinking of the average saint of God in a small church is like this “If one person receives the Holy Ghost this year, it’s worth our being here. God may have us here for just one person He wants to bring to Himself through us.”
No one should, could or would question the value of one soul, but God’s love doesn’t stop with one; it extends to everyone whosoever will. It is not only the person up the street that needs salvation, but it is every person on every street who is in need of salvation.
The answer to the small church syndrome is called vision. If we will simply specialize in contacting people and let God specialize in conversions. Bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone within driving distance of the church. As the Seed is sown, God in His time will bring forth fruit of His harvest. God responds to prayer and vision from His Church. The issue is not the worth of a soul who lives within the community; it is the worth of every soul who lives within every community.
3. Have a church that is spiritually attractive but is physically repulsive
Forgive my frankness, but some churches look like the building needs to be redeemed, not just the people. I Samuel 16:7 says man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
Both parts of that sentence are true, not just the latter part. God looks at the heart, but man looks at the outward appearance.
I said to a pastor, “Let’s drive by your church as non-Christians.” We did and he saw my point. The church had a chain length fence around it to prevent burglaries. It made it look like the headquarters of a cult. They took the fence down and the church started to grow. Another had a sign on the front of the church facing the street. It read, “It is appointed unto man once to die and after this, the judgment”. It made it appear that the two things that church specialized in were death and judgment. The answer: Do what I encouraged my pastor friend to do. Drive past the church as a non-Christian. Would your church beckon me in or scare me away? It’s amazing what a little paint, flowers, a cleanup crew and a little remodeling might do.
4. Shifting pastors every few years keeps a church from growing.
Anything solid is built on consistent long-term stability. Starting over in any organization every few years is seldom productive. Adjustment and readjusting takes its toll. Try doing 5- or 10-year planning when the leadership may change every 2 or 3 years. The answer: Go for long-term leaders—ones who come to stay and develop a reputation that enhances that of the church. That way the community not only becomes part of them, they become part of the community. Since they have developed a spirit of trust about them, people respond with an attitude “Lead on, and we’ll follow”. Since they have seen him weather good and bad times, they know he’ll be there even if there are roadblocks along the way. Ask a new pastor, “Is this a stopping point or staying point?” The staying point may not be 30-40 years but it ought not to be just 2-3 years either.
5. No prayer no planning keeps a church small.
Planning is a must, but planning without prayer doesn’t work nor does prayer without planning. An unbeatable combination is when God does His part and we do our part also. Some churches stay small because they do not have a personal relationship where they can talk to God and ask God to do His part and in like manner neither do they do their part either.
The answer is very simple, pray as you plan and plan as you pray. For the sake of the lost, ask God to help the church to grow. We must pray that God will help us see the essentiality of evangelism. “As we grow there may be many people we do not know” and who do not know us, nor what our position in the church is? It is more important that others know Him than that others know us.
We must plan and decide how many we are going to contact with the gospel, over the next week, month and year?
Conclusion: God is not hung up on numbers nor should we be. But, God is concerned for the lost and a church that impacts the lost grows by conversion and that equals numbers. Numbers ought to be one indicator of His blessing. The church grows when God and His people are in partnership. The focus then is so on the work of God that people are asking God to increase the small church. More people in the local church mean more workers, more funds, and more giftedness-all things that increase the influence of a church in the surrounding communities.
Some of these ideas were derived from other writers...but all made me start thinking and writing.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
I WAS JUST THINKING ON THIS MONDAY, JULY 4, 2011
I received this question from a young Bible School student (she needed some input from an older pastor).
“How should the church and the Pastor deal with Preacher Eaters in the local church?”
Several years ago, I taught a group of young preachers in a licensing seminar class. The class was made up of young men who were assisting pastors in some ministry in the local church settings, young traveling evangelist and also young men who were just starting to launch themselves into the ministry. I cautioned these young preachers and ministers about a large snare that was lying in their paths. I told them this snare has been there for every young preacher and minister who were in the ministry of helping or assisting other men in their ministry. I told them to beware of certain church members who would come around and try puffing them up into believing that they were superior to the pastor or minister and that they ought to have his position.
In telling my own story from several years back, I expressed my gratitude to the fact that I had not become the senior pastor while I was a really young man, for several reasons. The chief reason among the many reason was the fact that extremely strong laymen who exercised great influence in the home church I was raised up in would have chewed me up and spit me out.
One of the young preachers who attended that class wrote me an e-mail asking me to elaborate on who these type people might be, how do we identify these type people? How do these people operate in the local church? What is a pastor to do when he finds himself serving in a church with such strong laymen in it and especially when those have a role in leadership?
Nothing that I write is meant to imply that I think I have the wisdom and knowledge nor do I have all of the answers or the solutions for this subject. Far from it, but I do carry may wounds and scars from the many encounters with some of these type laymen. I have been pastor in only two churches and have had to encounter these type laymen in both of them.
The Apostle John wrote to his beloved friend Gaius in his epistle,
III John
1 The elder unto the well beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
John talks about the charity and kindness of the church and how they have treated those traveling through the area speaking this great truth, but there is now a problem.
3 John 9-11 New Living Translation ®,
9 I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us.
10 When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.
11 Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.
By reading these writings of John we see that these types and kinds of laymen have always been with us. I am talking about these self-appointed church rulers, church bosses, Preacher Eaters, who set themselves up as the Big Frog in these small ponds we call the local church to reign and control. These who are self-appointed get their thrills from dominating God called and God sent pastors and even other ministers in the local church.
