This was my church pastor’s FB post yesterday:
“This
may cost me some friendships & speaking engagements. But no matter!
The
church is not a commercial business for the Lead Pastor to be CEO; it's not a
fashion boutique where being hip is the mission. It's not a social club for
hobbyists. It's not a political party for lobbyists. It's not a disco; nor is
it a playground.
The
church is the people of God! Called out of darkness into the marvelous light of
Christ. The church is the Bride of Christ. The church is made up of sinners who
have been redeemed by the Savior!” (Pastor Pacer Tan)
I personally salute him for his honest leadership and the same inspired me with the following write-up:-
“When
does a once humble pastoral servant of God in a Church become an overbearing
CEO-like leader?”
Here are 18 non-exhaustive signs to lookout
for.
1) When nothing happens without his approval.
2) When the pastoral staff under his
leadership are more eager to get on his good side than to be scripturally
sound.
3) When the same pastoral staff
rarely openly
raise any objection to his ideas or opinions even when they have reservations about its long term feasibility and acceptance by the thinking section of the
Church.
4) When he wants exclusive and complete
control over all ministries and departmental heads and when his mind is made up, he expects full compliance and unquestioned execution.
5) When he expects full deference
to him in
respect of all short and long term projects related to the church, be it discipleship,
evangelism, mission both local and abroad, marketing, church maintenance and
planting, partnership with other churches, and even monthly administrative
expenses.
6) When he shows explicit, if not implicit,
bias in favor of programs
that fit his own agenda, whether his agenda is still
practical, effective or sound, and seeks to dismiss programs that do not fit in; and for this reason, he is not prepared to let the benefits of those subjectively-despised
program be canvassed for further discussion or to see the light of day.
7) When he carries with him a certain
immutable set of ideas from the time he laid the first brick towards the
building of the church and these ideas have ossified into cemented masonry
stones
and he is not prepared to review them even when the time for internal church
renewal urgently calls for them to be reviewed.
8) When he is opposed to any modern
scientific discovery that threatens, whether openly or by implication, his
pre-set thinking about biblical narratives/explanations in the same way that the Catholic
Church was once opposed to the heliocentric theory during the pre-Reformation
times.
9) When he views world events and
developments through the narrow lens of morbid biblical eschatology and his
interpretations of the apocalyptic events in the book of Revelation are purely
and uncompromisingly literal rather than purposively metaphorical or adaptively allegorical.
10) When he is of the covertly held view that
he is indispensable to the Church and the Church therefore cannot grow in
quantity and quality without
his leadership or guidance.
11) When he is suspicious of the rising
meteoric stars of individual pastor and the growing fame of lay leaders in the
Church and he views their popularity with arresting prejudice and sore
vigilance.
12) When he is eagerly looking for signs and
wonders in the Church to draw the crowd in and he will not hesitate to
associate their apparent occurrences to his ministry or personal influence.
13) When he controls the church funds and the pastoral
and administrative remuneration, including his own salary, via a contrived
system of trustee-like oversight that is ultimately under his sway, and he
channels the funds to finance his own pet projects and missions.
14) When his messages are largely recycled,
rehashed and recursive and they revolve around the same theme and he
hoards the
pulpit ministry as a means to direct corporate attention and compliance to
himself to the exclusion of other equally-worthy preachers/teachers, whether locally or
abroad.
15) When he exhibits a certain obstinacy of
posture towards new ideas that seek to redefine certain ministries in order to
make them more relevant to the times without compromising spiritual integrity.
16) When he seethes with indignation
against the rising
popularity and growth of other Churches and goes militaristic
when his own members leave his Church to join the other Churches (instead of wishing them well under an understanding ecumenical mindset).
17) When he engages in the various forms of
spiritual disciplines and rituals as ordinarily expected of him only by virtue
of his public office of leadership and not because he truly desires to humble himself
before God, in complete submission, and he refuses/neglects to consecrate quality time
to examine himself, his
heart and his motive, for the purpose of seeking out
and dealing with his personal pride, narcissistic leanings, and self-elevating
ambitions.
18) When he works behind the scene to ensure longevity of
his leadership in name and legacy by engineering a succession plan that
favors people of his own election, preference and trust without much regards
for independent merit, objective devotion and earnest commitment. Cheerz
* Image from "churchpastors.com".
No comments:
Post a Comment