WHAT?! WEDNESDAY: PART 2 of Who cares what your Pastor said…What did GOD say?! by Malika Sanders

by Malika Sanders

Paul warns us in Galatians 3 by stating, “O you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you, unto whom—right before your very eyes—Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was openly and graphically set forth and portrayed as crucified?” The answer for many of us? Our Pastors. The word instructs us to know them that labor among us. Do we really know them? Or, did we just assume they were legit? The Word says that we shall be known by our fruit, not gifts, callings and anointing (Matt 7:15 – 20). There ought to be good fruit if they are truly in Christ. If the fruit is rotten, keep walking.

Paul gave an admonishment in 1 Corinthians 11:1 (AMP), “Pattern yourselves after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah).” As God’s sheep, none of us have an obligation to follow ANY leader who is not following Christ. Open your eyes and ears and take notice. Many leaders that we “sit under” have deterred from the path He set before them in exchange for doing their own thing. They haven’t heard from God in a LONG while and it is often readily discernible in their actions (or inaction). So what are you going to do? Will you, for appearances sake, continue to follow leadership that has gone astray? Or, will you dare to follow YOUR God at all costs?

All believers in Christ have an obligation to His word. In John 14:15 Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep My commandments.” His word is law. His word liberates. His word frames the entire world. His church, His word, HIS WAY!

We cannot afford to allow the words of God to fall to the ground and/or wait until a “more opportune time.” We must focus on the word from God to us personally–and the timing of it–and make it paramount in our lives. Tune up your ears if you must because in this hour, active listening in the spirit could save your life.  God did not put you here to be a pastor-parrot saying, “well my Pastor said, my Pastor said, my Pastor said…”

Don’t get me wrong, Pastors are part of God’s ordained five-fold ministry gifts (See Eph 4:11 – 12). They play a major role in the overall development of God’s people because they are tasked with teaching God’s church (Acts 20:28). And a good Pastor not only teaches but remains teachable. Good pastors know how to give instruction but refrain from making life decisions for a person and thereby allowing room for “God to be God.” The one thing that amazes me about any good pastor is their ability to love people like God loves them. They love them through all their mistakes, hiccups, ups, downs and in-betweens, never holding the person’s short comings against them. For every pastor that exhibits these characteristics and more? **GREAT APPLAUSE** You are to be commended because you understand your function – tend, guard and guide.

But what do you do when the wolf you should be guarded from is your own pastor? I am very adamant about this issue because I’ve seen the destruction it has caused. I’ve seen men spiritually castrated and women manipulated into a form of slavery. I’ve watched people spiritually deteriorate because of this and homes be broken up. I’ve seen people pushed into positions, by pastors, that God had not ordained for them and watched them become stuck and depressed. This is NOT my God!

Why such an arresting word? Because God is speaking, time is short and we have work to do. I thought I was doing the right thing by waiting for my pastor to “approve me.” News Flash…. Pastors (or any leader for that matter) only confirm what God Himself has already approved. And, if the pastor you’re under will not confirm what God has already done in you, God has someone else who will. Remember, God is always loaded. You are approved in the Lord. He said, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet (fill in your own calling here) unto the nations” (Jer 1:5, KJV).

Remember, God is the ONLY one keeping score and grading you on your test. He wants to lighten your load so that you can run the race that HE set before you. Since I allowed HIM to do that for me, I’m a lot lighter, more relaxed and focused. I can see my task and I know that I can accomplish it.

So again I ask, who cares what your pastor said…WHAT DID GOD SAY?!?