WARNING!! DON'T GO AGAINST PASTORS, OR ANY MAN OF GOD!

DON'T EVER TALK ANYTHING BAD ABOUT THEM! God Will Judge
Them!

May 5, 2014 at 12:29 AM

PLEASE READ!!

Against God's Man :

God uses men and woman for His different purposes. God has delegated
many of the needs of His people to different ministries He knows are
paramount. One such need that God knows is important is to have a
shepherd of a local assembly of believers. That man is called a “pastor” or
“preacher”.

Maybe because of jealousy that they are not called to the position of
pastoring; maybe knowing they are not scripturally qualified for such a role
of leadership; perhaps because they do not agree with how he is
performing his ministry, or just having the belief they can do a better job
than their pastor, many talk against and about their preacher. What a
dangerous mistake they make when they do so.

All throughout the Bible there are examples of how God dealt with those
that rose up and spoke against God’s man such as:

When Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, Miriam was plagued with
leprosy (Num. 12:9-10).

When the people of Israel spoke against God and Moses (Num. 21:5-6),
God sent fiery serpents to chastise them for their sin.

When Korah and over 250 others spoke against Moses and Aaron (Num.
16:2-3), God allowed the earth to swallow Korah and the others up.

When children mocked God’s man, Elisha (II Kings 2:22-23), God allowed
two she bears to destroy 42 of the mockers.

History tells us that Pontius Pilate, who ordered Jesus’ death, died by
suicide.
Judas turned against Jesus, and became so miserable about what he had
done against Jesus that he killed himself (Mat. 27:5).

The thief that perished on the cross with Christ, spoke against Jesus, and
did not get saved and go to heaven.

David would not go against King Saul, even though the King did wrong
several times against him. David’s heart was, “The LORD forbid that I
should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD'S anointed: …” I Samuel
26:11. David knew it was wrong to oppose God’s man. However, today
there are many that have not the fear or respect to restrain themselves
from talking against or doing ill against the leader God has placed over the
local church.

The pastor of any church certainly is not perfect. No one will agree with
everything anyone does, let alone the many decisions the local shepherd
has to make. He probably would not agree with all we do, either. However,
he is the leader of the local church that God has for this time and should be
obeyed, respected, and encouraged. Unless when scriptural error is
involved, God takes him home, or God relocates him, he is to stay the
church leader.

Belittling and questioning his ministries does much damage:

Murmuring against God’s man is sin, and sin can only do harm to one’s life.
One will not be all he can be with any sin in his life.

Murmuring about another’s work for Christ will put one in a position of
judging (Mat. 7:1), and that is the Holy Spirit’s job, in most situations, not
ours.

Complaining about the pastor, or any other church leader or facet of the
church, is only going to spread discontent among others. It will sow seeds
of discord, and in most cases, will only hinder, not build, the ministry
(Proverbs 6:16-19). Division among members will result, when the leader is
opposed.

Speaking against the pastor, or other God-appointed leader, could hinder

the Holy Spirit of God from working in one’s life or could bring the wrath of
God on the violators.

Speaking ill against God’s man will not encourage the pastor in doing all he
can do. It discourages most pastors, and the body of Christ will surely
suffer.
When we talk about or question what the pastor is doing (or other church
leaders, for that matter) we are negating his authority to the listeners. If it is
our children that hear us roast the preacher after a sermon, it may not be
long until the children lose respect for his ministry, and do not heed the
biblical advice that is delivered from the pulpit or classroom. One day the
parent may wonder why the children are not following what was taught in
church from the Bible. They would never suspect their own bad-mouthing
of the preacher in their home had taught them that if the parents do not
respect the pastor, then they do not have to.

Murmuring against the man of God will hinder the effect any ministry has
on the neighboring community,Aaron and Hur knew a principle about
helping the man of God that would encourage and help any pastor today.
They noticed when Moses’ arms were up while directing a battle, that Israel
had the victory over the enemy. When the leader was tired and had not the
strength to lift up his arms, the battle was in the favor of the enemy. Aaron
and Hur made sure their leader’s arms were held high, so that they would
get the victory. They physically held up their leader’s arms.

If more people would realize that honoring God’s man is honoring God and
His work, and would encourage and help their pastor, more spiritual battles
would be won; and more pastors would be encouraged. Lift up your
leader's arms, do not force them down!
“If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything!”

4 Ways to Honor Pastors

By Mark Dance

Although most of you who read this blog already know that October is
pastor appreciation month; how many of your church members really know
or care? I am hoping that God will use this post to change that both for your
benefit and theirs.

Scripture is clear about the importance of showing honor to our pastors.

Unfortunately, pastors often have the awkward job of equipping their
members to do so. I want to suggest four ways churches can honor our
pastors, and encourage you to forward this post to your leaders.

1. WE HONOR OUR PASTORS BY SUPPORTING THEM

The elders who are good leaders should be considered worthy of an ample
honorarium, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For
the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,
and, the worker is worthy of his wages (1 Timothy 5:17-18).

“Ample honorarium” (aka: double honor) is a term that Paul only used here,
and reserved it for those who served the church as
pastors/elders/overseers.
God’s people should pay their pastors generously, although no specific
amount is given. Of course it is not God’s plan for pastors to fleece their
sheep or for churches to neglect their pastors. The personnel committee at
our church benchmarks staff salaries with two national surveys: The
Southern Baptist Convention Compensation Study by Guidestone Financial
Resources, LifeWay and Baptist state conventions (12,000 respondents
from all 42 state conventions); GROUP resources publishes their study bi-
annually.

