The Crimson Rule

Why it’s Not All the Pastor’s Fault - Part 2

10-18-07

This week we continue a two-part series on Why it is not all the Pastor’s fault

The typical church pastor remains a dedicated, hard-working servant toiling in the Lord’s vineyard. So why is the local church unjust? To recap, there are several causative factors, which include:

• The culture at large – Our culture is an independent, every-man-for-himself culture.
• Tradition – The church is bound by tradition to teach certain doctrines, and to operate in established ways.
• Humanity – We, as human beings “do our best.” The understanding of grace in the church determines what “church discipline” looks like.
• Fear – Conducting church discipline is dangerous in our culture, since the outcome may be a costly lawsuit.
• Competition – A church that “asks too much” of its members will likely lose them.

In the first part of this series, we covered the first two. The latter three will be covered here.

Humanity
“After all, we are all only human.” This is the greatest hindrance to the propagation of the gospel. We are rarely aware that we are using this excuse, but it is a mighty concession to the flesh.

There is no excuse for the flesh that works so tirelessly against the cause of Christ as this one.

We are absolutely not only human, and if we believe in Jesus we have no excuse for believing this, much less blaming our mere humanness for our lack of justice. Jesus was both God and Man, and He left us the Gift of the Holy Spirit. We are God-filled Men, by His grace.

May God give each of us the grace to never again use this excuse or even believe it. Of all people who should understand this, it is the seminarian, the trained theologian, the church pastor who should understand it the best. However, each of us has the power to choose whether to believe we have “this treasure in earthen vessels” or whether we simply have “earthen vessels.”
Fear
Here is probably the greatest cause of injustice, and its roots go deep.
Proverbs 29:25 states “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” The offender has already shown the willingness or at least the capacity to hurt or injure others. What kind of retaliation might result if the offender is called to account? Physical attack? A lawsuit?

Hebrews 13:6 quotes Psalm 56:11 and Psalm 118:6 as follows: So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

This fear of man affects every one of us. The pastor is just the most visible member of the typical church, so his fear of man is all the more apparent.

When it comes to confrontation, which Jesus requires (Matthew 18:15-17), fear of man says, forcefully, “Let someone else confront.” Because the pew-sitter has no interest in Matthew 18:15, the church has no interest in Matthew 18:17. Instead, we “forgive” and “pray for” the offender. In truth, we shun and avoid the offender, lest we be “hurt again.” Jesus’ approach to “not being hurt again” is to confront, but our fear of man is a more powerful motivator than our love of Christ.

Competition
A reasonable analysis of church life will note that people “vote with their feet” when it comes to “hard teachings.” To proclaim that “at this church, we confront those who offend us” will likely cause a mass exodus of those whose fear of man exceeds their commitment to Christ.

For this reason, local churches have banded together when it comes to hard teachings. For instance, a community’s churches covenant together that marriages will not be performed without premarital counseling. This approach can certainly be used with regard to confrontation. A city may be transformed by her churches agreeing to enforce Matthew 18:15-17.

In Summary
No, Virginia, it isn’t all the pastor’s fault. There are many reasons for injustice in the local church, and the pastor is just one of the flies caught in its spider-web.

To overcome injustice will require a concerted effort, composed of at least the following:
1) An acknowledgement that Matthew 18:15-17 is God’s appointed method of bringing justice to His people through the Church.
2) Repentance for sins of omission in denying justice to church members.
3) Repentance for allowing the fear of man to supersede the righteous requirements of God.
4) Repentance for allowing traditions of man to supersede the Word of God.
5) “Communities of Justice.” As all the major churches of a community agree to enforce Matthew 18:15-17, people will be encouraged to confront those whose behavior is offensive.