This is For Christians?

Question

I just am curious to know, and what you think about a church, who's pastor ( and this is a bible teaching church, no false doctrine at all) But the Pastor, almost every Sunday when teaching brings up what other churches are doing, and points out their faults? Sometimes he is just showing us the heresy in other churches, which is fine but then sometimes I feel as if he is actually making fun of other pastors and the way they teach-- and this happens A LOT. I know he loves the Lord, and wants the truth, only the truth of God's word- and he does teach it, but spends more time making fun of other churches....(that is how I have taken it anyway, so maybe its just me but.....)
Anyways, I am praying the Lord will lead us in this, and I do desire to try a new church-- I hear "Grace Bible Church" is good and I read their statement of faith online and agreed 100%!
What do you think about all of this? I do have wonderful friends at this church I am currently going to.

But of course God's word is more important, and I just want to be at a church I am actually learning the entire hour, and studying the scriptures....

Also, I agree we need to point out the heresy in other false churches, like cults for example, I am not bothered at all when he brings up the false doctrine there because people need to know! But yes, the constant "making fun" of just churches in particular ( not cults ) that is what has bothered me.

Answer 1

I have dealt with that as well.......

A pastor's duty is to preach the word and to point out heresy....
But to do it with the love of Christ.

Remember.....2 Timothy 3:16 says that the Word is God-breathed...and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, teaching.......

Answer 2

Running from a problem is never the first recourse. I would not even consider changing my church for something like this
unless I had a heart to heart talk with the pastor first. He may not even realize how he is affecting you and others. It is conceivable that he see this differently than you do.

Most pastors will set an appointment with you and listen to you especially concerning things that concern you and how they are coming off to you. If he is fault finding then what he is doing is wrong. Talking about other local churches and what they teach should never be done in the pulpit. That should only come up privately if someone is concerned about it and asks the pastor for counsel about it.

Sometimes a pastor can become over zealous on particular issues and can get off track, but someone talking with him will generally get him back on track again.

If the pastor thinks that he has a corner on truth, it is time to leave the church. Dogmatic people who cannot receive instruction - provided it comes with a right spirit - should be replaced, and if that isn't an option then moving to another church would be the next best option.

SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME - "Either you are part of the solution or you are part of the problem." If you can change the situation work on it, and if you can't then move on.

We are the body of Christ and members in particular - we are our brother's keeper. Pray for your pastor, and then see if he will listen to you. Do that before anything else. Be careful that you don't talk with church members about this as some of them will misunderstand what you are saying no matter how clearly you present it, and then the thing will become a big mess with everyone pointing fingers at everyone else. "Communication that is not clear is one of the biggest causes of divorce, business breakdown and church disorientation."

Since you have so many friends there I would consider what my course of action was even more because it could be the cause of alienation from some of them, and friends are very valuable to have. Above all pray! pray! and pray some more!

Answer 3

I don't think the Lord God wants you to go to this Church & that is why his preaching doesn't feel right in your spiritman.


I wouldn't go to the Church that I go to if the Pastor did that. Just last service he preached on Gods calling on his life to teach not in a denomination. He tried to initially, but the Lord led him to preach differently.

The Lord wanted him to preach to people from all denominations. Our Church is undenominational, but founded on the Holy Bible & Jesus Christ. He said that is because this is the direction the Lord leads him and the Lord leads other Pastors to a denomination. He isn't going to criticize the other denominations that other Pastors have been called to.

But he will bring up some false teaching that is in the Church as a whole. There are tares in all denominations & non-denominational. But the Foundational Truth (Jesus Christ the Lord & Savior, the Son of the Living God.) must be taught in the true Christian Church.

My Church is http://www.riveroflifefellowship.org . You can also listen to some of the Pastors sermons or read Pastor messages.

Answer 4

I'm not a Christian, but anyone can answer questions about leaders who lead in a little different way than we personally agree with. First, I would suggest you have a discussion about your concerns with your pastor. He may not even realize he is doing it. You might be able to come up with some better ways of addressing the issues together. This could be of great service to your entire church.

If that doesn't appear to get you anywhere, then you must, unfortunately, find a church that makes sense to you, where the leader makes you comfortable. While you may believe the overarching belief system is set in stone, the little behaviors and ways of following that belief may not be. This makes faith very personal, and so it must resonate with you on a personal level. You can always continue to spend time with your friends from this church, and perhaps they would even be interested in trying a new church with you.

