Welcome to the World of a Pastor

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Pastoral Theology Course Notes
Lesson Seventeen

Lesson One
Lesson Two
Lesson Three
Lesson Four
Lesson Five
Lesson Six
Lesson Seven
Lesson Eight
Lesson Nine
Lesson Ten
Lesson Eleven
Lesson Twelve
Lesson Thirteen
Lesson Fourteen
Lesson Fifteen
Lesson Sixteen
Lesson Seventeen
Lesson Eighteen
Lesson Nineteen
Lesson Twenty
Lesson Twenty-one
Lesson Twenty-two
Lesson Twenty-three
Lesson Twenty-four
Lesson Twenty-five
Lesson Twenty-six
Lesson Twenty-seven

What about Faithfulness?

Hardly a week goes by that some pastor doesn't lament about the unfaithfulness of some of his members. Not the baby members who are just beginning to grow, but members that ought to know better. I would venture to say that no other single thing breaks the heart of leaders as much as unfaithfulness. The Bible is so true in Proverbs 25:19, "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint." In our marriage relationship we can get over burnt biscuits and a dozen other shortcomings but unfaithfulness will end a relationship more often than not.

To this point I've said nothing that even the most inept can miss. But I want to go a little deeper. I've preached the laws of sowing and reaping for years to everyone who would listen. Many years ago my pastor told me that given time my church would be filled with people like me. That puts the pressure on me to be what I want my people to be. He equated this to sowing and reaping. I agree with my pastor and I've seen this work. It has been well said, that we teach what we know but we reproduce what we are. Why then does it seem to so many that though they are faithful, those that they are leading are not? I'd like to address this for a moment.

I Peter 4:17 says "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God." Accountability for faithfulness needs to begin at the church and with those in leadership. Clearly the Bible teaches that to whom much is given much shall be required. Many faithful pastors have allowed themselves to be surrounded with leaders who are not faithful. A decision needs to be made. Will I allow these unfaithful leaders to produce after their own kind, or do I want to deal with those unfaithful leaders, take whatever lumps may come, and begin the process of sowing and reaping with what I would like to produce. Mark it down, deacons and Sunday School teachers who don't visit, who don't tithe, and who are not faithful to all the church services will have to be dealt with or they will reproduce in spite of your best efforts to keep it from happening.

What would happen if we called the pastor of every missionary and evangelist who we have scheduled to preach and ask if these men are faithful, loyal members? Maybe there is a reason the local church and pastor are missing from their letterhead. Are we nuts? Do we think that unfaithful men are going to come to our churches and be used of God to produce something that they are not? I speak with pastors all the time who have members in itinerant ministry who are unfaithful to tithe, who don't visit, and who make it a practice to be unaccountable to their local church. These men are filling our pulpits and preaching to our people. This will never stop until we learn to hold people accountable. Perhaps if some of this hypocrisy was dealt with we might begin to see our churches make a move towards faithfulness.