Episode 18-- God’s Mandate to Church Leaders

Hello, Civilla Morgan here! Welcome to episode 18 of the Not Just Another Religion and Politics Podcast! Thank you for tuning in! So here’s the deal: 

I want this podcast to speak to people, not yell at people. Whether you are a Believer or not, a Christian or not, I want this podcast to be so plain in its language, that even if you have never stepped into a church, you will get this. You will get who Jesus is, and you will get what relationship with Him could be like, despite what people--Christians and non-Christians, try to do to get you to turn your back. Come along with me.

I promise it will be a really cool experience! 

Body of episode:

 

Down through the years, dare I say the centuries, religious leaders have gotten a bad rap, coming from decisions such as involving themselves in religious wars of the middle ages. You know, those wars where they conquered lands and people in the name of God. 

 

Today’s church leaders have suffered the same bad rap due to decisions of the flesh. You know, like getting caught in or being accused of compromising situations and acts. 

   

Here’s the thing, and this is in no way to make excuses, but no matter how long a human being lives on this earth, religious leader or not, he or she will suffer from the human condition. No matter how long someone has been a Believer, he will have to pray for God’s forgiveness because he will always say, do, or think, something ungodly. As we mature in our relationship with Jesus, with God, though, it is hoped that we will do and say these things less often. 

We will learn to think before we talk. We will learn not to judge lest we be judged. We will learn to have mercy on others because we have not walked their journey. And we will learn to show grace to those who have done us a small or a large wrong. It comes with time.    

But wait, who, what, exactly is a religious leader? Well, generally speaking, a religious leader is typically the pastor of a congregation, a bishop, an elder. Someone in leadership of a church or a church organization. This leader is typically installed by or voted in, by the church organization or church board. In many cases though, churches are started by someone who felt called.   

     

But back to the question I posed earlier, what is a church leader? What makes someone a church leader? It’s usually one of two reasons. When I first heard this reason, the hopeless romantic in me, the moral, ethical, ‘do the right things for the right reason’ person in me was shocked. Some people become church leaders for the money! Others become church leaders because they feel a calling. What is a calling? It is a prompting that you feel in your heart. It’s like any prompting you feel that you must do something. No matter how you try to ignore the prompting it keeps showing up. It keeps speaking to you. 

 

You can feel a prompting for anything. You can feel a prompting to attend a certain school when maybe you had a different school in mind altogether. Maybe you feel a prompt to become a doctor when everyone in your family is in law.  It’s that thing in your heart that you cannot ignore no matter how hard you try.

 Yet for some, they are indeed going into the family business.      

I could never understand it. The first time my dad told me about the calling versus leading a church for the money, or even just to keep the church in the family, I was shocked!  Maybe I’m naive, but I wonder where those who were not called, get their sermons and their stamina. How does one stand in the pulpit Sunday after Sunday, giving the Word, but not really feeling it? 

I guess it happens in other lines of work too. Remember those doctors and lawyers for example? Some doctors and lawyers are only in that line of work because their parents were, or it is what their parents wanted them to do. They're not feeling the call in their hearts. 

But is being a pastor still different than being a doctor or lawyer? Maybe from my vantage point, my lens;  growing up in church, as a pastor’s kid, I just can’t see someone just going through the motions in an ‘industry’ where you kinda have to have conversations with God on a regular basis, hearing from Him on a regular basis. How do you preach, run a church organization without that personal relationship with Jesus, with God? I know, naive. 

Maybe I have a tiny bit of insight though. You see, as a Believer, I sometimes don’t feel called. I have some prayers that I have prayed for years, that have not been answered. Sometimes I feel ignored, as my prayers go unanswered. Did God hear me? Why did he never answer? Why continue trusting and believing in Him as I continue not to see or hear an answer? 

What must it feel like to just be going through the motions, your heart not really in it, for financial gain, or to keep the ‘business’ in the family? 

2 Timothy 1:3-5 says ‘ This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.’

But really, this has been going on for thousands of years right?  

Well, regardless of the reason someone becomes a church leader: a pastor, a priest, a worship leader, an elder; God has a mandate: 

 

Psalm 2: 10-11 says ‘Therefore, you kings, be wise;  be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling.’

 

And 1 Timothy 5:17 says: 

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.’ 

 

So we as followers must respect our leaders. And the leaders must lead with a heart for God and for God’s people. 

‘Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,] which he obtained with his own blood.’--Acts 20:28.

 

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.--Jeremiah 23:1.

 

God is not playing with His leaders. He loves them. He knows they carry a heavy burden, so He’s not going to zap them with a lightning bolt when they mess up. Remember, we are all human. But I believe He watches the heart of the leader, as He watches all of our hearts. It is the heart He will judge. 

