Yes, pastors must be honoured, respected and held in high regard by the people in the church. He must be supported and allowed to lead the church according to the vision of God. However, this doesn't mean that we cannot have point of disagreement with the pastor. Repeatedly, I have said that pastors are not perfect people. They are subject to mistakes and sometimes, terrible sins. They are not right all the time, and as people under them and working with them, we can have healthy disagreements. |
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The problem today is that people in the church doesn't know how to have healthy disagreement with the pastor. Whenever there is a conflict, we handle it in the wrong way and it results in heartache and tears.
Some people express disagreement with the pastor by writing anonymous letters. They send this letters to everyone or paste it on the church notice board and much havoc will be done to the peace and tranquility of the church.
Some others express disagreement through writing of petition to higher authorities of the church; while others use rumor, bickering and character assassination as weapons. All these will go on for a long time and eventually when it is cleared, things will never be the same in the church again. When there is a point of disagreement with the pastor, the following steps should be taken:
(a) Be very clear as to the point of disagreement
(b) Go to your pastor personally. Personal approach is better than letter writing. What you write today may turn to hunt you tomorrow.
(c) Seek to add value to your pastor.
(d) Don't fight out of selfish interest.
(e) Accept your fault, if you are wrong, make amends.
(g) If the differences are irreconcilable, and you find that you can no longer serve under his pastoral leadership, find another church.
DANGERS OF MALTREATING PASTORS
It is quite unfortunate that too many Christians are maltreating their pastors. In actual fact, some have allowed anger and annoyance towards the pastor to becloud their sense of judgment until they resort to maltreatment of pastors People in the church maltreat pastors today through denial of accommodation, unjust transfer, poor salaries, deprivation of food, clothing and shelter.
In some other cases, outright lies are told against pastors, traps are set for them so as to tarnish their names and image, such that they are driven and disgraced from the altar. All these and many more are the ways that churches and church members are maltreating pastors today.
However, it appears some people have forgotten the passage of the Scriptures in Psalm 105: 13-15 that says "When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; He suffered no man to do them wrong; yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; saying, touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm" If God defended His servants against molestation and maltreatment then, He will do the same today.
A good case in point is what happened in I King 13: 1-4. A man of God prophesied against the altar as he was led by the Lord and the king stretch forth his hand to arrest him and his hand dried up. Such is the protection and defense of God for his servants.
True servants of the Lord should not be joked with. True servants of the Lord must not be maltreated and be spoken against. Genuine men of God will be defended by the Lord against unjust treatment and injustice. God defended Abraham against Abimelech (Gen. 20:7-17). He warned the king with barrenness for taking the wife of the man of God. It was only the prayer of the man of God that reversed the curse of bareness in the home of Abimelech.
Such is still true today. In one church, a man slapped a pastor over a minor disagreement and the pastor took it calmly. But the man, his wife and children did not wake up the second morning. They were stone dead! Such is the attitude of God toward the maltreatment of His genuine servants. God has not placed the judgment of His servants in the hand of anybody.
Even when a pastor did evil, we are not to judge him. God is his judge, ours is to pray for him, and if you know you can no longer serve under him, it is better to find another church where you can serve wholeheartedly.
Many Christians today are battling with curses, poverty, bareness, closed heaven, sicknesses and stagnation in their lives and businesses simply because they have one way or the other maltreated a man of God, especially those who found themselves in positions in the church.
They have grown so bold and proud that they confront, accuse, and character assassinate pastors and use their houses as meeting points to discuss how to deal with their pastors. However, the Lord who dealt with Korah, Dathan and Abiram is still alive and He will defend His servants. Those who rebel against pastors will have the same fate like Absalom, except they repent quickly.
God will not joke with His true servants. He always defends them against ungodly and ambitious people in the church. Those who have turned it to their pastime to antagonize pastors should better prepare themselves for the judgment of God. God's Spirit will fight against them and be their enemy, except they repent and restitute (Isaiah 63: 10).
Remember that David never spared the man who confessed that he was the one who killed king Saul in the battle (II Sam. 1: 4-16). So also, God will not spare those who maltreat and molest His servants, if they don't quickly repent.
David knew God's attitude towards His servants, the more reason he never touched king Saul, even when he had every opportunity to do so (I Sam. 26:9-11). He knew that anyone that touches the Lord's anointed will not go scot-free, God will deal with such a person.
My sincere prayer is that Christians of today will learn lessons from this. We must' stop bringing divine judgment upon ourselves by unnecessarily touching and maltreating pastors.
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