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| Senior Pastors And Leaderships; Q&A | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 30 2007, 10:10 AM (58 Views) | |
| Stace4Jesus | Sep 30 2007, 10:10 AM Post #1 |
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Q When the senior pastor and his associate pastors and the leadership team of a local church are making some important decisions concerning the church, and there are different opinions as to what each felt as the Lord's leading, and it came down to 2 or 3 choices, what should the senior pastor and the whole leadership team of the church do? Voting doesn't sound right, as those who really sensed God's leading could be the minority. But after more prayers and they come together again and still cannot reach a consensus as to what is God's Will, what should they do? Should they follow the senior pastor's decision, or should the senior pastor really think about the majority opinion as there could be instances where the senior pastor is not the most spiritually mature one among the group of pastors and elders? I know each case would depend on the particular circumstances and a number of other factors, but what are the general biblical principles when these type of disagreements over God's will happen? Answer: Unfortunately, being a theocratic structure, the senior pastor does still have the last call and if he makes the wrong decision, the entire church would pay the consequences together with him. The surrounding elders can do their best to advice/persuade, etc. but in the end he does have the final say. If truly he is not suppose to be the senior pastor because of his immaturity, through time God himself would remove him and replace him with someone else. But it takes the patience of David to see it through. David was suppose to be the rue king over Israel but was much delayed by Saul. He had two opportunities to hasten the process but would rather that God do it. Q I think most of the time if the senior pastor is the most mature spiritually and relationally, things are much easier. But a lot of times it's when the top leaders are not the most mature and they really emphasize that it's the biblical thing to do to submit to the leaders when there are disagreements. However, the serious consequences often proved them wrong afterward, but they still do not acknowledge it. I know ideally, the top leadership should be the most spiritually discerning and loving, but in a lot of churches that I came across to, I've discovered that many of the secondary leadership or even lay believers are more mature in a lot of areas than the pastors. This really makes a lot of things much harder in church life. On the other hand, sometimes the pastors are real sincere and tried to shepherd the flock with much effort, but they seemed to be not well- prepared enough and trained, so as a result, even though people have no personal or theological problems with the pastors, but they are disheartened by the fact that no real spiritual progress is being made for both believers and impacting the world. And these two types of leaders scenario is actually quite prevalent in my circles, so it's very discouraging at times because they are the leaders, and we can't really do anything except to pray (although I know prayer is powerful). So I'm wondering why there aren't more shepherds of God who are truly mature, humble and trained, and that God has allowed many immature leaders to take leadership position that oftentimes have done more harm than good (mostly referring to the first scenario and not second) for the Kingdom of God (as spiritual leaders exerts considerable influence over the flocks)? I know most of them don't do it on purpose, but it's really sad to see those who are suppose to be models of Christ unintentionally making things a lot more complicated to the Body of Christ. Appreciate your insights. Answer: I agree that it would be easier if the senior pastor were the most spiritual. Remember though that it is not necessary to be the most knowledgeable or the most skillful or the wisest. The true leader just needs to be able to inspire others who might be more knowledgeable or skillful than himself/herself to work together for the common goal of fulfilling God's Will. Most of the problems you see are caused by insecurity and unteachability. If one is truly called to lead but remains secure in his calling from God and remains teachable - he would know how to ask for help when his own inabilities prevent the completion of a task. |
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9:23 AM Nov 28