These self-appointed leaders are almost always men, but I have learned through my tenure as a pastor, that most often behind these type men is a woman with the spirit of Jezebel. Usually the men and the women want to put on airs and appearances as though they are super spiritual and they only have the work of the Lord in their local church in mind. Only in two or three instances have I actually encountered a woman who was trying to control the church, pastor, preachers and the saints of God the way some men do. Human nature being what it is, doubtless there are several female Diotrephes out there.
I have often wondered, where do these kinds of people come from?
In my investigations I have found that many of these people start out as serious Holy Ghost filled saints of God and are actually genuine disciples of Jesus Christ who start out right and they rise to these leadership positions in the church on their own faithful merits. Many of them stepped up during very difficult times in these local churches. They provided leadership that saved the church. The congregation became overwhelmed with gratefulness and is now naturally looking to them for direction long after the crises is over.
When the new pastor arrives at the local church, he wants to identify the influence makers of the church. Whether these men hold elective office or not, these are the men and the women to whom the congregation naturally looks to when critical decisions are to be made in the church. If these people of influence oppose a program the new pastor is presenting, the new pastor is in trouble from the start. The new pastor will do well to get to know these people of influence and make sure they keep them on their side in the beginning.
Most of the Sons of Diotrphes, (SOD,s) are not and never have been serious disciples of Jesus Christ, but they simple were willing to step in to fill a leadership vacuum in the local church during a crisis time in the local church and now they have a foothold of control and power and they refuse to vacate these positions. They enjoy being the power brokers and controllers of the local church. Such people are a blight and curse of every pastor and the painful slow death for every church unless the congregation binds together in unity, acting in harmony to break the stranglehold of these types of individuals.
As sad as it is, sometimes carnal men are assigned to positions of church leadership by merit of their wealth or position in the community or because of their professional role in life. In a small to medium size church which is made up of typical Americans, the owner of a business or a guy with a professional position, or an elected official will always stand out. The admiration which is shown to these people during the weekdays, by the ordinary run of the mill people, will also be shown to them at the local church they attend on Sunday morning. If they are regular in attendance and generous with their giving, they will almost always be elected to key positions in the local church, just because of their personal influence. Whether these individuals are spiritual, godly, humble, prayerful, mission minded, or even Holy Ghost filled with a servant’s heart and spirit or a with a heart for the work of God or not; these things rarely come into play in the typical small local church in our westernized America.
How sad this is today, it is so prevalent in our smaller local church communities? I personally pity the new pastors, especially the young men who are novices and especially if this is his first pastorate. These men walk into a church with a desire to do the will of God, and they are unprepared to deal with these carnal church leaders who enjoy their positions of control and power, these people who cannot wait to let this new pastor know who is in charge and running the show in this local church.
I wish I had been taught about dealing with the Sons of Diotrephes (SOD,s) when I began to pastor. In the local church where I served in my first pastoring position, (I was 49 years old when I was voted in by 100%) it did not take me long to realize the strongest lay leaders, (the ones that had the loudest voices and insisted that everything that went on in that little church had to be run by them) were a couple successful farmers who did very little in the city the church was in. These men were related to one another and over half the church members were related to them. (In fact over forty seven members of the church worked on their farm.) I had preached three revivals in that little church before I was voted in as pastor and these men were personally so kind and friendly, they were a pleasure to fellowship with. However, it was not long after I became their pastor that I realized to them I was a hireling, a man with a position on the church staff and hardly a blip on their radars at all. I as the pastor of that small local church was in their cross hairs from day one. I found out later they served the pastor for dinner and supper often, because they were preacher eaters.
Let me relay a story I read at this point:
A new pastor arrived at this small local church and quickly ran into the reality that this church had a small group of SOD’s controlling the church. After a few weary and difficult years the pastor bails out and relocates his family to another state to another small church. Some years later, the pastor who succeeded him had gotten into moral trouble and had resigned abruptly, the pastor search committee wanted this former pastor to return and pastor the church again. The search committee was surprised by his response. “Before I agree to talk with your search committee, I want Mr. Diotrephes (he named this pastor eater by name) to fly out here and ask me personally to become the pastor, if he does not fly out here and personally talk with me I am not interested and I will not even talk with you as members of the search team.” When this man or Diotrephes showed up at this pastor’s office, he was somewhat older now and he approached the pastor with his felt hat in his hand and very kindly he ask this pastor to please come back to their local church and be their pastor. The pastor began to speak kindly, but very plain and straight to him and told him if he would return as pastor, this man Diotrephes would have no say in the church, because things must be as the Lord orders it. The pastor said, if this is a problem we have no deal. This pastor returned and led this church through a major building program and a local church that tripled in size. He wrote that his influence, leadership and authority were never seriously threatened from that day forward. Unfortunately this pastor was in an unusual, unique situation, something that is not easily duplicated in the Westernized Christian Churches here in America, because there are so many Sons of Diotrephes in our local churches.
I have asked myself this question and still ponder it today, “How would a pastor deal with the SOD,s in a local church where he was the new pastor?”
1st the new pastor would have to walk very quietly and carefully in his new pastorate.
2nd the new pastor must spend much time in prayer and have a group of prayer warriors praying with him and for him.
3rd the new pastor must get a very good understanding quickly who is trying to run and control the church, also know who is trying to become his friend for the purpose of manipulating him. He then begins to gingerly deal with the situation a little at the time.
