5 Things Pastors Should Not Love Too Much

Paul told the Thessalonians, “Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, and are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other” (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13). We are called to honor our pastors who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding us along in our obedience to God. The work of pastors is often compared to that of shepherds. Shepherds lead, prod, take care of, watch out for, nurture, rescue and direct the sheep. We should support them in the ministry as we disciple to those in the world. However, there are certain qualities and traits of a pastor that you need to be on the watch for that may point in the direction of spiritual abuse. Here are five things pastors shouldn’t love too much.

Degrees or Titles

Your pastor should not be in love with degrees on his wall or titles before his name. The reality is that the skills a church most needs in a pastor may not be the product of an advanced degree. That’s not to say that graduate degrees aren’t good, helpful or honorable. Surely they are. However, there remains in some lay leadership a false impression that certain degrees are more important than experience – or worse, that the titles will bring prestige and thereby grow the church. To say that a minister who “only” completed the master of divinity degree is any way less prepared to serve the church than a person with a law degree is prepared to serve the court is simply misguided.

Extra Money

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Beware of pastors who ask for extra money or make brazen appeals for money, yet offer no assurance that the finances of the church are handled with accountability and integrity. Some pastors will tell their congregations that the final decisions of the church do not become a public matter because the congregation doesn’t have the spiritual insight or maturity to understand the dynamics of church finances. There are also pastors who preach that it doesn’t matter what is done with your money. The responsibility is simply to give. However, the Bible commands us to be good stewards and part of good stewardship is making sure that systems of accountability are established to handle tithes and offerings.

Power

There is certainly a place for biblical teaching on spiritual authority. But if a pastor teaches on this subject every Sunday, constantly reminding everyone that he is in charge, you can be sure that trouble is around the corner. In an unhealthy church, the pastor actually begins to take the place of Jesus in people’s lives. Commonly, people are told they cannot leave the church with God’s blessing unless the pastor approves the decision. The implication is that unless they receive pastoral permission, not only will God not bless them, but they will also be cursed in some way, resulting in sure failure. These spiritual leaders are power hungry and use this kind of reasoning to manipulate people. Beware.