All pastors are to be honored, but two kinds of pastors are worthy of
“double honor” (v.17):

“The elders who are good leaders.”

“Those who work hard at preaching and teaching.”

Pastors are not more important than the other members of God’s
household; however, they are the human leaders of it. The pastor’s job is to
take care of his church, and it is the church’s job to take care of their
pastors.

Those who proclaim the gospel should make their living by the gospel (1
Cor. 9:14).

The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the
teacher (Galatians 6:6).

2. WE HONOR OUR PASTORS BY DEFENDING THEM

A non-negotiable qualification for an elder is that he must have a good
reputation with outsiders (1 Timothy 3:7). Apparently, several church
leaders attacked the Apostle Paul’s reputation, and my stomach turns when
I read his final written words:

Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him
according to his works. Watch out for him yourself because he strongly
opposed our words. At my first defense, no one stood by me, but everyone
deserted me. May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with
me and strengthened me, so that the proclamation might be fully made
through me and all the Gentiles might hear (2 Timothy 4:14–17).

It is the church member’s job to not only provide for their pastors, but to
also protect them from the Alexanders in your church and community.
Joseph, Moses, David, Jeremiah, and Nehemiah were also criticized
publically. It is not enough to defend our pastors privately. It is each of our
job to make sure that our pastors are not treated like a floor-mat or
punching bag.

Hell’s hit list has 400,000 pastors on it. Join me in defending our pastors
against accusers, whether human or demonic.

3. WE HONOR OUR PASTORS BY RECOGNIZING THEM

Now we ask you, brothers, to give recognition to those who labor among
you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you (1 Thessalonians 5:12).
I have told pastors for years that if you do the best you can, the church will
do the best that they can to take care of you. Honestly, that has been the
case most, but not all of the time. Sometimes the pastors did not do the
best they could, while the church did. Other times, the pastors did the best
they could and the church did not step up. Why is that? Because we are a
family – and families make mistakes.

It seems to take less effort to point out someone’s weaknesses than their
strengths. Join me in recognizing our spiritual leaders this month in a public
way.

4. WE HONOR OUR PASTORS BY LOVING THEM

His job is to “keep watch over you” (Heb 13:17), but sometimes he needs
you to watch over him as well. Whether they are leading successfully or
failing miserably, in season and out of season, they all need the respect
and love of their church families.

Regard them very highly in love because of their work (1 Thessalonians

5:13).

Make sure your pastor knows that he is a beloved member of your church
family, and not just an employee who will eventually go somewhere else.
Join me in pouring into our pastors who have so generously poured into us.

It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my
heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment
and in the defense and establishment of the gospel. For God is my
witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus (Philippians
1:7–8).

3 Ways to Support Our Pastors

What does a strong church look like to you? You might say that it includes a lot of
things: community outreach, a missional mindset, Christ-centered teaching, an
atmosphere of discipleship and strong leadership. But we should not rely on
pastors alone to accomplish these things. As congregants, we also need to do the
work of ministry.

As a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6), we need to find ways to serve alongside

our pastors rather than let them do all of the ministerial work. Here are three
ways that we can support them.

Pray

Perhaps this point needs little explanation. Your pastor needs our prayer and our
unreserved participation in the joys and the sorrows of the church. None of us has
a more important place in the kingdom of God, distinct as our roles may be. In
Ephesians 6:18, Paul instructs the church: “… pray in the Spirit on all occasions
with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep
on praying for all the Lord’s people” (NIV).

Pray that your pastor may have great discernment as he opens God’s Word each
week and as he seeks to serve in the often demanding and sometimes exhausting
life of the church. By regularly praying for our pastors, we not only come to God
on their behalf; we also bring to mind the unique challenges that they face and
are made more aware of their needs.
Don’t idolize

Most of us would hesitate to admit that we have ever made an idol out of our
pastor. It’s usually very subtle (although, I did hear of a case were church
members became outraged when a new pastor attempted to remove his
predecessor’s picture from the wall of his office). Idolization of a pastor can start
to take shape when we hold the pastor’s words above or equal to Scripture. This
doesn’t mean you shouldn’t respect your pastor – you absolutely should. Respect
is not the same as idolization.

Why do we idolize? It’s the tendency of our fallen human nature. Pastors can be
great, and after all, if all we had to do is listen to them and have a good
relationship with them, the Christian life would be a little easier. Yet clearly
damage is done when we place anything before the Gospel. We know this to be
true when it comes to other “idols” in our lives: money, sex, power, family, etc.
Though it may be entirely unintended, church leaders can also be a dangerous
idol if our hearts are not fixed on Christ.

Take Initiative

Initiative is important. I say this to challenge myself as much as anyone else, since
it can be difficult to be the first one to step up when a need arises. It’s so much
easier to let the pastor direct all outreach, service and discipleship connected with
the church. However, it is quite possible that pastors would be able to function
best when their parishioners are willing to step up to the plate without being
asked. If you have a gift – and we all do – you shouldn’t need a special invitation
or permission to use it.

Working together
From beginning to end, the Bible is a story about God and His people. Yes, there
were key individuals along the way, but there were never alone. Moses had Aaron
to speak for him, Jonathan humbly acknowledged David’s kingship, Joseph stayed
by Mary’s side and the Philippians gave money so that Paul could minister to
others. These people cared little about their own gain or the status of the people
they were associated with. Instead, they acted together and did what they could
for the kingdom. In that same spirit, we ought to support our pastors by living out
our roles in the kingdom that Jesus described as being, “in your midst.” Luke
17:21b (NIV).