 

If you look at the way God spoke to his prophets, priests, and kings, particularly in the Old Testament, He was firm, He was kind. He did not veer away from what He commanded them to do, but He did not zap Jonah when he went in the opposite direction in which he was supposed to go. He called David a man after his own heart, but He punished David when He had to. 

There was a story where God asked David if he wanted to be judged by God himself, or by man. And David was quite clear he would prefer to be judged by God.

 ‘Then Satan attacked Israel by inciting David to enumerate a census of Israel. 2 David ordered Joab and the commanders of the army,[a] “Go take a census of Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan, and bring me a report so I can be aware of the total number.”

3 But Joab replied, “May the Lord increase the population of his people a hundredfold! Your majesty,[b] all of them are your majesty’s servants, aren’t they? So why should your majesty demand this? Why should he bring guilt to Israel?”

4 But the king’s order overruled Joab, so Joab left, traveled throughout all of Israel, and then returned to Jerusalem 5 to report the total population count to David. Throughout all of Israel, there were 1,100,000 men trained for war.[c] In Judah there were 470,000 men trained for war. 6 Levi and Benjamin were not included in the census because what the king had commanded was unethical to Joab.

David Chooses His Punishment

7 God considered this behavior[d] to be evil, so he attacked Israel. 8 David responded to God, “I sinned greatly by behaving this way. But now I am asking you, please remove the guilt of your servant, since I have acted very foolishly.”

9 So the Lord responded through Gad, David’s seer. 10 “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I’m holding three choices out for you: pick one of them for yourself, and I will do it to you.”’”[e]

11 Gad went to David and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Make a choice for yourself: 12 Either three years of famine, or three months of reversals[f] as you are swept away by your enemies while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or three days with the sword of the Lord, consisting of pestilence infecting the land, with the angel of the Lord wreaking destruction from border to border throughout all[g] of Israel.’ Decide right now what I am to answer to the one who sent me.”

13 So David replied to Gad, “This is a very bad choice for me to make! Let me now please fall into the hand of the Lord, because his mercy is very great, but may I never fall into human hands!”--1 Chronicles 21:1-13.

David knew all about human nature. And don’t we all?

 

I did some research on the word pastor. In Hebrew, the definition of the word pastor is ‘to tend a flock. To rule by extens, to associate with (as a friend) make friendship with, a herdsman…’ Sounds nice right? Normal, friendly.  

 That’s what a pastor should be. A leader, a tender of his flock, right. To tend the flock what type of heart should he have? Can you lead and tend the flock with a wrong heart?  

I’m sure it’s possible. Look, Jeremiah 17:9 says ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick;  who can understand it?’  Church leader, pastor, priest, or regular Joe or Jill, our hearts can go to some very dark places. We have to maintain that relationship with Jesus, with God. We have to let God guard and speak to our hearts, to keep our hearts in the right place...at all times. It is very easy to allow the darkness to take over when we are dealing with everyday issues, and life, and death, and being wronged, and sudden reversals on our life’s journey. Life is not easy for anyone, especially not for pastors. But growth and maturity are strong legs to stand on. 

 

It is very important that we pray for our pastors in particular, and church leaders in general.  But there is one thing I want to ask you not to forget. It will help you if you come across a dreaded news story where you hear that yet another pastor has fallen or made a decision God would not be pleased with:

 Put your hope in God, and not in man. 

Psalm 119:114--’...I have put my hope in your word.’ 

This is the bottom line. We must put our hope in God, in His Word. We pray for our church leaders. We support them. We rally around them when they are in their valley moments, and we rejoice with them when they have their mountaintop moments.  

Do not be flakey about the support you give your pastor, whether you work directly with him or her, or not. 

But at the end of the day, know that God will never fall, and He will never fail. He has called certain people here on earth to lead his flock, those of us who are Believers. And hey, you might even say God is in the family business because He is a part of the Holy Trinity. But that is one family business that is called, from the beginning of time.    

 

Scriptures mentioned:

• 1 Timothy 5:17
• Psalm 2:10-11
• Acts 20:28

Episode Takeaways:

https://notjustanotherreligionandpoliticspod.podbean.com/e/episode-3-church-hurt/

 

https://notjustanotherreligionandpoliticspod.podbean.com/e/episode-15-navigating-christianity-while-witnessing-a-fall/

Research:

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-did-jesus-mean-by-many-are-called-but-few-are-chosen/

 

Strong’s Dictionary

 

https://www.biblegateway.com/

Closing commentary:

 

Don’t forget, I would love to hear from you on the question: 

‘Who is God?’ 

 

Episode outro:

Well, thank you for tuning in. Let me know via social media or by email if you have feedback. I would love to hear from you! You may email me at [email protected]. Please give me 24 to 48 hours to respond. And don’t forget to check the show notes for the sources used for this episode. Until next time!