This following a post I made July 13, 2014 on Facebook. It comes from a conversation had and, when granted permission, my desire to find more about the issue.
So, I was hearing this opinion about a certain large church in Richmond that allegedly is losing attendance rapidly because the senior pastor is battling an illness, and cannot meet his duties as usual. The thought shared was that its members are living up to the perception of being fickle due to the pastor not being "available", and the situation is similar to Lebron James leaving the Miami Heat (i.e. fake fans). Additionally, I've seen posts on FB and IG supporting this opinion with pictures that have captions such as "the look I have when there's a guest preacher" and others. If you have an idea of what I'm talking about, what thoughts do you have about this issue?
While only one current member of that church responded to this post (which is odd, given that many members of that church like posts I make concerning financial prosperity), several people are familiar with the situation and sounded off; most of which had views that would deem this type of behavior as typical for that church. This branch, whether fair or unfair....true or false....has been assumed to be a church populated with money-hungry, self-seeking, somewhat Christian men with wandering eyes and less than somewhat Christian women whose body appears to be advertisement for the growing sex trade. And while most people in Richmond, Virginia recognize that the church's senior pastor is great orator with unique catch-phrases that have Christian associations; the overwhelming opinion is the church is designed to be just a show. And unfortunately, nothing could work to validate that opinion more than the pastor falling ill, and the congregation falling away.
I guess this situation and those like it go back to the question 'what's the purpose for what we call church in the first place'. I've heard people, when speaking of this tragedy, say that they tend to look for a church that speaks to their situation...which is fine. But considering that The Lord God is extremely concerned with how a persons' situation can positively impact other peoples situations, going to church just to get a self-serving word is terribly small-minded. Still, others have said that they have grown to find where The Lord God is leading them, and then they earnestly seek to work for and in that ministry. This then allows for the focus to remain on the call of Jesus Christ, and not the flair of a pastors' words. Additionally, the burn to please God goes far beyond Sundays and testimonies of material and social advancements. We're now talking a lifestyle of serving God through serving others.
Nevertheless, people worshiping leaders has been around since Moses; and the freed African slaves made it commonplace in America to worship a pastor inappropriately (as if there was an appropriate way to worship a human being). People just love their pastor, so much so that the pastor is their god. Now, I am in total agreement with honoring your pastor with complete respect and submission. I also believe that while a pastor cannot stand in any one's place to repent to God, a good pastor is very important in the development of a Christian walk and for things like prophecy and spiritual insight. Still, we've come to a point where the glorification of pastors is outweighing the glorification of The Lord through Jesus Christ; and that's idol worship and gravely dangerous. How do we know this? Because we have a church where people [allegedly] are visibly frustrated about a guest preacher, and aren't visibly confident about their senior pastors' healing or the Salvation of others. Perhaps if the focus wasn't so much on shining on haters and was instead on helping the haters, we wouldn't be so shallow to just hear something that makes us feel good. But sadly, the bottom line is a man of God is facing death....and which one of his followers has a word of prosperity for him?
Peace
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