A wise pastor will do everything in his power to find out how decisions are made, and whether elected, non-elected or self-appointed laypeople call the shots in this local church this is a must before a new pastor even accepts the pastorate of the church. Just a little investigation is all it takes this along with much prayer and communication with God. If you know who some of the previous pastors are call them and be plain with them. (It is usually not a good idea to call the pastor who has just left, because wrong or right you will get a slanted view about the church.) Call your denominational leaders, sectional presbyters and other elected officials much of what they have to say will help you to proceed further with the local church and its search committee.
The former pastor of the first church I was elected to pastor, made no bones about it with me. “Brother Bankens,” this younger gentleman said, as he and I sat in the church office, “ten of the most miserable years of my life and my ministry were spent in this church.” “A little group was organized against me and they fought me on every decision I made. Whenever they got word that we were going to be presenting anything to the church for a vote, they would burn the telephones lines up organizing their opposition against the change.” (Although after leaving this church for nine or ten years this former pastor is back at that church assisting the leader of the group that had organized everything against him while he was pastor there.)
After hearing this former pastor speak to me, I still went to that church as the new pastor. I went, knowing I could expect opposition from that same small, but powerful group of church members. Sure enough they were on the job when I got there. They fed me and my wife, fellowshipped with us after church and were just so kind when we first got there. I found out later that the leader of this group told the church members I was too conservative for his liking, before I ever got there. Instead of staying twenty years as I had intended when I accepted the pastorate, I left after I had been there five years.
In my case, after I had been there two and a half years, I called our sectional presbyter to come to a meeting. He came and spent several hours talking to the entire congregation, then he and I met with the man and his brother who were leading the opposition. After our conversation for over two hours these strong willed laymen said they would not change their stand. I had tried to meet them half way in their demands but to no avail, they left with sixty seven family members and people who worked on their farm. (Personally in looking back, I should have packed my bags and left that area as quickly as I could, while I still had a number of churches who were after me to come hold them revival meetings. But I stayed, to my detriment a little over two and a half years longer. I still had some good people in the church with me, but not one of them was a leader or aggressive in evangelism and drawing new people.
After five years, I resigned and moved to my second church as pastor. (When I left within just a short while that group came back and begin to control the little church. The man who was Diotrephes was voted in as the pastor.)
I must confess, it hurts to walk away from a local congregation in that manner. I left there feeling so defeated, but I now realize that in doing so, I probably saved my own life. The stress of that pastorate was slowly killing me. When I left I had lost my voice and could only whisper when I preached.
(Let me deal with something, there is that feeling that creeps up inside of all of us when we feel like we have been defrauded by controlling SOD’s and we would like God to quickly deal with them as He dealt with those who stood against Moses.
Numbers 16:1-3 New Living Translation ®,
1 One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben.
2 They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly.
3 They united against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of the Lord's people?"
Numbers 16:4-6 New Living Translation,
4 When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell face down on the ground.
5 Then he said to Korah and his followers, "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The Lord will allow only those whom he selects to enter his own presence.
Numbers 16:9-11 New Living Translation ®,
9 Does it seem insignificant to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the community of Israel to be near him so you can serve in the Lord's Tabernacle and stand before the people to minister to them?
10 Korah, he has already given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now demanding the priesthood as well?
11 The Lord is the one you and your followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?"
Numbers 16:15-17 New Living Translation ®,
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, "Do not accept their grain offerings! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of them."
16 And Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers must come here tomorrow and present yourselves before the Lord. Aaron will also be here. 17 You and each of your 250 followers must prepare an incense burner and put incense on it, so you can all present them before the Lord. Aaron will also bring his incense burner."
Numbers 16:18-20 New Living Translation ®,
18 So each of these men prepared an incense burner, lit the fire, and placed incense on it. Then they all stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.
19 Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all gathered at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to the whole community,
Numbers 16:20-24 New Living Translation ®,
20 and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
21 "Get away from all these people so that I may instantly destroy them!"
22 But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. "O God," they pleaded, "you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?"
23 And the Lord said to Moses,
24 "Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."
Numbers 16:25-27 New Living Translation ®,
25 So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel. 26 "Quick!" he told the people. "Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don't touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins."
27 So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together with their wives and children and little ones.
Numbers 16:28-30 New Living Translation ®,
28 And Moses said, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things that I have done—for I have not done them on my own.
29 If these men die a natural death, or if nothing unusual happens, then the Lord has not sent me.
30 But if the Lord does something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have shown contempt for the Lord."
Numbers 16:31-35 New Living Translation ®,
31 He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them.
32 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.
33 So they went down alive into the grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished from among the people of Israel.
34 All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. "The earth will swallow us, too!" they cried.
35 Then fire blazed forth from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
I do know what westernized Christians say about this kind of writing from a pastor or preacher, God used those tactics in the Old Testament because the people in that day needed to know He alone was God. But today we are sophisticated and educated and God has given us the gifts to be able to lead our own people, we do not need a pastor to tell us what to do, these kinds of thing no longer happen today. Beware saints of God, do not overstep your calling and position in the Local Church.
One day not to long ago one of these SOD’s came to me in this church I now pastor and said, “Preacher, does it not matter to you the caliber of the people who are opposed to you? At that time I simple muttered a couple words back to him, “It Does.” Only later after I was by myself away from this carnal individual did the Lord call Numbers 16:2 to my mind, it was here that all of these people of renown opposed Moses.
Numbers 16:2 KJV,
2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
In Moses case God dealt quickly and dramatically with these men of renown. Now in my case God is dealing with these men, maybe not in a quick and dramatic way but God is dealing with them. I pray they will see the error of their ways and repent. I have learned over my lifetime that God grinds slow, but He also grinds fine. This is a point we must understand we cannot avenge ourselves, vengeance belongs to God.
