2 Samuel 16:9,11 - "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head...let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him."

Matthew 7:15 - “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Matthew 24:11 - “…and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Watchdog to Examine "Slacking Shepherds": Pastors Not Doing Their Jobs to Protect Their Sheep

One of the scriptures that has been at the top of this blog for about 3 years now is Matthew 9:36:

" When He [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

Still today, Jesus has compassion for the crowds - the crowds at many mega churches especially, who are like sheep without a shepherd.

Later today I will start a series of posts to shine a light on pastors not performing their most basic job functions as described in the Bible they preach from. Many take huge salaries and live a jet-setting, glamorous lifestyle, but they don't even earn their pay when it comes to their most important job functions as described in the pastoral epistles. They call themselves the "under shepherds" of the flock, with Jesus being the "chief shepherd" - but they are failing miserably.

You've probably heard your pastor tell you of the "pastoral epistles", one of which is the letter of Paul to Titus. In the first chapter there are qualifications and responsibilities of "overseers" or "elders". As I start this series of posts on "slacking shepherds", I want to highlight some verses from Titus 1:

"For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain...holding fast to the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. " Titus 1:5-9

Baptist pastors like to preach about the "wine" part (and the "husband of one wife" part in verse 6 to justify prohibiting women from serving in leadership positions), but how many mega church pastors do what they do, invite who they invite into their churches, for the purpose of attracting nickels and noses? How many of these pastors expose their congregation to strange or false teachings that are either non-biblical, or have little to do with the actual proclamation of the gospel, to entertain people? How many of these pastors invite men in to speak to further their own interests and careers? We're going to look at those who do these things contrary to their biblical job description, and thus I call them "slacking shepherds."

Paul goes on:

"For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain...for this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith" Titus 1:10-13

So Paul says a pastor should silence and rebuke those teachers who teach for sordid gain, or are empty talkers, or who teach Old Testament law. Instead, many of these pastors are more interested in silencing and rebuking their critical sheep than they are about rebuking their fellow preachers who are misbehaving. As Paul points out, shepherds should not be handing their pulpits over as a platform for these men to teach, and they should rebuke them if they happen to make inroads to their church.

Sadly, many pastors today are not so much interested in just teaching the bible week by week to their sheep - they are interested in bringing in "speakers", entertaining their congregations, even inviting teachers of questionable character and doctrine. Some even using their pulpits for sordid gain.

We will start off later today looking at "slacking shepherds", looking again at Robert Morris of Gateway Church who has now made inroads at a prominent Southern Baptist Church with his false prosperity tithing doctrine.
---------------------------------
H/T: Chris Rosebrough - Fighting for the Faith, September 21, 2011

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many take huge salaries and live a jet-setting, glamorous lifestyle, but they don't even earn their pay.... they are failing miserably.

Do people get forced to go to "mega churches"?

Is this not America and we have a right to worship where we want and the manner in which we want to?

Do you really think all those people are really that stupid?

Or...do they HATE....
Deacons running the Church...

Business meetings about the carpet....

Music from the 1700's that use archaic language...

Sermons that are not relevant to our lives...

If you want that old school stuff, go to those Churches...there is plenty of room for you to sit anywhere you want to.

People vote with their feet....check out where their feet are going...it ain't to your KJV reading, Hymn singing, organ playing, boring preaching, leisure suit wearing Church!

oldBaptist said...

..and I could tell you one more place most of those entertainment seekers are NOT going......

Anonymous said...

oldBaptist said:
"..and I could tell you one more place most of those entertainment seekers are NOT going......"

Dude you made my day with that one. Thankyou for that comment.

As a pastor I listen to a lot of sermons online because I find it beneficial and uplifiting. I listen to one the other day from a big church pastor. In an effort to make it relevant the pastor end adding something to the passage it did not say. I found it like some of the Lifeway Sunday School material. The topic does not line up with the passage. That is the problem with topical preaching. Not all big church pastor are topical. Anon 10:09 the problem is not the lack of relevant preaching but the lack of spirit filled preaching and that problem comes in both traditional and modern churches.

Pastor Chris

Anonymous said...

