Ever have the feeling that, while people sit in your congregation and attend your church, their hearts are really somewhere else? With someone else?
A recent post by the guys at the Pyromaniacs blog really sparked some thought in my mind about this very issue. While our folks come and participate in worship, they would rather be listening to the pastors they read and podcast. The popular guys. I’m sure you can fill in the names. The Pyro guys make a few good points in the post. Some controversial, mostly helpful.
On the issue of our people really having other pastors:
Now, some professed Christians sin outright, by never physically attending an actual, in-person church. We’ve talked about that, and they aren’t our focus.
But others do attend a church — physically. They come in, they sit down. They sing, they may give financially. They may look at you, Pastor, as you preach.
But you know their heart belongs to another.
Their real pastor isn’t you. It’s Dave Hunt. Or it’s John Piper. Or it’s John MacArthur, or Ligon Duncan, or Mark Dever, or David Cloud, or Joel Osteen. Or it’s Charles Spurgeon, or D. M. Lloyd-Jones, or J. C. Ryle. Or Calvin, or Luther, or Bahnsen, or de Mar, or R. B. Thieme, or J. Vernon McGee.
And they’re such better pastors than you are! You know they are!
Another good tidbit from the post was concerning the lack of commitment we really have to paper pastors. They likened it to pornography. We are in control of the relationship. We have a commitment we can leave at any time.
He came to see that he had no actual relationship with these women whatever. If (he named a female celebrity) had sat down next to him in an airplane, she wouldn’t know him from Adam. Whatever may have happened in his sinful fantasies, the two of them had no relationship in the real world….
And they’re right, in a way. They can’t compete with these women. Because these women don’t exist in the real world! They may not even look like their pictures! Thanks to computer wizardry, the pictures we see may actually bear only the slightest resemblance to the actual women……
And these paper pastors maintain the perfect distance. If you don’t want to hear something, they don’t press it — or you can instantly shut them up, snap! They never ask you to do something uncomfortable and follow up on you. They never persistently probe an area of sin, in you, in person, eyeball to eyeball… nor will they. Church discipline will not be a threat with them. Ever.
Because they don’t know you from Adam.
This blog post really intrigued me. Why? Because during my time at Southern Seminary, many of the guys I went to school with seemed to elevate certain pastors above Christ, all in the name of Christ. They idolized these men. They worshiped these pastors.
As a college pastor, I’ve seen some of our own students struggle with this issue (as have other church members for that matter). Some have more of a desire to discuss a podcasted sermon from one of the “paper pastors” than to wrestle with and apply our own pastor’s sermon.
Let me be clear: I love a good read. I love great sermons and resources, and I love the ministry of many of these paper pastors. I have benefitted greatly from them. I even cite them on this blog as well as recommend them to others often! They ARE great men of God.
But perspective is also very helpful.
While I find these pastors resourceful and appreciate their ministry, I wish that people would spend more time uplifting and encouraging their ACTUAL pastors rather than fashioning golden calfs.
They might find that they appreciate their pastor more than ever before. Even if their pastors aren’t quite as perfect in their eyes as McManus, Begg, Sproul, Stanley, Piper, or Driscoll.
Maybe I just needed to have a heart-to-heart with some of my seminary friends or college students that have seemed to struggle with this. I guess it’s never too late:
So, because it’s awkward for your pastor to say it to you — and because I’ve no church who’d suspect I’m talking to them, at the moment — I’ll just tell you plain:
Brother, sister: John Piper isn’t your pastor. John MacArthur knows nothing about you. Dave Hunt never got on his knees and prayed for you. Lloyd-Jones won’t come to your house when you’re recovering from surgery, or one of your children shatters your heart, or your marriage is shaking and rocking and barely hanging on. Charles Spurgeon won’t weep with you as you weep.
Read the original post at the Pyromaniacs blog here.
HT: Sergio Mendoza