Romans 12:17-19 New Living Translation ®,
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.
18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back," says the Lord.
I was preaching one evening in the church I now have been pastoring for several years and in so many words I let the entire congregation know that there was a small group of people who were trying to control and manipulate our every move as a local church. I let the church know this small group was simply that, small in number, and they did not represent the majority of the saints. But I told the church as long as they manipulated and controlled we could not have a spirit of unity in our local church. I said this small group puts a drag on everything we do here, they have been a thorn in my flesh and do everything they can to destroy my ministry and my leadership. I then told that small group of SOD’s I was talking to them and they needed to listen to me carefully; (I have never called their names) I said, “I need you to know two important things as I preach tonight: 1st, God has allowed you in my path, using your opposition to strengthen me as it purifies my spirit. 2nd, each and every single one of you will have to stand before God one day and give an account for what you have done against His Church and the men through the years He has sent to you as pastor. I then went on to say, I would not want to be in some of your shoes for anything in this world. I then quoted to them this scripture as I continued to preach,
Hebrews 10:31 KJV,
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Toward the end of my preaching at that time, I told the SOD’s who have been in that church for a long time, “I am serving you notice at this moment, I will continue to love you, this church family will continue to love you, but we will no longer listen to anything you have to say. We are simply going to ignore you as we go forward.” The majority of the congregation stood to their feet in applause. After service several came to me and asked me why it had taken me so long to come against those spirits openly. I told them you do not understand I have vivid memories of the turmoil I left in the former church I pastored and do not want to end up here as a failure. I went on to say, I have spent seven hard years trying to become the pastor of this church and gain the confidence of the majority of the good saints here. I said without the people of this church standing with me we will never overcome the controls of the SOD’s.
Here are my suggestions to the pastors who find themselves in the spiritual pit filled with SOD’s who are filled with evil demonic spirits:
1. Spend a great deal of your time on your face talking to God.
2. Protect your wife (spouse) from the majority of the stress. If your wife can continue loving the SOD’s and their families without reservation, that is the best for her. When you are confronted by these type people she needs to know some of what is going on, but she does not need to know all the gory details.
3. Remember always these words of Jesus,
Luke 6:27-28 New Living Translation ®,
27 "But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.
28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
4. Minister to the SOD,s in your church as faithfully as you do everyone else. Otherwise, you will be giving them materials to use against you, and some weak saint will believe them and spiritually become defeated.
5. As you slowly gain the trust of the rest of the congregation, slowly move forward toward your goals, in God’s timing you will then be able to withstand the SOD,s more aggressively and with greater success. (Remember do not make a quick and open move against them, let them make the quick and open moves against you. In this manner the good saints of god will see they are wrong in their spirit.)
6. Remember that a short-term pastorate plays right into their hands. If you pack up and leave in just a few short years, they are vindicated that their leadership is needed to save the church from all these vicious pastors. In the interim they will gain support among the members of the church and they will be lying in wait for the next pastor that is voted in. That is why you must stand for truth and right, so that these spirits that have controlled our churches and stifled our pastors for so long will be defeated.
7. Remember Vengeance is not yours, I talked about that above vengeance belongs to God. Our job as the pastor, is preach the Word of God, love the sheep God has placed under our pastorate and all the while stay very close to the Lord. Have a strong personal relationship with Jesus.
There is one more method I would like to deal with. It is a quick method that will end the reign of the SOD,s in the church you pastor. It will break the strangle hold these people with these evil spirits have on your local church.
Other laymen who are within the local congregation will have to see the need and rise up against the controlling spirits of the SOD,s and put them out of business. These laymen can do this quickly and anytime they please, but they have to stand-up and do it.
In many of our local congregations including the one I now pastor, the SOD,s have the pastor down for the count, in fact they have him in a hammer lock. The pastor has his back against the mat so to speak and has nowhere to go.
Pastoring this local congregation is a pastor’s livelihood, he needs the income he receives to pay his bills and feed his family. If he gets run off from this local church and is unemployed he has no recourse, nowhere to turn. As an unemployed pastor it is difficult to find another local church to pastor. Pastor search committees are understandably wary of a “flockless shepherd.” If you are such a good pastor, Sir, why aren’t you leading a local church somewhere?
Now on the other hand the SOD,s do not have these same controls on the rest of the congregation. These people have their own livelihoods and means of making a living so the SOD,s have to gain their friendships and build their confidence. They become suave, kind and thoughtful to the people of the congregation. They appoint people into positions of leadership, teacher positions and even platform leaders while the church has no pastor, making the whole congregation indebted to them. The church congregation becomes so trusting of these wonderful, godly, spiritual leader’s, that when the new pastor does come on the scene the church is still following the leadership of the SOD,s.
When the pastor does try to become the leader of the local church and these SOD, stand openly and oppose him the church congregation has so much trust for the SOD,s, they know they could not possibly do anything that would be detrimental to the work of God or the local church. And like sheep the congregation begins to fall prey to these wolves in sheep’s clothing as they wonder all alone and theses wolves then begin to harass them and eventually devour them, because they have taken them from the security of their shepherd.
The remedy seems to be so simple, but it will take men with dignity, to stand with the Pastor. So as a pastor use the business meeting to get someone to ask pertinent questions so all of the members can hear the question and the answers as they watch the SOD,s be so unkind to their shepherd. Questions such as, “Who decided this? Pastor, was this what you wanted?” “Who is on the committee and who appointed them to this position?”