And pray tell, who made you the judge of what pastors don't do their jobs in your opinion? This is the business of the church where they pastor and you surely haven't been appointed their overseer--no matter how much you disagree with what they may or may not be doing.

Get a grip. This blog is going to your head.

FBC Jax Watchdog said...

This blog is not going to my head, but it is getting under your skin. And I'm glad.

We as Christians need to be on the lookout for wolves. Pastors tell us they will do that, but sadly many do not. They are interested in building their brand, expanding their market for selling books and earning speaking gigs, promoting their family members...and unbelievably they distort scripture for their selfish interests. And now we see pastors inviting heretics in to preach false doctrine.

If this post introducing this topic gets under your skin...hold on, as you ain't seen nothing yet.

Anonymous said...

And now we see pastors inviting heretics in to preach false doctrine.....

Such as???

Teaching people to give is not false doctorine.

Teaching people to tithe is a difference of opinion not heresy.

Do you not like Pastors?

Or is Anon 10:09 spot on when they say that this organ playing, KJV reading, RA/GA attending, Polyester suit wearing, Southern Gospel singing Church is what YOU want...

Go there....it is okay!

Please don't call me a heretic because I wear Blue Jeans and flip flops and enjoy loud, guitar driven worship and a message that is relevant to the 21st century!

Anonymous said...

Anony said:
"Please don't call me a heretic because I wear Blue Jeans and flip flops and enjoy loud, guitar driven worship and a message that is relevant to the 21st century!"

If your compassion for people were matched by your arrogance and bigotry, there might be something to what you say.

Sounds like a guy from one of the emergent church crowd. Kool-aidism shows forth in his words and tone.

Anonymous said...

Some guy spouted:

"I wear Blue Jeans and flip flops and enjoy loud, guitar driven worship"

Seems to indicate you have lost the distinction between sacred and secular on the musical level. I wonder if that applies to your grasping sound doctrines as well.

Your bitter tone seems to indicate you have not.

Anonymous said...

Some guy spouted:

"I wear Blue Jeans and flip flops and enjoy loud, guitar driven worship"

Seems to indicate you have lost the distinction between sacred and secular on the musical level. I wonder if that applies to your grasping sound doctrines as well.

I have to believe Jesus would wear Blue Jeans and some sandles. what is the difference between a loud guitar as opposed to any other loud insturment, they all massage the mind. Like pastor Butson said what ever it takes to save some one to Christ.

Anonymous said...

Please don't call me a heretic because I wear Blue Jeans and flip flops and enjoy loud, guitar driven worship and a message that is relevant to the 21st century!

Did Jesus wear a suit or better yet...would he have worn a suit?

Have you folks ever read Psalm 150????

"praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals."

Oh...I'm sorry...that sounds too "Emergent" for some of you"

How does that "Koolaid" taste?

YOU have been drinking it for about 55 years!!!

Anonymous said...

Timothy 3:2: "An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money."

The new breed of "tough-guy" superstar pastors and their wannabees, exemplified by The Elephant Room gang and the neo-reformed movement, seem to be the latest craze. They give a black-eye to the name of Christ by their bullying treatment of church members who dare question them regarding their arrogant self-appointed claims of divine authority or apostolic succession. There needs to be a new Reformation.

See:

http://wenatcheethehatchet.blogspot.com/2011/09/carl-trueman-video-multisite-and.htm.
.

Anonymous said...

The most important job the pastor has is to "preach the Word." Everything else falls in line behind that.

Anonymous said...

The most important job the pastor has is to "preach the Word." Everything else falls in line behind that.

September 28, 2011 3:08 PM

That is not technically the defintion of pastor. They CAN do that but it is not the main function if you look at scripture with an eye to practice. We have preaching, (prophesying) and we have evangelists mentioned.

The problem is we have rolled many gifts into one and expect one guy to fill them all with some administration thrown in.

The church was never meant to be organized this way and is one reason we see so many charlatans. In fact, in a true Body of Christ there can be multiple "pastors".

Just for grins, go through each letter in the Bible and tell us the name of the pastor of each church. If it was so important and filled by one guy, why aren't all the letters written to that one guy?

Anonymous said...