In the end, you can't follow someone you don't feel is leading you on the right path or at the right pace or with the right attitude. If you can't work it out with your pastor, then it may be of great benefit to you to try other options.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I think that if people are properly taught the word and receive it, then they will be able to properly discern what is and what is not false teaching.
Someone told my husband once, when he said something negative about a particular televangalist, "do not touch, and be careful of what you say, about the Lord's annointed"
It is on thing to say that a particular teaching is wrong- it is better to say and do what is right and allow those that are followers of the Lord to see Jesus in your life. You don't learn about truth by studying and pointing out all the wrong- live by example and speak truth.
THink about David and King Saul- David did not go around telling all of Saul's subjects what a horrible job he was doing and how disobedient to the Lord he was- He spoke what was right and did what was right, taking accountability for his own sins and faults and being an example of what it really meant to be a man after God's own heart. As for Saul's sins, David let them speak for themselves, not even taking offense at them but knowing that his sins were against the Lord and in the end Saul was accountable only to the Lord.
A man of God should not be pointing out, (especially if he is naming names or churches) the faults of others- this does two things - puts him in a place of judgement and is a diversionary tactic to take attention of of his own faults and weaknesses. He should be preaching the Word of God- it is the word that will teach and correct- if someone has a wrong belief because of someone else's teaching, it is only by the washing of the word that they will know and understand truth.
Pointing out hte false teachings of others in the manner oyu described boils down to nothing more than gossip. No church is perfect and no man is perfect but one that desires to be perfected and be holy as He is holy, will read, speak and teach the Word of God and not be consumed with what others are teaching.
It is okay to a degree to be aware of other doctrines out there- pointing out with scripture how they are false, as many who do not know the word can be easily led astray, but if it winds up being a church bashing session, ridiculing the teachers and congregation- then that is not Biblical and not healthy for the church to be subjected to such things.

Answer 6

Continue to pray for your pastor. Maybe speak to him with a couple of other people about your concerns. Pastors are human too. He may not realize what he is saying. As for finding another church, that sounds really sad that you want to do that. Pray and talk to your pastor first. If it doesn't change after a few weeks, visit some other churches if you feel you need to change.

Answer 7

Well, if he honestly loves the Lord and is striving to give you all Christ centered teaching, I seriously doubt he's intentionally insulting the other church's. He may be trying to point out weaknesses that the Christian "church" has in general . . .the body of believers as a whole.

What I would reccomend you do is pull your pastor aside and ask him in private. No need to be hostile about it. Just let him know how you feel about it and ask him what he's trying to teach. If he's naming church's by name, maybe he'll then begin to pray about it and God will convict him of it. Maybe he'll alter the wording he uses.

Answer 8

Hi,

Bravo to you for questioning. We are always suppose to test teachings and this is what keeps us from false doctrines. Perhaps your minister doesn't realize that in his zeal to keep folks from false doctrine that he has strayed a bit. Do you have an elder at your church that you are comfortable speaking with? The ideal thing would be to sit down with your pastor and share your concerns with him. I agree that we need to stay away from churches that preach doctrine that is other than from the Bible or has been twisted with man's meaning but to make fun of them will only drive them further away. We need to preach this will love and prove our points from the Bible. Good luck in your search and God Bless.

Answer 9

Your pastor should teach the truth.

In most cases the truth should be taught without pointing fingers at other churchs however you don't know if perhaps someone hasn't asked him about the practices at other churches. It could be that his message is to address such a question.

Here is some truth for you. The Sabbath is on Saturday. This is when Yahshua went to synogoge. It's when Paul and Peter went to synogoge. When a christian ignores a direct command in the scriptures and twist other scriptures to fit their own veiws then they give Yahshua and Yahweh a black eye and thus are blaspheming their Name to the unbelievers.

If you are doing that then you are not following the first part of the Lord's prayer. "Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be they name".

Answer 10

Discuss this with some of those friends. This may be the way a lot of people are feeling. If it is, something needs to be done within the church to change his attitude (or his position).
If it is just you feeling uncomfortable there, then you need to find someplace else. One with a more tolerant pastor. It sounds like this guy is doing it all wrong.