Two things that SOD,s cannot handle are exposure (for everyone else to know what they have been doing behind the scenes all this time) and accountability (the insistence that decision makers must report to the entire congregation on what they did and why they did it.)
Sons of Diotrephes (SOD,s) have contempt for the laity in their congregation, they actually think no one is as smart and intelligent as them. They know for a fact no one in the congregation can make the right decisions, like they can. The SOD,s know that the greatest number of church members want to be left alone and do not want anything to do with the inner workings of their local church. Just let us come to church in a comfortable setting, we will give our tithes and offering, we will ask no questions, we will be happy just to have our nice little church to attend.
But pastors if we can ever wake the congregation up and let them really understand what is happening to their little church. Some of these wonderful people will begin to hold these Sons of Diotrepes accountable for their actions as they begin to ask questions in public. This begins to turn a light on the matters at hand and the people begin to see what is really happening and what is really taking place in their local church. This could save the church from constant battles and it could sure rescue the embattled pastor.
I have come to the realization and understanding there is no one two plan for dealing with these SOD,s or self appointed bosses, these pastor eaters in the church. But I hope for the sake of the question that was asked by me from this wonderful Bible College Student, that my analysis will provide you and everyone else some assistance.
Do not forget every local congregation needs to mobilize a prayer support team. This is needed in good times or in bad times we all need a strong team of intercessors who regularly go before the throne of God praying for the local church, the pastor, the ministering team and the work of God through their local church in general.
“How should the church and the Pastor deal with Preacher Eaters in the local church?”
Several years ago, I taught a group of young preachers in a licensing seminar class. The class was made up of young men who were assisting pastors in some ministry in the local church settings, young traveling evangelist and also young men who were just starting to launch themselves into the ministry. I cautioned these young preachers and ministers about a large snare that was lying in their paths. I told them this snare has been there for every young preacher and minister who were in the ministry of helping or assisting other men in their ministry. I told them to beware of certain church members who would come around and try puffing them up into believing that they were superior to the pastor or minister and that they ought to have his position.
In telling my own story from several years back, I expressed my gratitude to the fact that I had not become the senior pastor while I was a really young man, for several reasons. The chief reason among the many reason was the fact that extremely strong laymen who exercised great influence in the home church I was raised up in would have chewed me up and spit me out.
One of the young preachers who attended that class wrote me an e-mail asking me to elaborate on who these type people might be, how do we identify these type people? How do these people operate in the local church? What is a pastor to do when he finds himself serving in a church with such strong laymen in it and especially when those have a role in leadership?
Nothing that I write is meant to imply that I think I have the wisdom and knowledge nor do I have all of the answers or the solutions for this subject. Far from it, but I do carry may wounds and scars from the many encounters with some of these type laymen. I have been pastor in only two churches and have had to encounter these type laymen in both of them.
The Apostle John wrote to his beloved friend Gaius in his epistle,
III John
1 The elder unto the well beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
John talks about the charity and kindness of the church and how they have treated those traveling through the area speaking this great truth, but there is now a problem.
3 John 9-11 New Living Translation ®,
9 I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us.
10 When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.
11 Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.
By reading these writings of John we see that these types and kinds of laymen have always been with us. I am talking about these self-appointed church rulers, church bosses, Preacher Eaters, who set themselves up as the Big Frog in these small ponds we call the local church to reign and control. These who are self-appointed get their thrills from dominating God called and God sent pastors and even other ministers in the local church.
These self-appointed leaders are almost always men, but I have learned through my tenure as a pastor, that most often behind these type men is a woman with the spirit of Jezebel. Usually the men and the women want to put on airs and appearances as though they are super spiritual and they only have the work of the Lord in their local church in mind. Only in two or three instances have I actually encountered a woman who was trying to control the church, pastor, preachers and the saints of God the way some men do. Human nature being what it is, doubtless there are several female Diotrephes out there.
I have often wondered, where do these kinds of people come from?
In my investigations I have found that many of these people start out as serious Holy Ghost filled saints of God and are actually genuine disciples of Jesus Christ who start out right and they rise to these leadership positions in the church on their own faithful merits. Many of them stepped up during very difficult times in these local churches. They provided leadership that saved the church. The congregation became overwhelmed with gratefulness and is now naturally looking to them for direction long after the crises is over.
When the new pastor arrives at the local church, he wants to identify the influence makers of the church. Whether these men hold elective office or not, these are the men and the women to whom the congregation naturally looks to when critical decisions are to be made in the church. If these people of influence oppose a program the new pastor is presenting, the new pastor is in trouble from the start. The new pastor will do well to get to know these people of influence and make sure they keep them on their side in the beginning.
Most of the Sons of Diotrphes, (SOD,s) are not and never have been serious disciples of Jesus Christ, but they simple were willing to step in to fill a leadership vacuum in the local church during a crisis time in the local church and now they have a foothold of control and power and they refuse to vacate these positions. They enjoy being the power brokers and controllers of the local church. Such people are a blight and curse of every pastor and the painful slow death for every church unless the congregation binds together in unity, acting in harmony to break the stranglehold of these types of individuals.
As sad as it is, sometimes carnal men are assigned to positions of church leadership by merit of their wealth or position in the community or because of their professional role in life. In a small to medium size church which is made up of typical Americans, the owner of a business or a guy with a professional position, or an elected official will always stand out. The admiration which is shown to these people during the weekdays, by the ordinary run of the mill people, will also be shown to them at the local church they attend on Sunday morning. If they are regular in attendance and generous with their giving, they will almost always be elected to key positions in the local church, just because of their personal influence. Whether these individuals are spiritual, godly, humble, prayerful, mission minded, or even Holy Ghost filled with a servant’s heart and spirit or a with a heart for the work of God or not; these things rarely come into play in the typical small local church in our westernized America.