People vote with their feet....check out where their feet are going...it ain't to your KJV reading, Hymn singing, organ playing, boring preaching, leisure suit wearing Church!

September 28, 2011 10:09 AM

Sorry, but those guys are, for the most part, worse charlatans than the archaic hymn churches. Driscoll, Furtick, Noble, etc, etc.

Anonymous said...

This is the business of the church where they pastor and you surely haven't been appointed their overseer--no matter how much you disagree with what they may or may not be doing.

Get a grip. This blog is going to your head.

September 28, 2011 11:53 AM

I would really like to see some passages referenced with this fascistic "local church" doctrine. As if it does not matter to Christendom as a whole what others who claim Christ teach and do in their "local" church.

I suppose it was none of our business what Jim Jones was teaching and doing in his local church? Nothing to see here...just move along...and keep your mouth shut...God will deal with it...we should just ignore all the instruction in the Epistles.

I really wish people would simply "think" for a change. Yet, they continue to parrot what they have been told.

Anonymous said...

Anon 222 quoted Psalm 150...

Never thought about it like that but Psalm 150 sounds like a rocking worship service!

Is piano music in the Bible?

Are organs in the Scripture?

Are suit and ties in the Bible?

Then why do so many "Christians" (including this blog) want us to believe that "contemporary worship" is so evil??

Is it "evil" because YOU don't like it?

Are these "Pastors" wrong because YOU say they are wrong?

Who really is "wrong" here"?

Just asking........

Anonymous said...

"The most important job the pastor has is to 'preach the Word.' Everything else falls in line behind that."

Says who?
Do you have a scripture to back that up?
At least one, in context?

Anonymous said...

"The most important job the pastor has is to 'preach the Word.' Everything else falls in line behind that."

Says who?
Do you have a scripture to back that up?
At least one, in context?

Ramesh said...

An apt sermon for this post is: Emmanuel - Enid [Wade Burleson] [1999] > Series in "Philippians" > People, Problems and the Pastor (Philippians 4:1-3).

Anonymous said...

Wow! I don't see the FBC jax orchestra and choir wearing jeans and flip flops? Wonder why not?

Sure wonder where the hatred for the King James Bible comes from ?

WishIhadknown said...

“Sounds like a rock band to me.”
So where do you suppose David plugged in his amp?
What do you think he preferred Zildjan or Sabian?

Is the piano in the Bible? Yes, the harp is tuned percussion and the piano is tuned percussion, making the piano and updated version of the harp.

Organ? Pipe.

Coat and tie.
"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.”

I don’t think many of us here think Contemporary worship is evil. It’s the idea that so many involved in Contemporary worship who think they are somehow superior to traditional worship that is wrong. It’s almost like you are praying “Father, I thank you that I am not like this….”

WishIhadknown said...

The harsh reality is the modern day preacher has more in common with a pagan orator who used rhetoric to persuade and entertain his audience than he has with the Biblical Overseer.

oldBaptist said...

"Coat and tie.
'But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.'”

Tell me you are not interpreting the wedding feast as a church service...a local assembly meeting....? And the proper clothing the man lacked in the scripture.....you think that refers to robe style and Countess Mara tie?

You have been waaaaay too long under the prevalent SBC quality exegesis. That's utterly pathetic!

Anonymous said...

It is sad when many follow the traditions of men rather than the Spirit of God.

Coats and ties and pianos and organs and choir robes and pews and hymnals....

Nothing wrong with any of it....

But God is doing a new thing!

Jeans and t-shirts and guitars and drums and praise teams and chairs and A/V systems...

This is the "New Wine Skins".

Hold on to your traditions of men...you will be able to stretch out in your pew because their will be plenty of room around you!

Anonymous said...

"The most important job the pastor has is to 'preach the Word.' Everything else falls in line behind that."

Says who?
Do you have a scripture to back that up?
At least one, in context?"

Try reading 2 Timothy. Especially, chapter 4.

Anonymous said...

For those of you new to this blog, please don't argue with our idiot troll. He likes to make ridiculous statements and ask ludicrous questions just to stir the pot.

As Dr. Rogers used to say, don't fight with a pig. He enjoys getting dirty.

WishIhadknown said...

My comment about the marriage feast passage is not meant as an interpretation. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Anonymous said...

