Pastoral Authority

The problem, Blackbird, is they are not your sheep... The Owner has the responsibility of caring for His sheep, and that means knowing who gets sheared when, as well.

Don -- AMEN! I am heartily tired of seeing "Christian" ads for schools and such that will raise up "Christian leaders." Give me, instead, a place that knows how to train a servant. And then let God Himself raise up His leaders out of THAT group!

 

Dr. Bob -- is there a web site for them? I need a master's degree...are they accredited?

 

Now, now!! Before ya'll "clip Blackbird's wings"--I am in my right mind--I know what the word says about leaders being servants--that's a leader with all humiliation! Blacky baby ain't gonna "urserp" authority--I ain't gonna take advantage of it--

Believe me! I have seen and met just about every pastor who fits the description ya'll have described--and I ain't like that!! I ain't gonna go in and "take control" and say junk like "my staff" and "my church" and "ya'll can't question me!" and all of the other excuses and whines of those sissyfied preachers who crave to have the preiminance and lord it over the people.

But I'll go to my grave believin' like I do--and probably ya'll will too--and ya'll ain't gonna change my mind and I probably won't change ya'lls--but here is what I believe--

Authority can be handled only with total humiliation--it can be controled with humbleness! This is what I believe Jesus is talking about--he who wants to be first must be last--and the last shall be first--I show my sheep that I am the most humble man around--I show them that I eat humble pie every wakin' day of my life and even go to bed with its taste still in my mouth--I show them that I can be like shepherd David who can handle a harp one moment and then can handle a sling the next--

I still taste humble pie--I chew its cud--so that the babies can have milk cause they still have a lot of growin' to do--

If I can grasp the idea of total humiliation and master humbleness--then I won't have any trouble handleing authority as overseer of the church--you see, a truly humble pastor will not run over anybody with his authority. But he still has to have authority some sort of way.

You see! Thats the problem with a lot of us preachers--we don't know how to handle humbleness--its a whole lot easier to get a grip on authority. But servant leadership that the pastor must have will not happen without the two intertwined with each other! Authority without humbleness--you'll mess up everytime!

Humble sheep will submit to a humble pastor--they will give him the authority he needs to run the church like Jesus wants it run. If they don't--they haven't been in the word--they get their advise from the world. The world says "Run all over a humble man!" The word says we are to submit to that humble mans leadership!

Brother Blackbird

 

Blackbird,

I must ask you this question. This country jargon you always use in posting, is it for real or do you simply do it for fun? I sometimes have difficulty understanding exactly what you are saying.

I assume you did take English in college, or at least in high school.

 

I believe we need to get off the beat up the Blackbird thread and back on the subject at hand. And I also believe that the original question has been addressed very thoroughly.

In Christ

Ronnie