Ministerial Myths

People have many erroneous concepts about professional church leaders (pastors, preachers, evangelists, missionaries, etc.). Often the people with a wrong opinion of the ministry are the parishioners—but at times it is the minister. Why do I refer to these concepts as erroneous? Because they are not biblical. Consider these ten myths.

After all, they went to Bible college and/or seminary, but, beyond that, they are paid to be more mature!

Ministers love God more than lay persons love God, so they do more for Him. And since clergy do more for Him, He loves them more. Doesn't this make sense?

Since ministers are more spiritually mature, they know what to ask for—and how to ask for it. And since God loves them more, He grants their requests quicker and more often.

Clergy have reached such a level of maturity and closeness to God that they don't even notice the temptations that deceive ordinary Christians.

Many things are acceptable for an ordinary Christian to do but are wrong for a minister. For example… well, you don't need me to cite examples, you could name a dozen.

This is a no-brainer! Who went to Bible college/seminary? This is why the words of the minister, especially in a sermon, have great authority. "Pastor said it; I believe it; that settles it."

The more followers a minister has, the more successful he/she is; the fewer, the less successful.

Ordinary people, whether church member or not, do not interact directly with God. Contemporary clergy act like the Old Testament priests: they function as mediators between God and people.

Some of the performers on the platform are not "ordained" ministers, but since they are also performers, we should think of them as "lay ministers."

This is the reason we hire our pastors, associates, and other ministers: to do the work of the church. They are paid to pray, visit the sick, and witness. Besides, if a lay person tried to witness, he/she might just push someone away from God.

Notice that these misconceptions are interrelated. Number 4 and number 5 are true because of number 1. Number 3 is true because of number 2. You get the idea. Ah, but these are all untrue statements! Do we need to refute each of these from the Scriptures? Providing a "proof text" to refute a few of these might be difficult because it is impossible to prove a negative.

Suffice it to say that nowhere does the Bible indicate God loves His servants more than he loves others—saint or sinner! And a preacher's sermon is authoritative only as it accurately reflects God's Word, the Bible. Clergy have as many human frailties as any one else.

The fundamental error in all of these myths is in thinking there is some enormous difference between the laity and the clergy. In fact, the New Testament presents a picture of a ministering laity. What is special, then, about church leaders? It is their assignment. They have been given the task of preparing the laity to do the work of the ministry. Perhaps nowhere in the New Testament is this stated more clearly, more explicitly, than in the fourth chapter of Ephesians:

11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (NIV)

This text clearly tells us that God provides His Church with leaders that will "prepare God’s people for works of service." Unfortunately, the KJV translates and punctuates vv.11-12 like this:

11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; ¹²For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ….

This punctuation makes it look like God gives  these leaders to the Church for these reasons: 1. "For the perfecting of the saints" and 2. "for the work of the ministry." Instead, Paul is saying that God gives the Church leaders in order to equip Christians to do the work of the ministry.  Perhaps this mistake is part of what has fostered the myths cited above.

You might agree with these arguments and say "So what?" I'm glad you asked that question. The unmasking of these myths offers a profound challenge to clergy and laity alike.

God did not call the professional minister to be superman. Learn how to equip and prepare all Christians to become ministering laity, and you will fulfill God's call on your life. Anything less than this—no matter how good or ecclesiastically acceptable—and you are like King Saul who claimed that he had obeyed God when he had actually disobeyed Him (1Sam 15). Take the focus off of yourself and help your church genuinely equip lay Christians to do the work of the ministry.

Take the professional minister down off that pedestal. He is a man (she is a woman), no matter how talented he/she is. You, Christian, are called to do the work of the ministry. Find a church whose leaders are trying to fulfill the biblical role of church leadership and get equipped to do the work of a minister. Take as many people as you can find who will follow you to that church!

Steve Badger, 21 November 1999, 20 January 2000