Manipulation and the Pastor

The following is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Jim Meyer. I am hopeful it will give the reader some insight concerning a manipulating pastor. ............................... Ask yourself: is my pastor teaching what God’s Word really says … or what he wants it to say? Second, the pastor needs to preach the entirety of Scripture. When I was ordained, I was charged with preaching “the whole counsel of God.” The phrase comes from Paul’s words to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:27. Paul told his friends, “While I was with you, I never held back the Word of God” (NIV). The phrase is usually taken to mean, “Preach everything that’s in the Bible … whether popular or unpopular.” If a pastor is truly called by God to preach the whole counsel of God, that pastor will eventually have to preach on controversial issues. Here’s why: the Bible speaks to most of these issues, either through direct commands or general principles. If a pastor teaches what Scripture says about these issues, then his people can penetrate the culture with biblical arguments. But if the pastor fails to teach what Scripture says, then his people may adopt the mindset of the culture by default. If a pastor routinely sidesteps controversial issues to avoid conflict inside his church, he’ll cultivate a congregation that’s biblically ignorant and cannot intellligently converse with those outside the church. Ask yourself: is my pastor dealing with tough issues biblically, or is he sidestepping controversy to be popular? Third, the pastor must give credit for materials he’s borrowed from others. I once heard a pastor do a long series on an issue he knew little about … and the more I heard him preach, the more convinced I was that he was “borrowing” his information from another source. In fact, I was pretty sure I knew who that source was. My dilemma: if I did the research, and found out my hunch was right, what was I supposed to do with that information? Confront the pastor? Take it to the board? In my case, I decided not to do the research … but plagiarism is a serious matter, especially in Christian circles. It is unethical for a pastor to take someone else’s quotation … or story … or sermon … and pass it off as his own without acknowledging his source. In fact, it’s not just borrowing … it’s stealing.