I posed this question recently to leaders – only in my head – “Are you in love with Jesus or the position that he probably never gave you in the first place?”

I was watching a documentary a while back of very famous preacher who ended up with a disgraceful fall. When he was younger, he couldn’t see what he wanted to do with his life but what he did see was that being a pastor gave you a platform and significance. He became a pastor.  I don’t know if that was his main reason for going into the ministry but that’s certainly what was implied on this documentary, so it was a factor. Too many past and recent events make me wonder whether people in the pulpit, in charge of churches are more in love with that position than they are with Jesus. Why do I say that,  simply because some of the decisions that are made whilst in that position – from angry outbursts, treating people terribly, bullying, manipulation to gross sin –  For me, the words bullying and anger should NEVER be in the same sentence as ‘leader’ or ‘pastor’.

The many stories I’ve heard about the way these leaders have spoken to the ones in their care, there’s no other word for it but outrageous that we can use that position to treat people in a way that Jesus never ever would.

Sad to say that some rise to the very top without dealing with that tragic list above. 

How do we fix it? Can we train leaders better? Do we need to say ‘no’ more often than ‘yes’? 

When a denomination or movement is short of leaders, it’s hard to say ‘no’ – churches need leaders. 

Too often though, saying ‘yes’ causes much bigger problems. Maybe we should have fewer well-lead churches, which doesn’t look as good in the portfolio (does Jesus even care about that?) But it would mean less pain for the those who are caught in the cross fire of an angry or sinful leader. 

Who am I to say any of this except I care deeply for God’s church, and I see a great need to make sure we have the right people ‘driving the buses’ to advance God’s kingdom. How great would it be if those who oversee denominations could spend most of their time with joyful celebration and less time putting out fires. 

Until next time

D xx