The Shameful Shepherd (Part 3)

"Pastors who Pawn"


"Pastors who PAWN"

The Great Commission is as clear as "In the Beginning GOD". This is one of my pet peeves. Seriously, it is. The Lord said to GO:

1. Teach all nations (Preach, witness, evangelize)

2. Baptize them

3. TEACH THEM

Ok...so we have great big conferences, clinics, college courses, MINISTRIES to go out and only pay attention to 33.3% of the Lord's command. We leave them to their own demise. Sure they nodded their heads to 3-5 spiritual laws. Sure they listened to our memorized speeches. They repeated a prayer. We slap them on their back and call em brother, and we never follow up on them again. We did our part HAYMEN!! We kept them out of hell, HAYYYYMEN?! We get to go back and tell the people at church someone got saved! We get to be SOMEBODY until the next time! WE ARE AHEAD IN THE CONTEST! We have to rush to the next door because we are in a MARATHON and we were taught NOT TO STAY AT ONE DOOR TOO LONG. Forget that someone may actually have immediate needs. BLESS GOD! You are not out there to MINISTER TO ANYONE. You are out there to meet a quota. That person we chalk up as a "soul saved" on our "gun belt" or listed in our "got saved" pages in the back of our New Testament, Only said it to get us off their porch and get us out of their hair. They didn't understand what we were presenting, and GOD FORBID that we actually listen to what they have to say and not stand there like some mindless robots. Our PERSONALITY is just as important as our words. You cannot separate who and what we are from the equation. God chose Saul and his personality to stand before kings. Does God save us and then have us all turn into "Stepford Wives?" The Spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets. That is what the Bible says. Yeah...Like I am going to listen to some zombie tell me about how great it is to be saved. I don't pay attention to those kiosk stands in the mall because the salesmen have this glassed look in their eye. "Buy our product" as they shove it in my face. NO THANK YOU MEANS NO THANK YOU. Or, have you ever gone into one of those health food stores? The ORGANIC health food stores? Talk about black helicopters and "secret ingredients" that the government puts into our food, YIKES! I had a grade school teacher whose goal in the year was to have my parents give me an enema. I am NOT KIDDING. I am all for healthy living. I am all for health food. But, enough is enough! Zombie Teachers insisting on getting an enema and talking about how "cleansing it is". No doubt that is what the person on the OTHER side of the door must feel like.


So, lets just say the person we witness to does actually get saved. Then, because people take TIME to grow, we visit them three maybe 4 times afterward and because we see ZERO fruit or evidences of Conversion, we abandon them. Seriously, everyone knows that by the 4th visit the man should have a 3pc pinstriped suit, a short haircut, tapered in the back, well versed in the KJV, no worldly music, Binaca on the tongue and ready to go soulwinning. After all, There is never a time in our life that we have needed patience, understanding, and lots of TIME to grasp things in our spiritual walk. No sirree Bob. We are CHRISTIANS IN A CAN! Open us up and POOF! Instant perfection!!

I remember a quote in a book from "Cults class" at Landmark Baptist college. Bro. Jay Lewis was the professor, but he had the Executive V.P. Dr. Phil Stringer lecture the beginning three classes. He was reading J.K. Van Baalen's "The Chaos of the Cults" when he emphasized "Cults are the UNPAID BILL OF THE CHURCH." this means that because of our negligence in fulfilling the Great Commission, the converts AND OR contacts that we leave behind wind up joining a cult. Whether it be the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Latter Day Saints they turn to "religion" because we neglected them. Sure, some even fall prey to the Seventh Day Adventists, or Church of Christ, or Pentecostals. Some even do wind up going to a Biblically sound church. However, that does not offset the responsibility of the "soul winner" who neglected the newborn baby to fend for themselves. We get angered (or we used to) when we hear about a baby being dropped down a trash incinerator, or get left at the door of a hospital. We are screaming for vengeance when a Baby is murdered at the hands of "physicians" who willingly carry out the execution upon the whims of a confused mother. WHERE IS THE OUTCRY of the Church when we fail to reach out and MENTOR a young convert? Where is the compassion toward the newborn baby who has yet to be presented proudly before the FAMILY of GOD? Adherence to The Great Commission is greatly lacking.

