The Pastor And The Flock

We call these letters chain letters and most of the time included in the letter is a curse of some kind if you break the chain.

Illus: There’s a story about a church that decided to include in their newsletter something similar. It had some tongue-in-cheek suggestions for church members that were unhappy with their pastor. It went like this:

"Simply send a copy of this letter to six other churches that are tired of their ministers. Then bundle up your pastor and send him to the church at the top of the list. Add your name to the bottom of the list. In one week you will receive 16,436 ministers, and one of them should be a dandy. Have faith in this letter. One church broke the chain and got their old minister back."

People are always joking about preachers. (At least I hope they are joking!)

Illus: Some people like to think of creative things to say to the pastor after service. They will say something like:

• "You always manage to find something to fill up the time."

• "I don’t care what they say, I like your sermons."

• "If I’d known you were going to be good today, I’d have brought a neighbor."

Most preachers have thick skin and they can take a joke. In fact, some preachers joke about themselves.

Illus: One preacher said, “Do you know how I knew I wanted to become a preacher? I woke up one morning with a strong urge for fried chicken and I didn’t want to get out of bed, so I knew I was called to preach.”

While there is a lot of joking about God’s man, it is one of the highest callings on the face of the earth.

Illus: Dr. Jerry Falwell, in the days when his popularity was soaring and many considered him as the next Billy Graham, was asked why would he not run for President of the United States. He said that he would not want to accept the demotion.

Pastoring and preaching are second to none, and my purpose for preaching this sermon is so that we have a better biblical understanding of how we are to work together as THE PASTOR AND THE FLOCK of God.

There are two ordained offices in the church:

• Pastors

• Deacons

Both of these positions are important in the church because if they were not, God would not have placed them in the scriptures. Let me show you three things concerning THE PASTOR AND THE FLOCK that we need to consider.

We see –

I. THE FELLOW

We talk about pastors being God-called. We do not talk about:

• Plumbers as being God-called

• Truck drivers as being God-called

• Doctors or lawyers as being God-called

But when we talk about the pastor, we refer to him as GOD-CALLED!

What does it mean to be God-called?

There are some today that say they are GOD-CALLED and God never called them. I am sure that some are in the ministry for the money.

Some of the wealthiest people alive today are television preachers. At one time, men like the PTL Club's Jim Bakker and television's Jimmy Swaggart seemed bigger than life! They seemed to be supermen that had been blessed with an uncanny ability to attract followers and money.

Later, they were only men - fragile, flawed, and the butt of jokes and newspaper cartoons. In many ways, it seemed like the beginning of the end for big-time TV religion.

BUT NOT SO! The only difference today is that the names have changed. They are raking in money hand over fist due to the ignorance of God’s people.

Illus: Consider these ministries:

• Joyce Meyer's heads a ministry with an annual income fast approaching $100 million a year.

• Kenneth and Gloria Copeland’s annual revenue is around $70 million and the man can not even preach!

• Jan and Paul Crouch’s ministry, according to the Los Angeles Times, provides the Crouches a $10 million, 80-acre, eight-home ranch near Dallas and two Land Rovers that the Crouches drive. In 2001, the couple bought a $5 million oceanfront estate in Newport Beach, Calif.

• Creflo Dollar’s ministry's income is unavailable, but newspaper accounts say the ministry paid $18 million in cash for his new 8,000-seat World Changers Church International on the southern edge of Atlanta. He drives a black Rolls-Royce and travels in a $5 million private jet.

• Benny Hinn is said to have an annual income now exceeding $90 million. Hinn told CNN in 1997 that he drew an annual salary of $500,000 to $1 million a year. He has a $3.5 million home in the Los Angeles area and drives an $80,000 Mercedes-Benz G500.

These only a few of the many out there raking in money hand over fist because of the ignorance of God’s people.