I know this is just a few minutes when this pastor apparently had a melt down, but this is certainly not preaching. It is a self centered pity party. Look at how many times he says I.
The process of publicly humiliating and isolating those that oppose you or you disagree with does not belong in the pulpit. What we see here is cult like control and a ministry that appears to be centered on a man (cult) instead of on Christ.
The issues the preacher brings up are trivial, one that falls asleep, one that has missed some services, and a kid who has been “hanging out” in the video room.
My first impression to this is to ask “What is the real problem here?” There is something else going on.
If this were my church and my pastor I would try to meet with him privately and ask what else was going on. It may be that Pastor Standridge was simply worn down by the many small things, but there may be something else more serious going on that was never mentioned.
Totally disagree. When you've pastored folks in a smaller church in a smaller community for a while and you're basically all part of an extended community family, you can often times say exactly what he said in terms of rebuke because EVERYBODY( and I do mean EVERYBODY) knows exactly what he's talking about and why he is saying what he is saying.
They may have gotten a little upset, but family can tell ya stuff that other folks won't dare question you on.
I have a bigger problem with the person who posted it on the internet. This was family business. A public rebuke in front of family that was not, I'm pretty sure, intended to be posted all over the internet so that non-Christians and Christians alike could complain about the HOW.
I see nothing wrong with his public rebuke that was intended for the sheep which God has placed him there to shepherd.
This is a little town of 8000 or so folks. They are family. He's been there for 26 years.
Rebuke is not always pretty. Often times people become puffed up and think they did not deserve that.
Look at when Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees. He called them white washed graves, children of the devil, hypocrites, ect. Look at John 8, where it says there are Jews who believed him, but Jesus rebukes them and calls them children of the devil. Jesus was the ultimate example of love, yet he said and did these things.
When Pastor Jim was saying "not worth 15 cents" and such, I equate that to the same type of harsh rebuke that you would see from Jesus, Paul, James, or any true man of God towards his flock. And such a thing is so sorely missing in churches today.
I grew up in a small church as a kid that I attended until lI left for college. Old country church made up of family and people who were like family, warts and all. The pastor had liberty to say certain things in rebuke to us openly because it was family and private between family members.
