Ministry of Pastor (Part IV)

By Odon Bulamba (10th Nov 2000)

Here is an example of how things sometimes work in churches today; a particular congregation sends missionaries to Asia, and I know that in Thailand life is not so hard so I say, ‘Because I study theology at the Waikato University, and in 3 years I will graduate, or in 5 years, I will have my doctorate, therefore I will be a pastor and I will ask my assembly to send me in mission in Thailand.” I have this diploma from Uni, but am I elected by God or not? The Holy Spirit doesn’t teach at school, the power of the Holy Spirit is not given on the Uni benches.

Ephesians 4:11
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

The Spirit gives these ministries. So one doesn’t study to become pastor, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Unless I was elected by God and I know that God has chosen me, and I know that God has given this ministry, and then I decide to learn more at Uni. In that case it’s Okay to study how to be a pastor.

In our world today if Michael is a dentist and in order not to ruin his surgery, he prepares Nathanael (his son) and he will also start leaning dentistry. Michael thinks that when he dies, Nathanael will take over his business. And this is the way things work today in God’s church also, like in an Empire: when the Emperor dies, the son will take over. It is now about the Holy Spirit, it is not about ministries and gifts, but about human conventions, human matters.
- E.g. “Steve, you know, there is a vacant position in our church, would you like to be a pastor? If we take Peter, we think he is too far from us. We don’t want him”.

So, who gave you the authority to choose the pastor for God’s church? Are you the Holy Spirit to choose? This is what we call blasphemy, because you take the Holy Spirit’s leading to choose people. You take the Holy Spirit’s place to give gifts to people, you make yourself in the place of God, equal to God. Remember Isaiah 12, when Lucifer made himself equal to God and what happened next. Let’s be careful with these things.

The pastor’s children must be well behaved and most parents nowadays say that in the twenty-first century, we don’t even have the right to tease with your child, otherwise the Police come. This is normal now. They forget what is in the Bible, it says you must do all you can to teach your child how to live.

Let’s take some examples in the book of Proverbs,

Proverbs 29: 15 & 17
15 ¶ The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
17 ¶ Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.

Proverbs 19:18
18 ¶ Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

Proverbs 23: 13-14
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

Proverbs 22:15
15 ¶ Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

These are little passages. There are many others in the Bible. But today’s pastors don’t mind their children’s behavior. They want to imitate what people do in other families, or what the world does. The world often discusses the children’s rights, and children must be like this and that.

But what does the Bible say? For us, pastors, do we obey this world’s law or God’s law? If I do this for my son, my neighbors will think I am not civilized and they will think I am a savage. Yes, they might but what will God say. You might think you love your child, and you spoil him but in God’s eyes you are destroying his soul because this child is in training to learn how to live. Matthew tells us chapter 18, verse 6
Matthew 18:6
6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Amen! So most pastors make life difficult for their children, they lose their souls right from early childhood and they forget one day they will be accountable to God. Moreover, when the child is not well brought up, the pastor’s power lessens. When people see that they say, “The pastor’s children are badly behaved and if you can’t take care of your family, how will you take care of the church?” And this will make the pastor in a difficult position to please God. He will answer people that his children refuse to change their behavior despite all my efforts.

But it is your fault because right from the beginning you didn’t pray for them and you didn’t help them.