(This question is a follow-up to “Blasphemous Preaching”)

Thank you so very much for the quick response.  I left church early tonight and felt very guilty even taking communion to my Holy Father because I had to excuse myself right after communion, so I could leave.  I just had to get out of there.  The Sunday night service was worse than the morning.  I am beginning to think that my pastor has serious mental problems, and I don't know what to do about it.  I am teaching Sunday school, and I am able to teach one hour of truth, and I am able to sing worship songs to God.  But the preaching is making my nerves shaky.  He either tells news stories that he gets from the internet that are so far fetched it's like something from the Globe or the Enquirer, or he reads history books, or he shows videos on a big screen.  This morning, when he said what he did about Jesus, it was about the worst!  But nobody seems to mind.  If they do, I don't hear it.  I am wanting to get away and seek the Lord for wisdom as to whether or not to quit the church, but I am certain that the Lord has called me to work for Him.  I just don't know what to do about this preacher.  I e-mailed him the Scripture that proves that Mary and Joseph were married before Jesus was born, but he won't say anything about it.  Would you please pray that God will show me what His plan is and what His will is?  I need to sing, and I love teaching Sunday school.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Horrified

Dear Horrified,

We appreciate your dedication to your congregation and your righteous indignation over false teaching.  May we offer some thoughts on the issue?  You have written to us on numerous occasions because of the unscriptural things that are coming from your church’s pulpit.  You are trying to balance your desire to work for Christ and your desire to avoid false teaching.  Have you considered that by leaving and going somewhere faithful, you would be doing both?  God says that a faithful congregation should be “a pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15).  In your own words, the church you are currently a part of isn’t – and the membership doesn’t seem to care about changing that.  Your labors (which you intended to offer to the Lord) are being used to support false teaching and unscriptural practices.  Since it seems clear that the congregation is at peace with their preacher’s sermons and teachings… you are now in the vast minority and propping up a sinking ship.  Looking at the character and honesty your letters have conveyed – you simply aren’t with a like-minded group of people.  We know of faithful, biblically-sound churches all across America… churches you could feel comfortable in, grow from the teaching of, and use your zeal and energy to support.  Would you consider letting us recommend one to you?  If so, e-mail us at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org.

My preacher teaches that Joseph and Mary were not married when Jesus was born, and today he said that Jesus was a "bastard".  I am sorry to write that, but it's what he said.  I teach Sunday School and had just taught that Joseph and Mary were married (Matthew 1:18-25), and I need to tell him we can not be teaching two different Bible teachings.  Would you tell me please if Joseph was married to Mary, and should I correct my preacher about using such strong language when talking about Jesus?  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Horrified

Dear Horrified,

Joseph was definitely married to Mary, and the term your preacher used was both incorrect and vulgar.  As you said, Matt 1:18-25 clearly teaches that Joseph married Mary.  Joseph planned on putting her away before their marriage because he found out she was pregnant (Matt 1:19).   Understandably, he was unwilling to continue their engagement.  An angel appeared to Joseph and explained the entire circumstance to him and told Joseph to take Mary as his wife (Matt 18:20).  After the visit from the angel, Joseph went forth and made Mary his wife (Matt 18:24).  As further proof, Jesus’ genealogy describes Joseph as “the husband of Mary” (Matt 1:16).  Ask your preacher how he reconciles his teaching with these plain Bible verses.

I just wanted to follow up on your reply to "Plural Pastors".  The verses you cited for having no single pastor as leader, but a plurality of elders in a local congregation, are a bit unclear to me.  In Titus 1:5, the verse states "and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you"; that doesn't necessarily mean more than one elder for every congregation.  It would be like saying "the governor appointed mayors in every city".  This phrase doesn't mean more than one mayor was appointed in every city.  Could you clarify?

