"Take heed to yourselves and to the entire flocklet, among which the holy spirit appointed you supervisors, to be shepherding the ecclesia of God, which He procures through the blood of His own"
Acts of the Apostles 20: 28, Concordant New Testament
It remains one of the main reasons that people choose to attend the church that they do. It is even how most churches are identified. Who's the pastor? I have come to know more than a few of them in my life. Some good, and some not so. One of the best pastors I have ever known is also one of my best friends in the Lord that I have ever known. From him my eyes have been opened to what are the inner workings of the mainstream church. The hierarchies, cliques and power struggles. Despite the fact that his eyes were opened to the truth of Christ in him, the profession which he chose refused to acknowledge that revelation. I fear that this has been the state of the church for thousands of years. But what else would we expect from a man-made religion? Indeed, the roots of our modern day Christian beliefs are centered around the Nicene creed which was first adapted in 325 AD. The creed has been accepted as the defining statement of beliefs by modern faiths such as the Catholic church, Anglican and Eastern Orthodox sects of Christianity. It was the emperor Constantine who called for the council of Nicaea in order to resolve a dispute among the beliefs among the followers of Christ. What they came up with was a universal statement of beliefs for all who believe in Jesus. So it is that, over time, those in the leadership of the church were more or less required to adhere to the theology of the church. When my friends eyes were opened to the truth of the Father in him, he began to struggle with what he had been teaching for so long. Apparently there's no room for disagreement over church theology amongst its leadership. In the film Come Sunday, bishop Carlton Pearson is removed from the church he led simply for denying the mainstream church teaching on hell. Pearson questioned how a loving God could punish those He supposedly loved. The truth is that it has always been the desire of the Father that all be saved and come to know the Father {Paul to Timothy (1) 2:4}. Of course, men of the cloth are forbidden from promoting this truth.
Not many should become teachers, my brethren, being aware that we should be getting greater judgement
James to the Twelve Tribes 3: 1, Concordant New Testament
While it is true that people will consider the pastor of a particular church before considering attending, it is also true that those pastors can and have been the focus of blame when something goes haywire. For men of the cloth are all too often held responsible for all working of the flock they oversee. Is the sermon bad? Talk to the pastor. Did someone in the flock offend you? Talk to the pastor. So it is that men of the cloth often wear many hats in their chosen profession. From administrators to counselors, they are often called upon to resolve not only the issues of the congregation but of the community as well. Make no mistake, the institutions of higher learning that churn out potential future pastors are responsible for preparing these men of the cloth for the occupation they have chosen. I often refer to these institutions as Pharisee schools, for that is what they churn out. Somehow it takes four years or more to transform a believer in Christ into a diehard defender of the church theology. While I share in a relationship with the Father, that was never a path I wanted to follow. However, there are many each year who consider to follow what has become known as a "Calling" to preach the word of the Lord. Well, a calling to preach what someone else says is the word of the Lord would be more accurate. After being away from the mainstream church for so many years, I have come to grow in my own relationship with the Father. Not because a man of the cloth told me it was the right thing to do, but because my eyes were opened to the truth of my life in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.
~Scott~
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