The Shameful Shepherd (Part 4)

Pastors who Provoke

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."

Their shepherds left them alone to wander in the wilderness. They were no more use to them. They had pried, they had preyed, they had pawned them, they had provoked them to idleness and sinfulness. They have been forced into being provoked. By definition, we can already assume 'provoke' is not the world's greatest condition to be in.

Webster's dictionary cites Provoke as:
PROVO'KE, v.t. L.provoco, to call forth; pro and voco, to call.

1. To call into action; to arouse; to excite; as, to provoke anger or wrath by offensive words or by injury; to provoke war.

2. To make angry; to offend; to incense; to enrage.

Ye fathers,provoke not your children to wrath. Eph.6.

Often provoked by the insolence of some of the bishops--

3. To excite; to cause; as, to provoke perspiration; to provoke a smile.

4. To excite; to stimulate; to increase.

The taste of pleasure provokes the appetite, and every successive indulgence of vice which is to form a habit, is easier than the last.

5. To challenge.

He now provokes the sea-gods from the shore.

6. To move; to incite; to stir up; to induce by motives. Rom.10.

Let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works. Heb.10.

7. To incite; to rouse; as, to provoke one to anger. Deut.32.



The Pastor incites anger and wrath among the people by prying in, preying on, and pawning them instead of being the example and shepherd they should be. This shameful shepherd often uses his pulpit as a chopping block. They have a place for public grievance. They get to stand up and abuse the authority that is given to them by way of their office and force the bondage of legalism on the congregation. If anyone stands against them, even when it is done according to scripture, and has biblical precedent, the pastor can twist scripture and manipulate those whom he has preyed upon to act on his behalf and they get to throw such a one out of the fellowship of the church. Yes, there are times where the accuser is dead wrong and has done everything amiss, and the pastor is well within his place to address a situation before the church. However, the point of that member being provoked was initiated and nurtured long before the public outbreak. Yes, there are those who seek only to Censure, control, and consume the Pastor. I am not referring to them. I am referring to the pastor who purposefully nudges the person who is at ought with him to anger. They knowingly "press the button" of the person who is against them, hoping to set them off. They knock the brick off their shoulder in order to justify using the pulpit and "authority" to "kick them out of the church." The pastor shouldn't EVER be in a shouting match with anyone. I have been in a church service where the pastor was so out of control, he literally ended up in the hospital. I have witnessed such behavior by both the "pastor" and the congregant. Two adults who were to be leaders of the church, and yet they behaved in such a fashion that they caused shame to the cause of Christ, and upon their reputation.

Pastors who provoke others through deliberate decisions to "flex" their "authority" on things that do not need to be made at that given time. Any idiot can go through a house and throw things around and change the decor. It doesn't take a contractor to gut a house and alter walls. Changes that need to be made should not be immediate unless they are obviously against scripture and what is the absolute necessity of the church. For instance, when I first became pastor at this current church, I saw it an absolute necessity to assume the responsibility of the Teenage Sunday School class. The Incumbent teacher was not doing anything wrong, but was a single adult teaching both guys and girls. I deemed it necessary to have my wife and I take the class and keep the teacher as an assistant. I did not do this to infuriate anyone. I did not do it to "flex my muscles." I did it because I thought it best to make the change to teach the teens how to behave in church. They had a habit of being loud, disruptive, and a hindrance during the services. This caused problems. I did everything I could to appease those who were provoked. Sadly, it only made matters worse. Some people are bent to anger and use any excuse in the book to "go off." Some people are seriously provoked by the Pastor who knowingly pushes the envelope to the point of explosion so that they can "one up" the person in the "conquest" of the congregation. Looking back at how I handled an 8 month situation, I now realize some other options I may have considered. I sought advice from many on how to handle it, and they didn't see it either. I know that I was faultless in my dealings with certain provoked members. With other provoked members I gave up too soon and "pawned" them off. I will stand before God and give an account of doing so at the Judgment Seat.

The Bible teaches that fathers are not to provoke their children unto wrath. This is not saying we shouldn't make kids mad. What it means, is that we should not make decisions to influence them to a life of Wrath;to destruction but rather to submit to the Holy Spirit's control in their life. In that same chapter, Masters are also directed to not use their authority as employers on their servants/employees. Do not willfully do things to irritate them and thereby causing them to offend or to sin. It is an understood application to Pastors not to provoke "their" people to wrath, however many pastors ignore this so that they can throw out "touch not God's anointed."