Sincerely,
Baptist Believer

Dear Baptist Believer,

We are happy to clarify!  Tit 1:5 might leave the issue vague if that were the only verse on the topic, but we also have plenty of other places to see that every congregation had a plurality of elders.  Acts 14:23 says that they appointed elders in every church.  Acts 15:2-6 points out that the church in Jerusalem had multiple elders.  In Acts 20:17, Paul called for the elders of the church that met in Ephesus.  Jas 5:14 recommends that the sick call for the elders of the church to pray for them.  Also, Peter exhorts the elders of each congregation to tend the flock amongst them (1 Pet 5:1-3).  There is not a single example of a lone elder in the New Testament.  Every congregation was led by a multiplicity of pastors.

Once saved always saved… is that true?  Is every person’s name already written in the Book of Life, and if we don't receive Jesus as our Savior, is that when our name is blotted out?

Sincerely,
Wanting A Guarantee

Dear Wanting A Guarantee,

It is the exact opposite of that.  We don’t lose our salvation if we don’t receive Jesus; we gain salvation when we do believe in Jesus.  It may seem like a trivial difference, but it has huge implications.  People go to hell because of their sins (Rom 6:23), not because of Jesus.  Jesus’ death on the cross is a cure for mankind’s self-inflicted spiritual death sentence.  It is the same as a disease outbreak – the disease kills people, not the lack of a cure.  If Jesus had never come, and none of us had ever heard of Jesus, we would all have been lost.

As far as the issue of “once saved, always saved”… it is possible to lose your salvation if you turn your back on Christ.  Read “Salvage And Recovery” for specifics on that issue.

I belong to a local, independent Baptist congregation, and we go by the Bible in all matters of faith and practice.  My pastor of twenty years is going to retire next month (God bless him), and our church is bringing prospective replacement pastors to preach on Sunday.  At some point, we will be asked to vote on a new pastor after careful prayer and consideration.  My question is: is this a biblical method of church structure?  I can't seem to find anything in the New Testament that resembles what we are doing.  Please help.

Sincerely,
Baptist Believer

Dear Baptist Believer,

We applaud your desire to follow the Bible pattern in all things – this is exactly what God expects us to do (2 Tim 1:13).  The way a congregation organizes itself should always be based upon the standard and pattern found in the Bible… after all, the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth on this planet (1 Tim 3:15).  So, let’s look at the Bible pattern for church leadership.

The Bible makes a distinction between preachers and pastors.  In Eph 4:11, notice that evangelists are listed separately from pastors.  An evangelist, also known as a preacher, is any man that is preaching God’s Word.  Philip was an evangelist (Acts 21:8), and so was Timothy (2 Tim 4:5).  Preachers are given the task of preaching and teaching God’s Word.  They have no authority beyond the ability to appeal to the hearts and minds of those in the congregation by explaining the Scriptures to them (2 Tim 4:1-5).  A congregation can support and hire a preacher as long as he is a faithful man that preaches the truth (1 Cor 9:14, Lk 10:7).

The job of a pastor is entirely different from that of a preacher.  ‘Pastor’ is a term only used once in the New Testament (Eph 4:11).  ‘Pastor’ is another name for ‘elder’ because elders shepherd the flock (1 Pet 5:1-2).  Elders/pastors are in charge of guiding and leading the church.  They have authority to make decisions for the congregation, and they have the responsibility of watching over the souls of those in the local congregation (Heb 13:17).  The Bible never gives us an example of a pastor leading a congregation on his own.  Every faithful congregation functioned with multiple elders (Tit 1:5), and those elders had to meet strict requirements and standards because of the authority they wielded.  The qualifications for pastors can be found in Titus 1:5-9 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7.  Pastors should be picked out from amongst the congregation (Acts 14:23) – they don’t need to be shipped in.

It seems like your congregation has the common misconception of using a single pastor to run and lead the church.  The Bible shows many examples of a congregation bringing in preachers to teach and share the good news, but pastors should always come from within a congregation; they must meet the Bible’s qualifications, and there should always be more than one of them.