Ask Your Preacher - Archives
“The Pastor Problem”
Categories: FALSE WORSHIP, THE COLLECTION, THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH, WORSHIP(This question is a follow-up to “Ungifted”.)
It's me again. If you are not paying tithes, does the pastor have the right to stop you from serving on organizations? If a deacon disagrees with his program, should the deacon be put off the deacon board?Sincerely,
Under A Thumb
Dear Under A Thumb,
We’ll answer your question by asking a question: why is there only one pastor in this church? The Lord never designed the church to be led by one man. In every New Testament congregation, the church is led by a plurality of elders (also known as pastors). Pastors lead the church together. Paul wrote to the elders in Philippi (Php 1:1). He met with the elders in Ephesus (Acts 20:17). Every congregation had elders to lead them (Acts 14:23). There is no example of a single elder/pastor leading the church. Multiple pastors shepherding the church avoids all the power being placed in the hands of one man. One man with too much authority can be corrupted… as your church is seeing. This man is totally corrupted, power hungry, and greedy. As you have mentioned in your previous questions, he has an unhealthy addiction to money. This church has a problem with its leadership structure. If you would like to start attending a congregation that won’t bleed you for every dollar you have AND is Scripturally sound AND will help you get to heaven instead of spreading false teaching, we would be happy to help you locate one in your area. Our e-mail is askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org.
