God Bless You

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Respect for Leaders

"Do not touch my annointed ones; do my prophets no harm." 1 Chron. 16:22 and Psalm 105:15

In my Bible, these 2 verses are identical. When the Bible repeats something, it means it is extra important to remember and do.

Today we were having a discussion about several pastors who are having, or have had, extreme problems with people. They are, or have been, under attack in a totally vicious fashion. What does God think of that? Someone mentioned this verse as a possible indication that those people who oppose the people the Lord has called may also be opposing God. That is no trivial matter.

Among many new believers and those who are returning to church after being away for many years, as well as some of the long time believers, there is an attitude that you do not criticize pastors or do anything against them. There is almost an unwritten rule that to do so is to do it to God. They do not want to disrespect or upset God. I hadn't thought about it much before, but what if they are right? What does God do with those who attack his workers, particularly the leaders?

The average church person may believe nothing happens. God just lets it go. After all, Jesus suffered horribly and died on the cross. But Jesus says of Judas, it would have been better if he had never been born. He is the one doomed to destruction in John 17:12. Jesus says, "woe to that man who betrays him," in Luke 22:22. Something does happen to Judas and it is very bad.

Jesus prays on the cross that the Lord will forgive "them" because they don't know what they are doing. Is "them" really everybody or only those who do not know? He had a lot of negative things to say about the evil religious rulers not entering heaven. In John 17:9 Jesus says, "I am not praying for the world." It is only those who repent who are forgiven and not everybody will repent. The Bible says so. One place is Revelation.

So that gets back to the question of what happens to those who deliberately harm the religious leaders such as pastors, deacons and elders, especially those who are unrepentant? Is God unhappy with them and does he do anything about it? There is reason to believe the consequences may be harsher than for other offenses both in this world and the next. Before he committed suicide, Judas was a tormented person, suffering mentally. Then he died.

Just because the followers of Christ, as well as the apostles and disciples, suffered at the hands of the people of the world does not mean there were not consequences for those causing the harm. Even if they repented, there could be some consequences. Paul repented but his life was not easy and there is evidence of regret.

We know from scripture that teachers and church leaders will be judged more harshly than others. They must be very careful to be faithful and true to the gospel. We also know that false teachers and pastors will go out and spread lies and deceptions. When they do that, it is not man they are offending but God. It doesn't seem too bright to me.

Would God ever strike a person dead in New Testament times? He did Ananias and Sapphira when they lied about the sale of property in Acts 5. How far can we push God before we have crossed a line?

What if God does take it much more seriously if one of His annointed ones, the leaders he has chosen, are being mistreated? What should the average believer do if they are unhappy with their leaders? Do not mistreat them. It could be you who is wrong. Instead pray. You may gently warn the leader if they will listen. If you need to, avoid the leader and find another to follow who is true to the gospel. Make sure you examine your heart very carefully. You too can be deceived and tempted to follow after teachers and preachers who "say what your itching ears want to hear" rather than the gospel.

Leaders who are criticizing or passing judgement on other pastors for reputed misconduct or theological errors must be very careful and prayerful as well. As they judge their fellow worker, God is judging them. He is looking at not only the offense of the one being judged but the hearts and motives of those doing the judging. It would be so easy to fall into the hardheartedness of the religious rulers of Jesus' time. The warning not to harm to the prophets and annointed ones would hold true for those who are also annointed. Chances are they don't get a "pass" from God on this one. Their judgement may be even harsher.

I suspect those who hold that God is not happy when someone does harm in any way to his chosen leaders are correct. We are dealing with a Holy God who is active in our lives, a very powerful Lord that we cannot fully know or fully understand in this life. Fear, reverence, respect and careful consideration concerning our attitudes and behaviors would be a very wise decision for all of us.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home