An abuse of authority????

[Praxeas]

BTW Border Collies are one of my favorite breeds of dog

[deltaguitar]

Originally Posted by deafdriscoll

The leaders of the jewish church choose not to eat with the gentiles.
barnabas and peter also got caught up in this and when they were with other jews they too choose to only eat with jews.
Now, paul seeing this rebuked them in public not private.
If you do something in public everybody sees it. Close the sin down right away. If we claim to be a believer we have to live to a higher standard.
facebook is public, eveybody sees the display. The pastor is responsible for his people. If he feels that a sin needs to stop and it is effecting his people he needs to speak out against it.
When the Gov. banned the 10 commandments and school prayer the church did not fight it.
Then came abortion and gay marriage, we can not remain silent.
What are you afraid of, a few bad words? hot dog the Romans used to throw christians to the lions and crucify them. paul had his head cut off.
A few bad words and slander really is not going to hurt you.

Paul rebuked Peter publicly because 1) this was a public controversy and 2) Peter was an elder. If an elder sins he will be rebuked publicly because of his influence.

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by deltaguitar

Paul rebuked Peter publicly because 1) this was a public controversy and 2) Peter was an elder. If an elder sins he will be rebuked publicly because of his influence.

Right as is evidenced by the fact that Peter had behaved this way when the believing Jews were around rather than setting an example for them

[trialedbyfire]

Originally Posted by deltaguitar

Then the individual needs to be admonished by his or her own pastor. It honestly looks like the pastor in question was overstepping.

There could be something going on in that persons life. Maybe they just screwed up which is something people do all the time.

There is not a lot of respect for this pastor and the other pastor either. I think there is an attitude in holiness groups that are always concerned about what the other church down the road is doing.

Do us a favor and post what the pastor said, post the pics and the status, and then we can judge for ourselves.

There is a case for that argument. HOWEVER, I will say this in defense of the Pastor:

What I look for a pastor I look for a father figure. I think this is the Biblical criteria that was laid out for the office of a Pastor and why the Bible tells us that a Pastor should be the husband of one wife and a father with his house in order, even going so far as to say that if a man hasn't proven that he can keep his own home in order how can he be trusted with the house of God?

FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE. As a father I can say this: if my children were playing in the middle of a busy highway and I wasn't there to correct them and get them the heck off that highway, I'd hope there was an adult sane enough to go over to my child get them off the highway for the sake of their lives. If I was a pastor, I would hope the same for the sheep God has placed under if for some reason they went astray and I had not known, someone would apprehend them and bring them back to the gospel.

As for "embarrassment", correction is not embarrassment. Calling yourself a Christian and engaging in obscene acts embarrasses our faith. Also the pastor gave instruction to the saints off of what he's seen. Just because you go to someone's church does not mean your pastor is the only one who can give you guidance or direction. If that be the case Paul writing to the Ephesians would offend the Elders of Ephesis. Pastors do not own their congregations, they are trusted to lead them and to act as a spiritual covering.

Personally, I don't know why Pastors mess around on Facebook anyway. Or why anyone does. I personally believe the better thing for the pastor to do would be message the individual and deal with them privately. I've have to do that before myself. I'm not a pastor. The pastor was within their rights to use an everyday situation and related it to his friends on Facebook. That's what a sermon is, real life situations. It wasn't a rebuke unless a name was posted. I also personally don't have a problem with open rebuke, especially if it was an open and public offense, but that's definitely moreso that pastor's job. If for nothing else to separate his ministry from that type of behavior.

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by trialedbyfire

There is a case for that argument. HOWEVER, I will say this in defense of the Pastor:

What I look for a pastor I look for a father figure. I think this is the Biblical criteria that was laid out for the office of a Pastor and why the Bible tells us that a Pastor should be the husband of one wife and a father with his house in order, even going so far as to say that if a man hasn't proven that he can keep his own home in order how can he be trusted with the house of God?

But that is as far as that goes. It does not then say that the man is a father to us and we are just little children to be spanked publically

[trialedbyfire]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

Good. I would add to be aware of an individual that is humble and an individual that is proud.

If it seems as if they are just fighting and not receiving, just make your point and move on. Don't keep arguing with them

Absolutely.

[trialedbyfire]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

But that is as far as that goes. It does not then say that the man is a father to us and we are just little children to be spanked publically

Of course not. We should submit ourselves to correction when we need to though, that's what I'm saying. I do believe that when Christ truly leads us to a man of God to shepherd us we should be obedient and take heed to correction.

Correction is there to better us not to restrict us or control us.

Public correction IS sometimes needed. Like I said if the offense is blatant, right out in front of the congregation and has the potential to harm the integrity of the ministry, there needs to be a public rebuke. You can't have Deacons smoking cigarettes in the church parking lot.

[JamDat]

Originally Posted by kingdomapostle

A Pastor notices unholy activity happening on someones fb page. While the individual is NOT a memeber of their church, the person is WELL aquainted with many people that are connected to the Pastor and neighboring churches.

After a moment, the Pastor updates their status message and warns the saints NOT to behave in the manner they saw displayed on the individuals page. In turn, the individual goes off on a tangent, and says that the Pastor is abusing his authority and not being Christ like. They resort to cursing and even publically bashing the Pastor, His ministry, and those that support him so that everyone who is connected with the both of them can clearly see the post. The individual even uses the Pastors entire name and encourages everyone on their page to say whatever they would like about the "abuse" that took place.

Who's right? Did the Pastor abuse their authority? Scriptures would help.

At the face value of this post I think the Pastor was tending to the flock he's been given. The response from the unruly one should be noted by the Pastor's intended audience.

[houston]

Originally Posted by deltaguitar

Paul rebuked Peter publicly because 1) this was a public controversy and 2) Peter was an elder. If an elder sins he will be rebuked publicly because of his influence.

Sadly, some pastors rebuke any and everyone from their "sacred " desk.

[UnTraditional]

Originally Posted by kingdomapostle

A Pastor notices unholy activity happening on someones fb page. While the individual is NOT a memeber of their church, the person is WELL aquainted with many people that are connected to the Pastor and neighboring churches.

After a moment, the Pastor updates their status message and warns the saints NOT to behave in the manner they saw displayed on the individuals page. In turn, the individual goes off on a tangent, and says that the Pastor is abusing his authority and not being Christ like. They resort to cursing and even publically bashing the Pastor, His ministry, and those that support him so that everyone who is connected with the both of them can clearly see the post. The individual even uses the Pastors entire name and encourages everyone on their page to say whatever they would like about the "abuse" that took place.

Who's right? Did the Pastor abuse their authority? Scriptures would help.

If the pastor mentioned the person's name in their posting, then the pastor was wrong. However, if all he did was warn against the activity itself, then there is nothing wrong with that. In reality, the pastor should have contacted that person privately, and asked them about the activity, and give godly council about what was going on, and show the love of God in warning the person to stay true to the Kingdom.

In truth, the whole situation should have been held in private. I think the pastor used very poor judgment.