The new breed of "tough-guy" superstar pastors and their wannabees, exemplified by The Elephant Room gang and the neo-reformed movement, seem to be the latest craze. They give a black-eye to the name of Christ by their bullying treatment of church members who dare question them regarding their arrogant self-appointed claims of divine authority or apostolic succession. There needs to be a new Reformation.

There can not be a new reformation because God/Jesus is not in the churches, here is a small list of things that are in the churches

1. money
2. influence
3. Government
4. Power
5. men worship
6. hollywood

Perhaps this is the way the creator planed it out, have to get in line with wishihadknown who said rhetoric is spooing out of the mouth of pastors to name a few

1. red herring
2. straw man
3. ad hominem

oldBaptist said...

@"Wish I Had Sense"...thank you. I did not realize you were a SBC pastor else I would have assumed that you were just twisting scripture to make your point.....mea culpa.

oldBaptist said...

@Anon 9:28.....

which idiot troll? there are so many!

I wish WD would label the anonymous clowns so we could tell them apart....or perhaps they would start using "name/URl" as I do and call themselves the same thing consistently....perhaps that's not possible for such deranged persons :(

Anonymous said...

slightly off topic:

Someone mention the Elephant Room gang. Did you know they are charging $99 to attend a live simulcast of Elephant Room II in January? This 7 hour long event will be shown in 30 or more locations across the country. While I don't doubt this will be a great "show" in many ways the price seems ridiculous to me. The lineup includes Furtick, TD Jakes, Driscoll, and Jack Graham.

Anonymous said...

"Someone mentioned the Elephant Room gang. Did you know they are charging $99 to attend a live simulcast of Elephant Room II in January? ...The lineup includes Furtick, TD Jakes, Driscoll, and Jack Graham."

And P.T. Barnum?
|

Anonymous said...

"People vote with their feet....check out where their feet are going...it ain't to your KJV reading, Hymn singing, organ playing, boring preaching, leisure suit wearing Church!"

Such love and compassion from the 18 to 35 demographic in Rick Warren world of church-ianity.

Keep it junior, along with your tattoos and piercings. My feet have voted already, to leave years of your rocker style of church.

Feeling much better to not have to put up with that shallow, superficial dribble called contemporary music. It's seems to fit your theology too.

Anonymous said...

YOU are NEVER going to get 'under our skin'. IF you think you might, you sure think alot of yourself. YOU are the most hypocritical person. You are obviously the most jealous as well.
All the things the Lord dislikes. As long as you 'dog' out Dr. Brunson, then we truly know he is doing God's Will... we are so very thankful for that ! So, you just keep it up buddy and God will bless FBC and Dr. Brunson too... yippee !!!

FBC Jax Watchdog said...

I know I'm under your skin, because you keep posting, and using all caps...glad to have you as a reader!

Anonymous said...

Well let me add 'know it all' to the list as well. CAPS or not, this is my first time to this mess. So, must not be who you think it is Mr. Rich. But, again, keep it up, the Blessings just keep coming and coming !! Don't worry this is a one time gig for me I've got better things to read.

FBC Jax Watchdog said...

Thanks for posting, glad to have you as an avid reader! You need to obey your pastor, and stop visiting the blog. It is not good for your health.

Anonymous said...

Don't worry this is a one time gig for me I've got better things to read.

Cry Baby, Can see that your pastor is doing a good job, Dont forget the double roll tolet paper this weekend. Hope there is not a cival war again, dont want you on my side.

Anonymous said...

"Well let me add 'know it all' to the list as well. CAPS or not, this is my first time to this mess."

Sounds like you are out of your depth. Is this the mental level of the average Brunson supporter?

Tammy L said...

I found your blog post most awesome. I cannot even fathom one believing the entire word is not relevant to today!! The bible is God in word form! The churches are not teaching truth anymore but have allowed heresies such as Jesus is not God, such as pre tribulation rapture, such as once saved always saved. Not only have they allowed these heresies in they will go the extra mile to make people believe the lies and too bad so many take mans word over the WORD! But to say that the word any part of it is not relevant to today, well that is just retarded!
Keep doing what your doing brother this is good stuff here!!