Sermon Tone Analysis

“I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher.”

[1]

His face was red and his eyes were narrow slits as he raged, “We hired you, and we can fire you.”

I was equally determined as I asserted with a firm, steady voice, “No one hired me; God appointed me.”

Ignoring my assertion, the enraged man informed me that he was the “Chairman of the Church.”

He continued his tirade, loudly proclaiming that what he wanted, he got; what he didn’t want wouldn’t happen.

Tragically, this incident was not exceptional in modern church life; such despicable despots are not an anomaly among the churches of this day.

Petty tyrants on a power trip are distressingly common among the churches of our Lord.

I caution the people of God, the Holy One is quite capable of guiding His holy people without the intervention or oversight of any individual.

He managed to direct the people of Israel through the wilderness for forty years and He is well able to oversee the advance of any congregation in this day.

Shockingly, professed leaders among the faithful seem often to fall into the trap of imagining that God is dependent upon them—as though without their expertise or without their firm hand holding the tiller the church will soon cease to exist.

Yet, no individual is indispensable for the spiritual progress of a congregation.

In fact, it is fair to say that if a congregation is guided by such an individual, or even by a group of such individuals, that congregation has ceased moving forward and has either begun to regress or it awaits the final pronouncement of “hic jacet.”

Employing a biblical argot, it is likely that the Head of the Church has already inscribed “Ichabod” above the door of that particular congregation.

If I should begin to act in a domineering, autocratic manner, or should the congregation begin to permit any individual or group of individuals to act in an authoritarian, overbearing fashion, the advance of this congregation will be halted and the work will suffer.

The Spirit of Christ dwells among His people.

What else can Paul’s cautionary word mean when he writes, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him.

For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” [1 CORINTHIANS 3:16, 17].

If anyone should begin to act presumptuously with the congregation of the faithful, they are presuming against God Himself.

And just as God removed Ananias and Sapphira, so He will hold such individuals accountable even now.

That brings us to the message for this day.

Paul asserts that he was appointed and not hired.

His service was offered up as though fulfilling the appointment he had received.

With this brief statement, the Apostle compels all who read his words to grapple with the manner in which God directs His church.

Understanding the work of God is vital for a healthy church.

*HIRING A PREACHER *— The contemporary church model consists of members and adherents ruled by an elected board.

The model is an ecclesiastical adaptation of modern democratic political life.

The elected board searches out staff, including a preacher who is hired to act as sort of a CEO.

This preacher is answerable to the board who reviews his performance on some ongoing basis.

Should he fail to please his masters, he will be dismissed.

Consequently, the modern preacher is careful not to offend and careful to make people feel good about themselves.

The hired preacher’s tenure may be long, but it is most frequently of short duration.

Among modern churches, the tenure is often measured in months rather than years.

One denomination has a reported average pastoral tenure of approximately eighteen months, a figure that is not incidentally frequently cited as the average tenure for youth pastors in evangelical churches.

Among one of the largest denominations, the average pastoral tenure is 3.6 years.

[2] Pastors with productive ministries tend to remain for longer periods, meaning that many pastors remain in their pulpit for less than two years.

George Barna writes of this rapid turnover, “Our work has found that the typical pastor has his or her greatest ministry impact at church in years five through fourteen of their pastorate.

Unfortunately, we also know that the average pastor lasts only five years at a church—forfeiting the fruit of their investment in the church they’ve pastored.

In our fast turnaround society where we demand overnight results and consider everyone expendable and everything disposable, we may be shortchanging pastors—and the congregations they oversee—by terminating their tenure.”

[3]

Undoubtedly, most pastors accept their position in a given congregation in anticipation that they can make a difference.

I am confident that most pastors want to honour God and they want to make those under their teaching strong in Christ the Lord.

I know there are charlatans who seek only to climb the ecclesiastical ladder, securing a more prominent position for themselves.

However, most pastors want to honour God—they want to build strong Christians and strong churches.

Yet, such aspirations seem more often dashed than fulfilled.

The reasons for truncated tenures such as just described are undoubtedly multifaceted.

Some pastors leave their present church to move to a congregation that provides better support—family needs dictate such moves.

Few pastors serve for financial gain.

Most pastors invest far more time in service to the people than those outside the pastorate will ever realise.

Conflict accounts for many pastors leaving their charge; and conflict is more common among the churches than many could ever imagine.

Having served multiple congregations both in the United States and in Canada, I estimate that major conflicts occur in a particular congregation on an average of about every two years.

The conflicts may be resolved by the pastor leaving or by other church members leaving; seldom are the conflicts resolved biblically.

