I think one of the saddest dysfunctions in much of our church world today is the worship of pastors or other spiritual leaders. I know this dysfunction well from both positions: worshipper and worshippee.
I ran into some wonderful friends today who attend a good, large church in the area. As so often happens when conversation turns toward church or faith, they began talking about their pastor: the wonderful sermons he has been preaching, the way he has been dealing with a personal health issue, how much they appreciate him. Don’t get me wrong, I care about their pastor and I do think he’s a fine Christian brother. I don’t mind talking about him. It’s just that subtle adoration or veneration that one hears when talking to Christians. And why does the subject of “my pastor” come up so often?
Another woman came back from a Christian conference and was having lunch with my wife. My wife came home from the lunch knowing more about the speaker (“who was so powerfully used by God”) than the message that God had given him to share.
Believe me, I have experienced it myself, there is a status and reverence in the Christian world associated with “pastor” that is, in many cases, completely out of line. In the process of lifting up certain spiritual leaders, the rest of the Body of Christ, the beautiful awesome Body of Christ, is putting itself down by comparison. By insinuating that this person or that person is special, we are relegating the rest of believers to something that is a little less than special. How utterly tragic for Christ’s Body!
Not only that, we are creating an unwholesome expectation upon those that we have lifted up to the rank of “special.” No wonder so many pastors and leaders are burning out (my own story)… No one can live up to the regal-like stature that the Christian world seems to want their leaders to walk in.
When I hear these dear Christians talk about their pastors I just want to cry. I cry for their pastor who has to carry such a huge responsibility in order to live up to their expectations. And I to cry for these Christians who just don’t get it that they are as special, as gifted (in their own way), as important, as significant, as necessary, as wonderful, as anyone else in the Body of Christ.
Is it too much to dream of God’s people–the church–supporting each other, loving each other, encouraging equally the gifts in each other, and moving forward under the headship, the leadership, and the direction of the only One that truly deserves all reverence–Jesus Himself. What freedom would this bring and what possibilities might this open up if we would lift up only Him while mutually and appropriately esteeming one another.
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14 responses to “Pastor Worship”
I ran into some wonderful friends today who attend a good, large church in the area.
I have a question: “What makes a church good or not good?”
Peace
The unbliblical elevation of the gift of “pastor” to a CEO of a local organization is the problem. Headliner speakers and ministry “heads” of mass media ministries also inadvertently suck up to the heirarchy that Jesus specifically said would NOT characterize His disciples. I don’t doubt these people’s sincerety and good intentions. But they are blind to the destructiveness of the heirarchical system especially when they become intoxicated with the ego-boost of being seen by others as “spiritual”. The concepts of “pastor, teacher, evangelist” etc are gifts that are to operate in and among the body beneath a general governance of Elders with Christ as the head over all. They are not elevated postitions. “Pastor” has come to mean something completely different from the concept of a “ranch hand” servant who knew how to diagnose, care for individuals and help rally hope among enclaves of people. The success cult of our American Dream has pushed servants into the mold of public figurehead. I can almost hear the children of Isreal crying out to God, “Give us a king!”
Thank you for discussing this subject. I believe Pastor worship is a symptom of a deep problem in the Christian world (or not-so-Christian world). The problem is that we do not adequately understand our Lord’s teachings, commonly known through discipleship, which is nearly non-existant in today’s churches. And so we lack. We lack true honesty, true humility, true openess. We lack so much that we feel the need to raise “our” pastor up, “our” church up, and then be-friend the “upper roomers” so we can be part of the group or at least known/recognized. We glorify those who “show themselves worthy” in our own eyes instead of allowing God to glorify who He pleases. So we miss what God is doing and hook-up with whatever the pastor (or “celebrity” leader) does or says to do. This is not taught by Jesus. Leaders are important – but remember how Jesus taught us to lead – as servants, not as worldly leaders.
Paul taught that the church is one body with many members, all equally valuable in God’s eyes. Check out 1Corinthians 18-27. The lesser members should get the greater honor! This is precisely how one would “build a body”, by giving attention to the weaker parts! (Why aren’t we building up more people in the gifts, and the action areas – healing, evangelism, prophecy, miracles, apostleship?) Are we afraid to be just who we are, that we won’t measure up? That we won’t attract others and grow? Will the church hierarchy not allow it? Holy Spirit grieves this.
Just wanted to comment that the “high expectations” placed on pastors do not come directly from the sheep; they are insinuated (oftentimes spoken out loud) by the leaders and pastors of the church, who are the ones with all the right answers, the right Bible interpretation, the right vision, etc. I believe with all my heart that God has placed these men in leadership position–it’s just that it’s supposed to be SERVANT leadership–equipping others in the area of leadership–that’s the part most pastors miss. And, a really big part of this comes from the fact that their livelihood (i.e., money) depends on being the one in charge; and in doing so set up the whole “pastor worship” thing.
