• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Bible Reflection Humility in church leaders

Humility in church leaders

Posted on March 13, 2020 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment


Before removing a fence, a wise man will seek to understand why it was put there in the first place.

When I look at many churches today, I wonder if they have ever heard this proverb. What I see is a forsaking of anything that could be considered traditional coupled with a full embrace of any new method that will promise to fill the pews. The old ideas and boundaries are declared to be out of date and are cast aside as unnecessary.

One such boundary is the need for humility in leaders of the church. Knowing, as we ought to know, that each of us carries the taint of original sin, leaders should welcome the input of others as they speak into our blind spots.

Humility used to be a trait to be admired in church leaders. Pride, after all, has always been considered one of the seven deadly sins.

But, in too many expressions of the local church, the pastor takes on a role that puts him on a pedestal. The life of such a church is centered around the personality of a celebrity pastor.

Knowingly or unknowingly, such a pastor has allowed himself to take on responsibility that ultimately is not his. He has usurped the responsibility for building the church from the true builder, Jesus Christ.

In an attempt at appearing humble while doing this, such a pastor might refer to himself as the “vision caster” or executive leader of the local church. When he does so, this is a signal to me that he has lost sight of his true role as under-shepherd and defender of the flock.

Usually, this usurpation is in response to church growth methodologies that seem to emulate the structures of successful business enterprises. These leaders have chased the shiny lure of “bigger is always better.”

In my experience, every instance of the pastor taking on this type of role, the pastor felt pressured to surround himself with those who agree with him. Thus he works himself into the position where his ideas never get challenged. While this makes it easier to get his ideas implemented, it is usually disastrous for the church. As a result, the “pastor” becomes a dictator rather than a shepherd.

How many examples do we need to see of mega churches falling into disarray when the pastor leaves the ministry due to age or scandal before we figure out that personality centered churches are not a great idea?


Filed Under: Bible Reflection

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

On those who have walked away

Honesty demands that we admit our struggles to work out our faith. Real faith is at times a gritty mess and we all face difficult times. My experience is that God remains faithful even when we are faithless, as Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:13. Feeling doubt and even expressing doubt does not automatically disqualify someone from being relationship with God.

Gentle Wind

A. W. Tozer on activity in the Church

I share a quote by A. W. Tozer in the Pursuit of God. In 1949 Tozer thought the church was missing something, it is still lost.

Touching the leper

Touching the leper

We need to emulate both Jesus and the leper in this story. We emulate the leper by coming to Jesus as the only means of curing our spiritual disease. We emulate Jesus by being the conduit for Jesus to show his love to others who are in desperate need of it.

Harry Potter

Observations on Fantasy Literature

The intent of this post is not to debate the merits and demerits of the Harry Potter books and movies, it is to make some observations about fantasy literature in general.

Incarnation

Thoughts on the Incarnation of Christ

That Jesus loved us enough to “tabernacle among us” (John 1:14) should blow our minds. That his did so for the purpose of dying to redeem us adds to the “amazingness” of the whole plan.

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
January 2023
SMTWTFS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031 
« Dec    

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2023 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in