Other pastors believe (perhaps with good reason) that they are getting stale; they seek “greener pastures.”

Boredom and burnout account for others leaving their charge.

Another reason given for leaving a pastorate includes the present oversight creates too much pressure.

Still, it seems that being fired or forced to leave is a major reason for pastors leaving a pastorate.

For years, I have heard church leaders (usually leading churches in obvious decline) recite a little ditty, “Pastors come, and pastors go, but the church remains.”

It salves the conscience after a church brawl that ensured that yet another pastor would be sent packing; however, such attitudes are abhorrent in light of Scripture; the unspoken assumption held by such leaders is, “This is our church.”

With the departure of each pastor, the decreasing number of attendees in the congregation asserts—either openly, defiantly or tacitly, “This is our church.”

The contemporary concept has grown out of something that is never found in Scripture.

The congregation is desperate for a pastor (after all, you can’t be a church without a pastor), and so they set out to “call” a pastor.

Perceptive people realise that the concept of “call” is church talk for “hire.”

The board accumulates a series of resumes from people, each of whom is either exploring a “call” or openly declares that he (and even she in modern church life) is “called” to pastor that church.

Except for one great exception, the term used for a shepherd (pastor) in the New Testament always speaks of someone who takes care of real sheep or of the Lord Himself.

To be sure, the verbal form is used by both Paul and Peter as they direct overseers/elders to shepherd the flock of God.

The one significant exception is given in the encyclical that we know as the Letter to the Ephesians.

Of course, Paul is speaking of Christ’s ascension gifts to the churches when he writes, “He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” [EPHESIANS 4:11-16].

The Apostle writes of “the shepherds and teachers”; this is the sole place where the term “shepherd” (or “pastor”) is applied to elders/overseers.

As mentioned previously, Paul had urged these same Ephesian elders, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood” [ACTS 20:28, HCSB].

Peter uses similar language when he writes, “I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” [1 PETER 5:1-4].

To identify the overseer of the church as the pastor is legitimate.

However, appealing to Scripture, the term “pastor” is seen to be exceptional rather than common.

Nevertheless, when a church is without a shepherd, that congregation usually solicits resumes from hopeful “candidates” who need a job or who wish to move to another place.

Perceptive individuals know that they will be there about three point six years and then they will be gone.

However, all involved spiritualise the hiring and the firing by appealing to a “call.”

If the preacher is “called,” he is being called to be the next to come and to go.

He will go to his new charge anticipating that he will change the pattern of death that marks the congregation.

This reminds me of the riddle, “How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?”

The answer is, “One; but the light bulb has to want to change.”

The new preacher with his newly minted call dreams of accomplishing great things for God; but the keepers of the ancient ways have to want to change.

Unless God Himself intervenes, the power brokers will, in the end, have their way, ultimately proving that this was “their” church.

Tragically, far too many churches have passed beyond the point of no return.

They bear the name “church” on their stationary, but they long ago ceased to be the community of faith.

The group has become a religious society that performs religious ceremonies according to their business model.

I know that in presenting the aforementioned scenario I’ve painted with a broad brush.

Undoubtedly many pastors do seek to honour God and do struggle mightily to ensure that those under their oversight are taught and nurtured in the Faith.

Unquestionably, among the churches of our Lord are found godly individuals praying for their congregation and seeking God’s glory.

Nevertheless, the scenario presented is sufficiently common as to define too many congregations.

Because this is true, knowledge that such conditions are more common than we might otherwise imagine should challenge all churches—read that as “all Christians”—to examine the attitude resident and tolerated within the Body concerning ecclesiastical structure.

If the congregations of this day are to hope to approximate the biblical model, each Christian will be compelled to confront the attitude that leadership is hired or elected in favour of the biblical concept of appointment.

Each Christian is responsible to reject even the hint of a professional ministry that is hired to do the work of the church.

Each Christian is responsible to refuse to permit himself or herself to fall into the trap of permitting the worship of the Living Christ to become a spectator sport.

Each believer is appointed to be engaged in the greatest work ever entrusted to mankind—glorifying God and turning the lost to life in the Risen Son of God.

*THE BIBLICAL MODEL* — “I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher.”

Whether we speak of a preacher or whether we speak of a teacher, if that one is not appointed by the Sovereign Head of the Church, he is a pretender and unfit for the service to which he lays claim.

Paul quite boldly asserts that he was appointed to the offices he claims.

Note in particular that he places his appointment as a preacher before laying claim to being an apostle and teacher.

In the earlier missive to Timothy, Paul had spoken of the responsibilities he bore.

He wrote, “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.