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The Proper Way by which Preachers Should Treat their
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continuation...
In the Bible, if a pastor is asking his members to do something that is against the Christian doctrines, they should get out of that group. A member has the right to protest and complain if what his leader says and does no longer conforms to the teachings of the Bible.
God has a set of laws for the preachers to follow. They should be like parents to their members. If you are a loving parent, you will not abuse your children. Instead, you will always be compassionate to them. Try to talk to some parents and they will tell you that the foremost reason why they are laboring very hard is to prepare their children’s future. Isn’t it that parents think of nothing but the best for their children? No parent in his right mind will prioritize his personal needs over and above the needs of his children. This is the reason why God wants the preachers to emulate the care and the concern that a parent gives to his children. If a preacher regards his members as his children, he will surely consider their welfare. He will surely defend and protect them from all kinds of atrocities.
But if you do not see these gestures to your respective leaders in religion, you better get out of it. There are, indeed, pastors who regard their members as slaves and servants. A member wipes his perspiration; other members lift him. I wonder why he has to be lifted by 6 men when he can walk! Apparently, he does not regard his members as his children but his salves. And that is against the Bible. I Peter 5:1-2 say, “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you …”
The ones being addressed here are the pastors, the preachers, the elders. What was the admonition to the pastor, the preacher, and the elder? “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but a ready mind.”
They should shepherd their flocks not for money, and neither for gains. You know very well that there are leaders of religion whose primary concern is to accumulate money. As written in Micah 3:11, “And the heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money …”
There are, indeed, those who lead, preach, and prophesy for money. Religion has become the pastor’s source of livelihood. Can we deny that? It has been written in the Bible. There are preachers who preach for personal gains. That is, thru Peter, Christ admonished the preachers not to rule with force, not preach out of money. Instead, they should lead with a ready mind. They need to have a ready mind. There should be gladness in them as they make sacrifices. And “Neither as being lords over God’s heritage …” (I Peter 5:3).
There are preachers who act like lords. In fact, their members call them “Beloved Pastor.” You just cannot address them by their first names or nicknames. You always have to attach a descriptive title to their names, such as, Beloved Pastor, Reverend Pastor, Very Reverend Father, Beloved Evangelist, Most Holy Father, etc. And these preachers are very delighted to hear their members address them that way, as if they deserve those titles of respect. One of those preachers used to be an aspiring lawyer. But since he couldn’t pass the bar exam, he opted to become a pastor. Apparently, that was a wiser decision because, look at him now, he has become very rich. And why not? He keeps on collecting tithes from his followers. The income of a lawyer is nothing compared with the tithes that he regularly collects from his unsuspecting members. Lawyers earn only during the hearing of the cases they handle, while a pastor earns from Monday to Sunday, the whole year round.
This is the reason why the Bible instructed them that money and other gains should not be their primary consideration in preaching. A minister of God preaches for the soul of his fellowmen. He should preach even without monetary compensation. I Corinthians 9:16 says, “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.”
St. Paul said that the responsibility of preaching the Gospel had been laid upon his shoulders. If he would not faithfully preach the Gospel, nobody else would. That is why he said, “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.” Was he preaching the Gospel for money? No! He was preaching because he was fulfilling the responsibility that was given to him. In other words, a preacher who is of God is preaching because he wants to save his fellowmen from damnation.
But today, we could see preachers in market places, in street corners, in buses. But it’s obvious that their main objective is not really to propagate the Gospel because, if it was, they should not have done this “preaching” thing in busy public places. Their voices could were hardly audible due to the noise that other people make. But they were unmindful of it because, more than anything else, their main concern is to solicit donations from passers-by. Actually, if you are to examine the whole thing, you will find out that only one was “preaching” in a corner, while about 20 others were soliciting donations from the people. There are even instances when, during traffic jams, they will knock on your car window. And when you look at them, they will extend to you a pouch, wherein you can drop your donation. Are these the people who will lead you to salvation? Do not be deceived. They are only after your money. This is what II Corinthians 2:17 says, “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.”
Paul differentiated himself from the many other preachers who make the word of God a merchandise. They have made religion a big business. And this is manifested in their lifestyles. Most of them have become very rich; one of them had already built his own bank, because other banks could no longer accommodate his very huge deposits. The members are not aware of it. They are too naïve to even suspect. They keep on giving donations to their pastor without them realizing how rich they have made of their pastor. But whenever a chapel needs to be built, even the ones residing at the squatters’ area contribute for its construction, while their pastor who now owns a bank does not even bother to give his share. Isn’t it that the ones who need donations are those squatters, and not the pastor who lives in a palace? Isn’t that ironic? The pastor who lives in a palace collects donations from his members who live in the squatters’ area. Why do you allow that thing to happen?
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Bible
Apostleship
and the Rightful
