offering time? blessing....

[Classik]

Have you ever been a full time pastor of any church, large or small, actually doing all the things that a congregation (and God) requires of their pastor? (A successful church, not just one started in someone's living room that failed within the first year or so.) There's a lot more to that job than you are making out here with your seemingly belittling comment that they should just buy a megaphone! You make it sound like all they do is work for 45 minutes one day a week talking to whatever people come to their church. Even if that were all a pastor did, did you ever stop to think of how much work, study, and talent goes into a sermon that is high quality enough to attract 10,000 people to his church instead of all the other churches in the area? But you don't think that's worth anything? Do you think that maybe there is more work in his ministry other than to "talk" to the congregation one day a week that causes 10,000 people to want to be part of his church? Is all that worthless also? Out of 10,000 people how many of them will have a crisis of some type and they call on the pastor at any hour of the day or night? How many times a day will that happen with a congregation of 10,000 as opposed to a church of, say, 50 people? They don't call just anyone in the congregation, they call the pastor. Is his willingness to deal with these constant crisis not worth anything? Well, there's a lot more, but you get the point I'm trying to make.

I don't think the poster meant any harm...

 

[TOG]

I understand the criticism and there are many ministers who abuse their position of power and influence.

The way I understand it, pastors should not be in a "position of power and influence". They are our servants, not our masters. When a servant starts seeing himself as above his master, he's out of line, and it may be time ti get a new servant. When a pastor starts telling the church he is supposed to be serving that they are required to serve him and maintain the lifestyle that he wants, regardless of their own lifestyle, then he is out of line and it's time, in my opinion, to get a new pastor.

The TOG​

 

[Obadiah]

I don't think the poster meant any harm...

Neither did I.

 

[Andrew Mason]

Some great perspective shared on here. I'm taking it all in. Thank you!