Remember where you are

Remember where you are – You’re treading on someone else’s claimed territory. Walk with caution and respect. Tread lightly. You may be entering a place (church) where only one man is in charge.

Before you read further, I want to state that I am not against seminary, but what bothers me is that seminary is open to anyone who claims they’ve had some special “calling of God” to the pastorate.  These men have never practiced, are not old enough (having very little life and Christian experience), nor have been proven by the biblical qualifications and standards of 1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and 1 Peter 5:1-4.  Their churches have never truly tested their character to any degree to even be considered for church leadership. Most future pastors, their churches, and the seminaries they choose to attend will blindly put their faith in the prospective pastors because of their mysterious “call of God.” While these unproven men are in seminary, they are presuming upon the years to come that they will become qualified because of some obscure call from God.  They show no concern in what the Scriptures define as to what a biblical leader is.  Obviously, seminaries aren’t concerned either!

This one-man show may look and sound biblical, but that’s the way he wants it to appear.  He may have biblical government in his church, with a plurality of elders, deacons, and deaconesses. He may even be able to deliver biblical sermons. He has chosen to go into the ministry so that he can be the leader of a church.  He didn’t spend thousands of hours and dollars just to be a layman, nor did he attend seminary to learn to follow.  Instead, he earned a diploma that “qualifies him to lead.”  This is the current description of too many pastors.

Acts 8 talks about a man named Simon who was a magician:

There was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.  They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 

And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.  But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.  Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed…

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 

But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!  You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.  Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.  For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”

And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

What Simon could not pay for, pastors of today can!  Now, thousands of men can buy their way into the ministry with school loans and payment plans.  Seminaries around the world are taking money from today’s Simons. Many of these students have convinced themselves that they were “called” by God.  Going to seminary and getting Bible degrees reinforces their belief that God has personally told them to go into the ministry.  And while in seminary, their professors will also reinforce the idea that their students were personally chosen by God. How do the professors know that God called their students? Because the students said they were.

When he heard Philip preach the gospel, Simon believed and was baptized.  Simon had an outward profession of faith and continued with Peter and Philip.  But “when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands,” being a layman was no longer enough for him.  He wanted the same power as the Apostles!  Simon then offered the Apostles money, “saying, ‘Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’”

The Simon’s of today are now able to buy the “power and authority of God” with financial aid.   How many seminary professors know that their students are even called?  That their students have the right intentions?  Admissions departments and seminary staff don’t know the motives of their prospective students.  Admission is based on school and loan applications, character references, work histories (if any!), and a personal testimony of their faith in Christ.  By these standards, they can’t determine if their students are genuinely saved and are fulfilling God’s will for their lives versus pursuing their personal aspirations.

Again, I’m not against seminary, but today’s church has unfortunately made it the yardstick of whether a man is qualified to be a pastor.  The actual qualifications of a pastor are outlined in 1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and 1 Peter 5:1-4. These are the requirements for choosing leaders in the church. These are God’s qualifying commands, not options.

Since many pastors aren’t biblically qualified in the first place, they will tend to select leaders just like themselves.  They will choose men based upon friendship, seminary ties, or prominence in the church.  The mandated Scriptural qualifications are usually ignored. Most importantly, many current day pastors look for leaders who will give blind devotion to them, whether they are right or wrong!  They want to be the ones who make the final decisions. 

Remember where you are because these one-man shows are also highly annoyed with certain congregation members – anyone who is a Berean.  While they may encourage their church to be like the Bereans, as mentioned in Acts 17, in reality, these pastors want no part of them.  True Bereans will get in the way of this pastor’s autonomy. Bereans will hold the church and its leaders biblically accountable.  They will question leadership when doctrinal purity is at stake.  They will examine the motives of leadership if faulty financial practices are conducted.  Bereans will study God’s Word so closely that they will know when leadership has strayed from biblical doctrine.  They are the glue that holds a true Christian church together.

The Bereans were people of the city of Berea in Macedonia.  Acts 17 describes them as: “nobler than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” These men and women were described as “more noble.” They eagerly listened and researched what the Apostles were teaching.  Bereans were active listeners and acted upon what they found in the Scriptures.  They put their lives on the line to protect Paul from his enemies.  The Bereans also continued in the faith after Paul departed from the Macedonian church.

Biblically qualified pastors and elders will not only be Bereans themselves but will openly welcome all who wish to be like the Bereans outlined in Scripture.  These types of leaders build up the church body and are an encouragement to all who attend.

Today’s pastor wants to protect himself from his own demise by surrounding himself with a core group (clique) that will follow him blindly.  He will avoid the Berean.  And, since he may not possess the true character of a pastor, he knows that if confronted by a Berean, he may lose his temper, become argumentative, harsh, lack self-control, be quick-tempered, and even lie to save his integrity.  I have experienced this personally from pastors (Undue Haste Makes Waste).

Dave Harvey, the teaching pastor at Summit Church in Fort Myers/Naples, Florida, writes:

“There are few things more dangerous to a church than a pastor who is extraordinarily endowed on the gifting side and extraordinarily deficient on the character side. That guy is a decaying tie rod waiting to break. The progress can be impressive until character collapses.

“There is a reason Paul said, ‘Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers’ (1 Timothy 4:16). Pastors are called to be ‘watchers,’ someone called by God to closely scrutinize himself and his doctrine. Why? Because God has ordained it as a means of delivering his people to heaven…and him too!” (Preventing Pastoral Car Wrecks)

What should you do if you find out that you are in a pastor’s one-man show?   Honestly, there is not a whole lot you can do.  He’s convinced that he is called by God and doing the Lord’s work and will accuse you of being a dissenter should you question his unbiblical practices!  To keep others from deserting his church, the pastor knows how to give well-designed sermons delivering guilt and warning to keep everyone in check.  In fact, if you have noticed that your pastor has strayed away from his usual message and is now teaching against false believers and dissenters, he may be having trouble with some Berean in his church!  These “special” sermons are his way of keeping the rest of his church in line.  It’s called damage control, which I have personally experienced.

It is hard to attend a church where you can hear a sound sermon but have lost all respect for your leadership.  It’s hypocrisy!  How is it possible for a pastor to deliver a sound biblical sermon and not practice what he preaches? Because he has gone to seminary and has learned delivery techniques. 

Just because a man attends seminary and becomes ordained doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s even saved. Go back and reread about Simon, the magician in Acts 8.  He believed, was baptized, and followed the Apostles.  But his true nature came out when he offered money to buy the power of the Holy Spirit.  “Peter said to him,

‘May your silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!  You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.  Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.  For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.’”

Simon, the magician, left his mark in Christendom with a term called “simony.” It’s the act of selling church offices and roles. By the time of the Reformation, in the early 1500s, simony had become a widespread problem in Catholicism. If a priest had enough money, he would be able to buy a top position in the Catholic church.  Often, these priests were able to purchase several offices and then sell them to family members.  This is called nepotism.

Doesn’t this sound a lot like what is going on in many of today’s seminaries and churches?  A man buys his religious education to hold the top office of a church. Then, he appoints leaders whom he trusts will not stand in the way of his ministry.  It seems that the very thing the Reformers fought against 500 years ago has now resurfaced in conservative Protestant seminaries and churches.

By Rob Robbins, March 2019, churchfm316.com

Editing and Proofreading by Laura Robbins