How sad this is today, it is so prevalent in our smaller local church communities? I personally pity the new pastors, especially the young men who are novices and especially if this is his first pastorate. These men walk into a church with a desire to do the will of God, and they are unprepared to deal with these carnal church leaders who enjoy their positions of control and power, these people who cannot wait to let this new pastor know who is in charge and running the show in this local church.
I wish I had been taught about dealing with the Sons of Diotrephes (SOD,s) when I began to pastor. In the local church where I served in my first pastoring position, (I was 49 years old when I was voted in by 100%) it did not take me long to realize the strongest lay leaders, (the ones that had the loudest voices and insisted that everything that went on in that little church had to be run by them) were a couple successful farmers who did very little in the city the church was in. These men were related to one another and over half the church members were related to them. (In fact over forty seven members of the church worked on their farm.) I had preached three revivals in that little church before I was voted in as pastor and these men were personally so kind and friendly, they were a pleasure to fellowship with. However, it was not long after I became their pastor that I realized to them I was a hireling, a man with a position on the church staff and hardly a blip on their radars at all. I as the pastor of that small local church was in their cross hairs from day one. I found out later they served the pastor for dinner and supper often, because they were preacher eaters.
Let me relay a story I read at this point:
A new pastor arrived at this small local church and quickly ran into the reality that this church had a small group of SOD’s controlling the church. After a few weary and difficult years the pastor bails out and relocates his family to another state to another small church. Some years later, the pastor who succeeded him had gotten into moral trouble and had resigned abruptly, the pastor search committee wanted this former pastor to return and pastor the church again. The search committee was surprised by his response. “Before I agree to talk with your search committee, I want Mr. Diotrephes (he named this pastor eater by name) to fly out here and ask me personally to become the pastor, if he does not fly out here and personally talk with me I am not interested and I will not even talk with you as members of the search team.” When this man or Diotrephes showed up at this pastor’s office, he was somewhat older now and he approached the pastor with his felt hat in his hand and very kindly he ask this pastor to please come back to their local church and be their pastor. The pastor began to speak kindly, but very plain and straight to him and told him if he would return as pastor, this man Diotrephes would have no say in the church, because things must be as the Lord orders it. The pastor said, if this is a problem we have no deal. This pastor returned and led this church through a major building program and a local church that tripled in size. He wrote that his influence, leadership and authority were never seriously threatened from that day forward. Unfortunately this pastor was in an unusual, unique situation, something that is not easily duplicated in the Westernized Christian Churches here in America, because there are so many Sons of Diotrephes in our local churches.
I have asked myself this question and still ponder it today, “How would a pastor deal with the SOD,s in a local church where he was the new pastor?”
1st the new pastor would have to walk very quietly and carefully in his new pastorate.
2nd the new pastor must spend much time in prayer and have a group of prayer warriors praying with him and for him.
3rd the new pastor must get a very good understanding quickly who is trying to run and control the church, also know who is trying to become his friend for the purpose of manipulating him. He then begins to gingerly deal with the situation a little at the time.
A wise pastor will do everything in his power to find out how decisions are made, and whether elected, non-elected or self-appointed laypeople call the shots in this local church this is a must before a new pastor even accepts the pastorate of the church. Just a little investigation is all it takes this along with much prayer and communication with God. If you know who some of the previous pastors are call them and be plain with them. (It is usually not a good idea to call the pastor who has just left, because wrong or right you will get a slanted view about the church.) Call your denominational leaders, sectional presbyters and other elected officials much of what they have to say will help you to proceed further with the local church and its search committee.
The former pastor of the first church I was elected to pastor, made no bones about it with me. “Brother Bankens,” this younger gentleman said, as he and I sat in the church office, “ten of the most miserable years of my life and my ministry were spent in this church.” “A little group was organized against me and they fought me on every decision I made. Whenever they got word that we were going to be presenting anything to the church for a vote, they would burn the telephones lines up organizing their opposition against the change.” (Although after leaving this church for nine or ten years this former pastor is back at that church assisting the leader of the group that had organized everything against him while he was pastor there.)
After hearing this former pastor speak to me, I still went to that church as the new pastor. I went, knowing I could expect opposition from that same small, but powerful group of church members. Sure enough they were on the job when I got there. They fed me and my wife, fellowshipped with us after church and were just so kind when we first got there. I found out later that the leader of this group told the church members I was too conservative for his liking, before I ever got there. Instead of staying twenty years as I had intended when I accepted the pastorate, I left after I had been there five years.
In my case, after I had been there two and a half years, I called our sectional presbyter to come to a meeting. He came and spent several hours talking to the entire congregation, then he and I met with the man and his brother who were leading the opposition. After our conversation for over two hours these strong willed laymen said they would not change their stand. I had tried to meet them half way in their demands but to no avail, they left with sixty seven family members and people who worked on their farm. (Personally in looking back, I should have packed my bags and left that area as quickly as I could, while I still had a number of churches who were after me to come hold them revival meetings. But I stayed, to my detriment a little over two and a half years longer. I still had some good people in the church with me, but not one of them was a leader or aggressive in evangelism and drawing new people.
