Recently, I received a text message with 12 types of pastors\nin Africa. But the list needed to be reorganized and reduced a little. Here are\nthe seven most common pastors I have seen these days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. The Illogical Pastor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Description: He preaches without clear terms because his\nmind is not clearly organized. Therefore, he can talk generally about\nrepentance, redemption, faith, humility, heaven, salvation, or God, yet he is\nnever really able to give a simple definition of what these things are and what\nthey are not. His mind is like a closet with many thoughts inside, but they are\nnot placed carefully on the right shelves. He has never studied logic, and\nsometimes he even denigrates clear thinking. He has even told his church\nmembers to \u201cstop using your mind, and start using your spirit\u201d or something\nsimilar to that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basic motives: He wants to serve the Lord, but he does not\nwant to take the effort to discipline his mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Demerits: Since Jesus commanded us to love the Lord with our\nminds, this man is doomed to fail at the most important command. Eventually,\nhis church may grow, but if you ask the people on the way out the door what\nthey learned, it will always be some form of a clich\u00e9 rather than solid,\ntime-tested, exegetically derived theology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Way out: Carefully define every word especially the\nimportant words in each passage before you preach. Make the goal of every\nsermon the point of the passage rather than what someone else said or what will\nmake the people shout, \u201cAmen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. The Lawless Pastor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Description: He talks much about grace so that his sins and\nthe sins of the most important givers will never be fingered. He also loves the\nline, \u201cDo not judge!\u201d, but he hates Jesus\u2019 words, \u201cJudge righteous judgment (John\n7:24).\u201d This pastor overlooks the clear statement that women must be silent in\nthe church, that they must not teach men, that they must learn in submission.\nHe does not bother to obey the command that at the most only three may speak in\ntongues at a single church meeting and every time, they must have an\ninterpreter. He ignores the fact that if pastors have unbelieving children or\nhave divorced they must resign immediately. And many other laws, this man (or\nwoman) sidesteps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basic motives: Peter tells us that their motives are greed\nand love of sin (2 Peter 2:14). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Demerits: Since he is an antinomian (lawless one), he will\nultimately hear Jesus say, \u201cDepart from me, I never knew you, you who practice\nlawlessness.\u201d (Matt. 7:23)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Way out: We must begin taking every command in the Bible\nseriously. We must obey it whether we lose friends, whether we have small\nchurches, whether we suffer, and whether we lose money. God\u2019s approval is more\nimportant than man\u2019s approval. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. The Sensational\nPastor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Description: This man loves a show. He will dress to please\nthe people. His pictures always shows his rings and jewelry. He holds the\nmicrophone even if he is only preaching to 50 people because he likes the\nsuperficial look and sound. Everything he does is copying show business from\nthe sinful state of Hollywood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basic motives: This man is so immature that he models his\nministry off of television rather than the apostles. He has watched more hours\nof TV than he has spent reading his Bible. He can impersonate T. D. Jakes and\nPastor Chris better than he can quote Peter or John. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Demerits: No church can come to the fullness of the stature\nof Christ (Eph. 4:13) with a man like this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Way out: Turn off the TV. Put it in the trash. Throw out the\ndish. And begin reading your Bible until you are terrified of God\u2019s holiness,\nmesmerized by His grace, humbled by your sin, captured by His love, filled with\nHis Spirit, and ready to suffer hardness as a good soldier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. The Church-growth\nPastor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Description: He judges every decision based on whether more\npeople come to the meetings. A sermon was good only if people liked it and more\npeople come back. Another pastor is a \u201cman of God\u201d and has the \u201canointing\u201d if\nhe has a large following. The number of \u201clikes\u201d on Facebook is more important\nto him than if he is obedient to the laws in the Sermon on the Mount. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basic motives: Simple, Jr. high love of popularity. This man\nhas never grown up so now he desperately wants to be loved by people rather\nthan being content with God\u2019s love toward him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Demerits: This man will break more and more commands of\nScripture in order to attract a crowd. Bring in worldly music? Sure, if more\npeople come. Overlook sexual sin in the church? Sure, if more people come.\nIgnore false doctrine from guest speakers? Sure, if more people come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Way out: This man needs to see God like the children of\nIsrael in Deut. 5:25. Where they cried out in terror that they would die if\nthey ever saw God\u2019s glory again. He needs to learn the fear of the Lord (Pro.\n1:7), and true holiness without which no one will see God (Heb. 12:14). <\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. The \u201cFire\u201d Pastor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Description: This man shouts \u201cfire\u201d throughout his sermons.\nHe can repeat this single word 20 times in a sermon. He will also mix it with\nother words like \u201cblessing\u201d and \u201cbreakthrough\u201d and \u201csuccess.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basic motives: Since he has not studied, he does not know\nwhat to say. He is like Ahimaaz who ran to speak to David, but he had no\nmessage (2 Sam. 18:29-30). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Demerits: He will lead his people away from the gospel by\nteaching them to look for external entertainment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Way out: Study the Bible. Say only what the text says. Let\nit be your master in the pulpit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. The Politically\nCorrect Pastor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Description: His sermons never offend anyone because he is\nvery careful to always speak about general themes. He does not mention Hell or\nthe sins that would send a man there. He does not rebuke African traditional\nreligion on one hand or transgender foolishness on the other. His convictions\nchange from day to day according to polls or news stories. He is afraid to\napply the Bible to economics or spanking children or male-headship or\nentertainment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basic motives: The fear of man drives this man. He could\nnever rebuke his superiors who pay him or his inferiors who validate him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Demerits: Without courage, he will not tell his people that\nthere is only one way to God. He will not tell them that we are all barbarians\nbefore we had the gospel. Because he withholds hard truths, his people will be\nlost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Way out: Read your Bible marking all the places where men\nand women were courageous for God. Ask Jesus to make you bold as a lion (Pro.\n28:1). Fix your heart on revival rather than comfort and popular acceptance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. The Biblical\nPastor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Description: This man cares more about humility than huge\nofferings. He teaches the Bible verse by verse rather than the TV preacher\nframe by frame. He is hard on his own sin, bold for the truth, gentle when he\nis wronged, and full of love for the lost. He would rather see someone saved\nthan receive a large gift. He could not be paid enough to lie. He studies\ntheology more than sports. He reads well because he first of all a teacher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basic motives: He loves and fears the God of the Bible. He\nthinks much about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He finds joy in God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Demerits: This man will likely not be popular. He will\nsuffer like all who live godly. He will give away his wealth to missionaries\nsooner than live a flashy life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Way out: Sin. If this man gives in to sin, he will be like\nSamson with his hair shaved. He will quench the Spirit and spiral downward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When the Lord comes, a great number of men will be shocked\nto find out they have been false pastors all along. But there is still time now\nto change! Now, we have the chance to repent of foolish, unbiblical practices\nand return to the real power of God through the gospel in the book of Acts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently, I received a text message with 12 types of pastors in Africa. But the list needed to be reorganized and reduced a little. Here are the seven most common pastors I have seen these days. 1. The Illogical Pastor … Continue reading