I grew up in the R. Catholic church and the priest had/has a reverence attached to him that is much greater than what I have experienced in evangelical cicles…. (in our home a visit from the priest was indeed a sacred event….) yet even here (evangelical) there is that elevation of reverential status given. But I think that like everything else it isn’t going to change much…. for a system is in place. We reverence the church service, the 30 minute singing, the sermon, the Sunday school classes, the youth group, the tithing system….. and so on….. Yolanda, i do believe that the “sheep” are to shoulder much of the blame for they keep on accepting it much the same way televangelists were able to develop such a cult following because the sheep kept on coming. We often complain about the greed that goes on in professional sports….. but after the strikes and lockouts are over the sheep are back filling the arenas and stadiums. But if the sheep no longer attended…. things have to change….. There are a number of reasons the pastor has this holy aura about him… namely that we are reluctant to let go of the temple mindset, we give the the servant prestigious names such as right reverend, father so and so, pastor so and so, reverend so and so, dressing a man in special robes…., if the Sunday morning sermon is the pinnacle of our church experience…. then how special is the man who delivers the message…. and the sheep remain in the dark that they are “a royal priesthood”…. but I remain convinced that the sheep want someone who is multi talented…. someone who can teach, administrate, be a councellor, a visionary, a problem solver, overseer, co ordinator, a 24 hour on call guy, a visition expert, a hospital visitation person, and a good family man to boot…… whew I’m tired just typing that list……. The sad fact is that pastoring now has a job desription……
Wow, I am waking through this sort of thing rigt now with the community that I serve. They think it’s me and I deeply desire that they discover that it’s God and them. How do you invite folks to go beyond being cheerleaders?
I strongly dislike when it becomes a sin to not call the pastor… “pastor” or “preacher”. As if it is disrespectful to address them by their first name. We say Jesus, Paul, Peter, John…. yet fear uttering the first name of our pastor. It gets to being cultish, not just pastor worship. And please don’t misunderstand… I think we should be respectful, however it’s being taken way too far.
It saddens my heart to see pastors taking the position of Christ in the Church. Christ should be the sole authority in the Church. Pastor together with the elders should be servants, taking care of the flock, preparing the bride for the second coming of Christ. As much as the church should respect pastors however the pastor should be careful not to end up occupying the seat of Christ as He is the Head of the church, not the pastor. This morden structure that we see today in churches is not what was done in the Early church structure.1 Tim 5: 17, 1 Pet 5: 1 – 2
Great article but it’s missing one factor, there are certain pastors who want to and require that the Church treat them special along with their family members.
I noticed that this started out as an article on people elevating the pastor. However, the comments quickly became blame the selfish, glory hog pastor. So, let me respond to this article if i may. I agree that many people elevate the pastor. I also see many people belittle the pastor.So which one is worse. We actually have both contained in these comments. The comments made about pastors and the fame they want is true in one sense, however, some fame is heaped on pastors simply because of the culture we live in. The internet has made it possible for ANYONE to put sermons of people on it. Therefore, the world gets to see. If the world likes what the hear they tune in thus making the pastor popular. Is that His fault? Or is it awesome that the Gospel he preaches is going into the World. he cannot help it that people like to hear him preach. Shouldnt we want people to hear the Gospel. Isnt this internet a tool to get the Word out. YES! Acts 17:6 talks about people saying the disciples turned the World upside down. Im assuming that means they were well known. Just a thought. I totally agree that men should not want praise and should not desire praise. I totally agree that people should not worship a pastor and a pastor should not require worship. That is all sin. But what i do know is people who worship a pastor will also turn on him in a hurry. See the Bible for that idea. So, the problem truly is men worshiping themselves. Just in different forms. Many times they only worship the pastor because he does it their way. It all points back to mans sinful nature and desire to worship himself. So, i do not disagree with the dangers in this article, but dont agree will all of the comments either. Bottom line….only God deserves worship. The rest of us need to fight the temptations to worship man and bow to a RISEN KING.
My analogy is this. Imagine going to the Louve in Paris to view famous paintings. Your group is hosted by a really good tour guide. He takes you to the Mona Lisa and describes DaVinci and how he painted this portrait and the genius behind that work.
If he is a truly good tour guide and the visitors are discerning they come away marveling at the genious of DaVinic.
If the visitors are not discerning and wise they may come away marveling at what a wonderful tour guide they had and spend their time talking about how good a job he did explaining things etc, and lose sight of the genius of the creator.
Folks do that with pastors. Going on about “his” messages. Its not supposed to be “his” message.
Oh well….
Great analogy, Jeffrey. Thanks for sharing it!
I was going to say that. My experience has seen pastors expecting this kind of treatment. The church attendees wouldn’t do these things if the pastor put a stop to it.
Tiffany, I hope it is heartening for you to know that I too am a pastor and personally do not wish for people to call me anything else but by my first name Ric, or brother Ric. That’s enough for me. All these other flattering titles — father, pastor, reverend, doctor, etc. — elevate ministers to a position above all other brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus said “you are all brethren” (Matthew 23). I’m fine with being recognized as an equal to all others in the body of Christ.