I know the title of this post has a kind of preachy title. But hopefully this post will help some people. I have pastored churches for decades. And I talk with church pastors of other local churches. Those who have been there know that pastoring can be challenging.
One main challenge of pastoring is, well, the people that pastors are called to serve.
During my previous pastorate, I had one of the most difficult church members a pastor could have. She acknowledged my ability to preach and teach the Word of God. But she had so much animosity toward me. Sometimes, even as I preached or taught the Word, she mumbled against me.
I know this was not personal. The woman had serious problems submitting to authority. Not long after she united with us, I learned that she was the same way at the previous local church she belonged to. The members there rejoiced when she left.
Needless to say, I did not enjoy the job of being this woman’s pastor. I would have lost no sleep if she chose to leave our congregation as well. But as long as I was still standing, I knew she wasn’t going anywhere. She tried to undermine everything good that happened in the church.
Nevertheless, I tried to help deliver this woman from the snare of the enemy as much as she would allow me to.
I think it’s true that most church pastors have a few members who are to some degree like this woman. In fact, conflict is one of the main reasons so many pastors leave churches these days.
Insubordination to God-Ordained Authority
Conduct like that described above does not please the Lord. In the Word of God, church members are warned against being insubordinate to their pastor. Consider this verse:
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you” (Hebrew 13:17, KJV).
This verse makes it clear that God cares about the relationship between a church pastor and his congregation. He dislikes refusal to submit to God-ordained authority in a local church. It will not bode well for those who do so, according to the verse.
How serious a statement is that? No degree of church attendance, serving in ministry, or money contributed will compensate for one’s refusal to submit to God-ordained authority.
Note that I am talking about God-ordained authority. That’s why a Christian should be prayerful about the local church he or she unites with. Not every person who stands in the pulpit and preaches has been called of God. And not everyone who wears the title of a pastor conducts himself properly.
You may respectfully disagree with the church’s pastor at times. But as a general rule, it is better to leave a local church than to stay where you can’t—or won’t– allow the church’s pastor to be YOUR pastor.
Copyright © 2022 by Frank King. All rights reserved.