Why is it the Pastor's fault? I believe it was C.H. Spurgeon who said "Every Church reflects the Personality of her Pastor." If the pastor of the church is self absorbed, lazy and uneducated; the people are unfed, unmotivated, and ignorant towards the need to reach out and MENTOR SOMEONE. The Pastor is more than just someone who stands up and preaches 2-3 times a week and teaches 1-2 times a week. The responsibilities of the Pastor is to OVERSEE the ministry of that said church. Far too often the people of the church are not grounded in the Faith but are taught "Faithfulness to the House of GOD". Again, I point you to my previous writing on "Refusing to be taught to teach". People have this idea that church attendance is not important. It is not required to be faithful to the House of God. Is it possible to grow in the Lord without church? Yes. Especially if your Bible Teachers and Preachers are ignorant and unlearned (novices) in the things of God. [However, anytime and every time one can, they should be faithful to the house of God when Services are being conducted (unless you are in a church which outright preaches heresy and refuses to receive correction).]

Instead of teaching the convert and actually investing into their life, we leave them to fend for themselves. I am not trying to boast here, but I know that I had witnessed to a family for almost 4 1/2 years before I saw any "results". I was able to sit down and show one of the members the plan of salvation. I took as much time as she needed. I answered her questions and showed her respect. I was not out to "get a notch in my belt". I was not in it to 'sell a vacuum.' I was in it for the Glory of God. She finally yielded to the Holy Spirit after years of sowing, watering, fertilizing, and finally she was ready for the harvest. Praise God for the work of the Holy Spirit in Salvation. It has been almost two months since she surrendered to the drawing of the Holy Spirit. I have gone over steadily to conduct Bible study with her and to help her in her new life. She hasn't been to church as of yet. So, naturally, she isn't saved...right? PLEASE! Patience is required. Many would have already given up. Some would have never started. What I am basically saying is, that in the matter of The Great Commission, we are tarnished by pastors who PAWN off their people.

Another example of Pastors who Pawn off their people is when a "hard topic" comes up. I HAD a preacher friend who insisted that he come to "my" church and tell "my" people how to take care of their pastor and missionaries who come in. I told him that if it needed to be preached on, that I was responsible to handle it. I don't need a hired gun. He assured me that this is how other churches do it. assured him that I was not going to operate that way. If they need to hear it, God will have me address it. However, I have yet to even mention is to the people because if I have to talk about how they need to pay me more, I am no longer a servant but an employee. The whole thought that a pastor would hire someone to come in and do his dirty work is utterly inconceivable. I was sent here and brought here to fix anything that needed to be fixed. I don't call a "preacher" to fix problems that are in the flock that God has entrusted me with. A dear preacher friend of mine took the liberty to address the people about caring for me one service and I interrupted him in the middle of his sermon and told him to get out of the chicken coop. He was not intending to do anything other than to remind the people of the responsibility to take care of me. I apologized after the sermon to my friend and he understood my reasoning. The next night he apologized to the church for overstepping his bounds.

Our movement is full of pastors who Pawn off the responsibility of hitting hard topics to the visiting evangelist who blows in, blows up, and blows out. If I have to have someone come in and preach about submitting to the preacher (never should have to be addressed)then I am basically having someone come into "my house" and spank my kids. That is MY responsibility. That is MY burden. That is MY obligation.

Our movement is full of pastors who pawn off their "young preachers" who are called to the ministry off on colleges. We send them away to get trained how to do everything they should be learning from their own pastor. Yes, I am all for College education. However, what happens is, they go off to college to learn doctrine from a college when they should be taught doctrine by their own pastor. Instead, the pastor gladly pawns off his obligation, joy, rather to someone else. Paul taught Timothy. Timothy was commanded...instructed to teach faithful men so that THEY could teach others also. We have Pastors who pawn off "their" flock onto others because they won't diligently study and give their people the sincere meat of the Word so that they may grow thereby. They toss books out at them and force them to find their own meadows to graze in. The sheep begin to find pasture in weeds and in dangerous places among the rocks and cliffs. They begin to get beguiled by the wiles of the wolves and coyotes. They fall pray to seducing doctrine and traditions of men because of IDLE,LAZY shepherds. The Pastor looks out and sees the sheep following other shepherds and they scream for vengance not realizing that he IS getting vengance - AGAINST HIM!

Zechariah 11:17 "Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened."

Matthew 9:36 "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd."