In light of the incident at TPC...

The Lemon · #15 11-15-2012, 02:22 PM

Interesting.....well, at the expense of being redundant - the church is not a secular business and really should not be ran like one. Now, I know there is money involved in reaching souls and taking care of the body...so I am not advocating a refusal to give time, money, and etc.; nor am I suggesting that pastors not be compensated.

That said, the structure, here in the US in large pays one man, and all other ministries are voluntary. There is no real eldership in the local assembly, but the pastor is accountable to other ministers in their respective district. The issue with that is it makes the calling of pastor superior to all other callings, and basically sets up thae pastor as basically infallible to the the congregation because they are not on his level nor have his calling.

There seems to be a very isolated and different mentality in the Church building then there is in the real world where the people we are to reach actually live...it's like a bubble. We hear great sermons, shout, dance, and amen the preacher, then everyone leaves for home until the next week or next service. I know not every church is this way...but many are - and there in many cases is a refusal to change anything because the tradition is put on par with the Word of God.

For example.....maybe in a local area Sunday does not work, as far as reaching people...but maybe Friday night would, or maybe Saturday evening would....but in most cases...Sunday is THE day..can't mess with that...got to be at 10:00a.m., can't touch the time. We need to be willing to change, sadly, in most cases the tradition will not allow it and things tend to go in circular motions where the church is up then down, up, then down.

We need a revival that lasts, not a program. We need elders and accountability in the local church. And if we are goiong to "pay" ministers, we need to set the income and discuss the parameters of responsibility - as all of us are part of the body and every joint is suppose to supply...not just the pastor.

Anyway...