To My Facebook Friends
To My Facebook Brothers and Sisters in Christ….
Have you ever asked yourself, “Why do you I call the man Pastor?” Like really. Why do you? Why is the man “Pastor Whoever” instead of just “Whoever” (or “Brother Whoever”)? Jesus never told you, or wants you, to bestow him with that (or any) appellation. Your Bible gives no such command. Isn’t it rational to ask yourself the obvious question, “Why do I call the man Pastor?”
Perhaps you think it un-christian to be non-compliant. Perhaps you think it’s prudent to avoid confrontation at any cost…. being ‘nice’ is better than being disruptive…. don’t want to break the unity of the brethren. And yet…. and yet…. you are called to be Christ’s ambassador, Christ’s representative. Christ is your Example (isn’t He?) and your Example was always entangled in controversy. Let’s take a stroll through the gospel of John….
Chapter two finds Jesus making “a whip of chords” saying, “Don’t make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” In chapter four Jesus is telling a woman, “The one you now have is not your husband.” In chapter five the Jews “sought to kill Him” because He healed on the sabbath and, also, claimed to be God’s Son. In chapter six “many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” because of His many “hard saying[s]”. In chapter seven Jesus confronts His own brothers “who did not believe in Him”. In chapter eight Jesus tells the unbelieving Jews, “You are of your father the devil.” In chapter ten they said of Jesus, “He has a demon and is mad.” In chapter eleven “they plotted to put Him to death.” In thirteen Jesus tells Judas, “What you do, do quickly.” In chapter eighteen Jesus is arrested by “a detachment of troops, and officers”, and soon He was further confronted by the high priest and Pilate.
Confrontation is inevitable to true “sons of God” (“sons of God” being christians with grit). “All who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” Spiritual wimps cannot be disciples. Just can’t. The condition of Christ’s church doesn’t anger the apathetic, those intent on being ‘nice’. Let it not be said of us (Mat.12:43), “They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”
If you can’t take a stand for Christ by simply refusing to call another christian ‘Pastor’, how can you possibly hope to rid yourself of all other evangelical “tradition[s] of the elders”, each “making the word of God of no effect”? (see Mark 7)