After five years, I resigned and moved to my second church as pastor. (When I left within just a short while that group came back and begin to control the little church. The man who was Diotrephes was voted in as the pastor.)
I must confess, it hurts to walk away from a local congregation in that manner. I left there feeling so defeated, but I now realize that in doing so, I probably saved my own life. The stress of that pastorate was slowly killing me. When I left I had lost my voice and could only whisper when I preached.
(Let me deal with something, there is that feeling that creeps up inside of all of us when we feel like we have been defrauded by controlling SOD’s and we would like God to quickly deal with them as He dealt with those who stood against Moses.
Numbers 16:1-3 New Living Translation ®,
1 One day Korah son of Izhar, a descendant of Kohath son of Levi, conspired with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, from the tribe of Reuben.
2 They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders of the community, all prominent members of the assembly.
3 They united against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of the Lord's people?"
Numbers 16:4-6 New Living Translation,
4 When Moses heard what they were saying, he fell face down on the ground.
5 Then he said to Korah and his followers, "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The Lord will allow only those whom he selects to enter his own presence.
Numbers 16:9-11 New Living Translation ®,
9 Does it seem insignificant to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the community of Israel to be near him so you can serve in the Lord's Tabernacle and stand before the people to minister to them?
10 Korah, he has already given this special ministry to you and your fellow Levites. Are you now demanding the priesthood as well?
11 The Lord is the one you and your followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?"
Numbers 16:15-17 New Living Translation ®,
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, "Do not accept their grain offerings! I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of them."
16 And Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers must come here tomorrow and present yourselves before the Lord. Aaron will also be here. 17 You and each of your 250 followers must prepare an incense burner and put incense on it, so you can all present them before the Lord. Aaron will also bring his incense burner."
Numbers 16:18-20 New Living Translation ®,
18 So each of these men prepared an incense burner, lit the fire, and placed incense on it. Then they all stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.
19 Meanwhile, Korah had stirred up the entire community against Moses and Aaron, and they all gathered at the Tabernacle entrance. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to the whole community,
Numbers 16:20-24 New Living Translation ®,
20 and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
21 "Get away from all these people so that I may instantly destroy them!"
22 But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground. "O God," they pleaded, "you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Must you be angry with all the people when only one man sins?"
23 And the Lord said to Moses,
24 "Then tell all the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram."
Numbers 16:25-27 New Living Translation ®,
25 So Moses got up and rushed over to the tents of Dathan and Abiram, followed by the elders of Israel. 26 "Quick!" he told the people. "Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don't touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins."
27 So all the people stood back from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, together with their wives and children and little ones.
Numbers 16:28-30 New Living Translation ®,
28 And Moses said, "This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things that I have done—for I have not done them on my own.
29 If these men die a natural death, or if nothing unusual happens, then the Lord has not sent me.
30 But if the Lord does something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have shown contempt for the Lord."
Numbers 16:31-35 New Living Translation ®,
31 He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them.
32 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.
33 So they went down alive into the grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished from among the people of Israel.
34 All the people around them fled when they heard their screams. "The earth will swallow us, too!" they cried.
35 Then fire blazed forth from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
I do know what westernized Christians say about this kind of writing from a pastor or preacher, God used those tactics in the Old Testament because the people in that day needed to know He alone was God. But today we are sophisticated and educated and God has given us the gifts to be able to lead our own people, we do not need a pastor to tell us what to do, these kinds of thing no longer happen today. Beware saints of God, do not overstep your calling and position in the Local Church.
One day not to long ago one of these SOD’s came to me in this church I now pastor and said, “Preacher, does it not matter to you the caliber of the people who are opposed to you? At that time I simple muttered a couple words back to him, “It Does.” Only later after I was by myself away from this carnal individual did the Lord call Numbers 16:2 to my mind, it was here that all of these people of renown opposed Moses.
Numbers 16:2 KJV,
2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
In Moses case God dealt quickly and dramatically with these men of renown. Now in my case God is dealing with these men, maybe not in a quick and dramatic way but God is dealing with them. I pray they will see the error of their ways and repent. I have learned over my lifetime that God grinds slow, but He also grinds fine. This is a point we must understand we cannot avenge ourselves, vengeance belongs to God.
Romans 12:17-19 New Living Translation ®,
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.
18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back," says the Lord.
I was preaching one evening in the church I now have been pastoring for several years and in so many words I let the entire congregation know that there was a small group of people who were trying to control and manipulate our every move as a local church. I let the church know this small group was simply that, small in number, and they did not represent the majority of the saints. But I told the church as long as they manipulated and controlled we could not have a spirit of unity in our local church. I said this small group puts a drag on everything we do here, they have been a thorn in my flesh and do everything they can to destroy my ministry and my leadership. I then told that small group of SOD’s I was talking to them and they needed to listen to me carefully; (I have never called their names) I said, “I need you to know two important things as I preach tonight: 1st, God has allowed you in my path, using your opposition to strengthen me as it purifies my spirit. 2nd, each and every single one of you will have to stand before God one day and give an account for what you have done against His Church and the men through the years He has sent to you as pastor. I then went on to say, I would not want to be in some of your shoes for anything in this world. I then quoted to them this scripture as I continued to preach,
Hebrews 10:31 KJV,
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Toward the end of my preaching at that time, I told the SOD’s who have been in that church for a long time, “I am serving you notice at this moment, I will continue to love you, this church family will continue to love you, but we will no longer listen to anything you have to say. We are simply going to ignore you as we go forward.” The majority of the congregation stood to their feet in applause. After service several came to me and asked me why it had taken me so long to come against those spirits openly. I told them you do not understand I have vivid memories of the turmoil I left in the former church I pastored and do not want to end up here as a failure. I went on to say, I have spent seven hard years trying to become the pastor of this church and gain the confidence of the majority of the good saints here. I said without the people of this church standing with me we will never overcome the controls of the SOD’s.
