Pastor Disaster

By Dennis Rowan

"...Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not 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." (Ezekial 34:2-3)

I asked the man, "Why don't you pay the ministers in your congregation?" He looked at me with a wide grin and said, "We are afraid that they might tell us what we want to hear." Good enough, I thought; there is no need to ask any other questions because his answer said a lot. How many pastors do you suppose tell the people what they want to hear? Does the pay check affect the message? At the very least, these are interesting questions. I know all the rebuttals to that idea of no paid clergy like a workman is worthy of his hire, big ministries could not survive without paid leaders, etc. The issue though, is not whether or not a pastor gets paid, but where he takes his sheep.

America's moral decline cannot be blamed on the U.S. Congress, television, rock music, public schools, and the Internet. Since our nation was founded by Christians, I believe we Christians are more responsible than anyone else for its decline, and the church's leaders are the ones who are most accountable. A study by the Barna Research Group revealed that 49 percent of Protestant pastors in America reject core biblical beliefs. If pastors go astray, how can the sheep go any other way? I could stop right here and this piece could be considered pretty complete. Think about it; half of America's Protestant pastors don't believe the Bible. Is that a pastor disaster, or what?

Most of us have heard of people in the congregation playing church. It's rather obvious that half the pastors are playing church. Barna's research showed that Baptists had the most (71%) pastors who hold a biblical world view and Methodists had the fewest (27%). Furthermore only 35% of black pastors and only 15% of female pastors hold a biblical world view. Could we say 85% of female pastors are playing church? Ouch, perhaps(tongue in cheek) women are not supposed to be pastors! God have mercy on the sheep! Maybe it's time the sheep start praying to God that He would remove the false shepherds throughout the U.S. I confess to being one sheep who is doing just that.

" 'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD : As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD , because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD :This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. (Ezekial 34:7-10)

There are countless examples of disasters in America. Church goers are being molded by the culture rather than the reverse. The greatest failure of the church in my opinion is this; she fails to train up her children in the way they should go. I can honestly say that in my 63 years of living that I have never heard a sermon that focused on how we should train our children via homeschooling and/or in Christian schools. Why so? Maybe pastors don't think it is that important....pastor disaster, big time!

Biblical writings go back 4,000 years. Jesus Christ walked the earth 2000 years ago. Public schools in America are only about 150 years old. They were not started by Christians. Do Christian leaders today not have pause to consider the error of their ways by ignoring the obvious? So what is the obvious, you ask? It is obvious that public schools are not Christ centered, and it is obvious that we should not expect a brief visit to the tabernacle once or twice a week will negate the influence of the Philistine doctrine after our children have spent all day long, Monday through Friday being trained in the Philistine camp. Question. Among the 50% of pastors who do believe the Bible, how many do you think are leading congregations that have Christian schools and/or financially support Christian schools, or make a concerted effort to lead their congregation in a strong homeschooling effort? Too few, for sure. If we have 50% of America's pastors rejecting the Bible, that's a pastor disaster, and we also have a pastor disaster when so few of the other 50% are active in Christian schooling for our impressionable and vulnerable young lambs.