Charlatans (Pt. 2)
Charlatans (Pt. 2)
Leaders to avoid on your journey with Jesus
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…” -Phil. 2:5
Jesus meets his first demon-possessed man in church. In the first chapter of the gospel of Mark, Jesus is teaching in the local synagogue and having an impact. Mark writes,
Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?”1
Anyone who has taken a leadership position in a church has experienced this kind of pushback.
After changing the back of the bulletin one Sunday, I found myself in a room with a middle-aged congregant whose entire body had just contorted into a beet-red, snarling, spitting fury. Normally she looked like a typical middle-aged, blond-haired Californian. But this every-other-week-attender of the church I pastored in LA found time and energy to come to a midweek church meeting to denounce me over a litany of sins she felt I had committed since arriving as pastor. I looked over at the two church leaders, who had known her for years, and they were shocked. They had never seen her transform like this.
Christian leaders are called to protect and strengthen the “very great and precious promises” in the face of such resistance. The calling requires personal sacrifice.
“You want to be sure that your first pastorate goes well,” an older pastor once advised me. It sounded like wisdom. I had just finished my first five years as an associate pastor and was looking for my first solo run as a pastor. If I wanted to climb the “successful pastor ladder” my next church needed to be successful as a result of my efforts. Then I could compete for a high-status, high-pay head of staff position in a larger congregation. Avoiding controversy for 3 to 5 years would increase the possibility of attaining such a position. However, I quickly learned that such wisdom was incompatible with leading a church. If I was going to help the congregation go deeper in their journey with Jesus. I would have to be willing to make sacrifices:
This is what the Sovereign Lord says: woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not the shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. -Ezekiel 34:2b-4
When looking for a community of faith to help you go deeper in your journey with Jesus avoid “conflict-avoiding” pastors.
I had the opportunity to work with a “futures” committee of a local congregation who knew that things needed to change if their church was going to exist for the next generation. We had some very constructive discussions about what changes would be needed. And then the Senior Pastor joined us. After hearing an excited and committed member of the committee give a summary of the needed changes, this pastor responded by saying:
“I just want to love people.” His words were few, but their saccharine sincerity spoke volumes to everyone in the room. It was code for “My highest priority is retiring in three years. I will not rock the boat. There will be no changes before I sail into the sunset.”
You want to find a pastor, like the Good Shepherd, who is willing to lay down his or her life for the people not only in the church but also in the local community. They may have professional aspirations, but they are far more concerned with being faithful to their calling from God, come what may.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. -Jesus
You are looking for leaders who are courageous and committed, but you need to be discerning here as well. You need to avoid, not only pastors who avoid conflict but pastors who create conflict as well. Paul warned us about this:
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! -Acts 20:28-31a
Many Christians who sincerely seek the truth find reassurance in pastors preaching harsh sermons and making sharp judgments about other people. Highly committed followers gather around these leaders building ever higher boundaries around themselves and their churches. The only way in is through lockstep obedience. But that’s not how Jesus taught us to live. Let the love of Christ guide all we say and do.
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. -Phil. 2:1-4
Look instead for leaders who combine courage and commitment with a sense of humor and a lack of self-concern; not only in ministry but in their family relationships and business life as well. Is their church growing in the love and grace of Jesus Christ? Is their family happier for knowing them? Are they making good happen in their relationships with their co-workers and employees?
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. -Matthew 7:16-18
The church and its leadership should be facilitating a community of faith that enhances your journey with Jesus. That is their calling. It is up to you to be sure they are living up to it.
Mark 1:24