Here are my suggestions to the pastors who find themselves in the spiritual pit filled with SOD’s who are filled with evil demonic spirits:
1. Spend a great deal of your time on your face talking to God.
2. Protect your wife (spouse) from the majority of the stress. If your wife can continue loving the SOD’s and their families without reservation, that is the best for her. When you are confronted by these type people she needs to know some of what is going on, but she does not need to know all the gory details.
3. Remember always these words of Jesus,
Luke 6:27-28 New Living Translation ®,
27 "But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.
28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
4. Minister to the SOD,s in your church as faithfully as you do everyone else. Otherwise, you will be giving them materials to use against you, and some weak saint will believe them and spiritually become defeated.
5. As you slowly gain the trust of the rest of the congregation, slowly move forward toward your goals, in God’s timing you will then be able to withstand the SOD,s more aggressively and with greater success. (Remember do not make a quick and open move against them, let them make the quick and open moves against you. In this manner the good saints of god will see they are wrong in their spirit.)
6. Remember that a short-term pastorate plays right into their hands. If you pack up and leave in just a few short years, they are vindicated that their leadership is needed to save the church from all these vicious pastors. In the interim they will gain support among the members of the church and they will be lying in wait for the next pastor that is voted in. That is why you must stand for truth and right, so that these spirits that have controlled our churches and stifled our pastors for so long will be defeated.
7. Remember Vengeance is not yours, I talked about that above vengeance belongs to God. Our job as the pastor, is preach the Word of God, love the sheep God has placed under our pastorate and all the while stay very close to the Lord. Have a strong personal relationship with Jesus.
There is one more method I would like to deal with. It is a quick method that will end the reign of the SOD,s in the church you pastor. It will break the strangle hold these people with these evil spirits have on your local church.
Other laymen who are within the local congregation will have to see the need and rise up against the controlling spirits of the SOD,s and put them out of business. These laymen can do this quickly and anytime they please, but they have to stand-up and do it.
In many of our local congregations including the one I now pastor, the SOD,s have the pastor down for the count, in fact they have him in a hammer lock. The pastor has his back against the mat so to speak and has nowhere to go.
Pastoring this local congregation is a pastor’s livelihood, he needs the income he receives to pay his bills and feed his family. If he gets run off from this local church and is unemployed he has no recourse, nowhere to turn. As an unemployed pastor it is difficult to find another local church to pastor. Pastor search committees are understandably wary of a “flockless shepherd.” If you are such a good pastor, Sir, why aren’t you leading a local church somewhere?
Now on the other hand the SOD,s do not have these same controls on the rest of the congregation. These people have their own livelihoods and means of making a living so the SOD,s have to gain their friendships and build their confidence. They become suave, kind and thoughtful to the people of the congregation. They appoint people into positions of leadership, teacher positions and even platform leaders while the church has no pastor, making the whole congregation indebted to them. The church congregation becomes so trusting of these wonderful, godly, spiritual leader’s, that when the new pastor does come on the scene the church is still following the leadership of the SOD,s.
When the pastor does try to become the leader of the local church and these SOD, stand openly and oppose him the church congregation has so much trust for the SOD,s, they know they could not possibly do anything that would be detrimental to the work of God or the local church. And like sheep the congregation begins to fall prey to these wolves in sheep’s clothing as they wonder all alone and theses wolves then begin to harass them and eventually devour them, because they have taken them from the security of their shepherd.
The remedy seems to be so simple, but it will take men with dignity, to stand with the Pastor. So as a pastor use the business meeting to get someone to ask pertinent questions so all of the members can hear the question and the answers as they watch the SOD,s be so unkind to their shepherd. Questions such as, “Who decided this? Pastor, was this what you wanted?” “Who is on the committee and who appointed them to this position?”
Two things that SOD,s cannot handle are exposure (for everyone else to know what they have been doing behind the scenes all this time) and accountability (the insistence that decision makers must report to the entire congregation on what they did and why they did it.)
Sons of Diotrephes (SOD,s) have contempt for the laity in their congregation, they actually think no one is as smart and intelligent as them. They know for a fact no one in the congregation can make the right decisions, like they can. The SOD,s know that the greatest number of church members want to be left alone and do not want anything to do with the inner workings of their local church. Just let us come to church in a comfortable setting, we will give our tithes and offering, we will ask no questions, we will be happy just to have our nice little church to attend.
But pastors if we can ever wake the congregation up and let them really understand what is happening to their little church. Some of these wonderful people will begin to hold these Sons of Diotrepes accountable for their actions as they begin to ask questions in public. This begins to turn a light on the matters at hand and the people begin to see what is really happening and what is really taking place in their local church. This could save the church from constant battles and it could sure rescue the embattled pastor.
I have come to the realization and understanding there is no one two plan for dealing with these SOD,s or self appointed bosses, these pastor eaters in the church. But I hope for the sake of the question that was asked by me from this wonderful Bible College Student, that my analysis will provide you and everyone else some assistance.
Do not forget every local congregation needs to mobilize a prayer support team. This is needed in good times or in bad times we all need a strong team of intercessors who regularly go before the throne of God praying for the local church, the pastor, the ministering team and the work of God through their local church in general.
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