Previously we have looked at the pitfalls of pay and popularity that are inherent within pastoral ministry. The third pitfall is pastoral power.
Power is a great pitfall and temptation for many pastors.
It is not that power is evil. Power is good. After all, God has power, Jesus ministered with power, and the Holy Spirit comes in power.
The problem with power is that it can corrupt. It can go bad. It can be used in ways for which it was never intended. Power, when mixed with pride, becomes dangerous, damaging, and destructive. It can seek to control the lives, thoughts, and actions of others.
It is for this reason that if a pastor struggles with power, it might be best for him to resign as pastor. Doing so will not cause the desire for power to simply disappear, but instead, resigning as pastor hinders our ability to use our pastoral position in damaging and abusive ways.
So how can you know if you struggle with power?
Here are a few diagnostic questions:
- Do you feel like you hold the keys to heaven and hell, determining who is saved, and who is not?
- Do you require the Bible study leaders and Sunday school teachers to get approval from you for their curriculum or lesson plans?
- Do you see yourself as the decider of doctrinal differences within the church?
- Do you have your seminary degrees hung on your office wall?
- Do you require people to call you “Pastor,” “Reverend,” or “Doctor”?
- Do you feel that people’s lives will be better if they just listen to you and do what you say?
- Do you require the music team to get their song selections approved by you?
- Do you require the youth leader to check with you before they do a mission’s outreach or community service event?
- Do you “invite” people to leave the church when they disagree with you, your theology, your ideas, or the direction you are leading the church?
- Do you frequently remind people that you are the one with the seminary degree?
Very few of these are possible if you are not a pastor. If you are a pastor who struggles with power, one of the best ways to lead the people of your church may be to resign as pastor and invite them to follow Jesus Christ as the sole Head of the Church.
I’ve found your series on pastors very intriguing! My hubby and I have had many discussions about pastors…quite frankly, he does not care for pastors. YOu know, for years I thought he was being rebellious and unsubmissive and *gasp* undermining authority (who would ever dare speak against a pastor?!), but over time I’ve come to discover that he has some very valid points and actually is not as rebellious and stubborn as I thought. I’ve come to discover myself that church pastors struggle with serious narcissistic personality issues. Not all of them, of course, but it is more often than not a trademark. It’s a dangerous thing to give a narcissist a pulpit every week. But, it happens all the time.
I have tons I could say on this subject, but you bring up some very valid issues. Many things I’ve always kept to myself and don’t share publicly because of the way other believers get offended when you “speak against” pastors. I’m really not against them, but…I just have lots of questions.
I’ll read the rest of your series with great interest!
Your husband is probably rebelling against “the powers that be” which is a good type of rebellion.
I really struggled with this post because resigning as pastor doesn’t actually solve the desire for power. It just removes it from the role of pastor.
I suppose this is good, but it is certainly not a fix.
I am working hard on the next several posts, and many of the comments so far are helping me refine what I will write. Thanks!
The pastors we have known would not be described by most of the things on the list. One or two probably thought they were the arbiter on issues of doctrine. In the last IC we attended, the elders thought it necessary to correct people who had incorrect doctrine. The pastor was head of the elder board and an elder himself.
Your list does not mention what we have seen with most pastors we have known – They seem to think that God tells them, and them alone, what the church should do. This included build another building, buy property, hire more staff, how much staff should be paid and so on. My question at a congregational meeting where we were to vote on acquiring property and debt (after the pastor had told us that God had told him we should do so) “If God told you we should be doing this, wouldn’t He also tell some of us?” was met by stunned silence and obviously upset the pastor.
Well, God told me to write this post, so you must be wrong.
Ha!
Yes, that is a huge abuse of power.
I personally think the “God told me” line is what the Third Commandment in Exodus 20 is referring to. Any time we attach God’s name to something that He did not do or say, we have used His name in vain.
Check out this link:
http://www.christianitymagazine.co.uk/features/godtoldmereally.aspx?external=ignite
Postoral Power plays on human gullibility
Or..they could become United Church of Christ pastors. We have no power and no illusions of power.
Is that right? I don’t know how the Church of Christ functions. How do you keep the power hunger out?
I don’t have a choice. Our polity is congregational. All governing authority lies in the hands of elected “lay” leaders. Unfortunately, such a system only replaces one tyrant with several tyrants.