Sermon 23 "What's Wrong with Pastors Today"

A wonderful German Mennonite pastor led me to salvation in Christ when I was a teenager. He taught me that the Bible was the Word of God and worthy of my trust.

Many years later, after a long period of backsliding into sin and spiritual apathy, it was an Assembly of God pastor and a Lutheran pastor who helped rescue and restore me to a right relationship with  God.

I owe much to pastors, but I have also seen some very troubling developments in modern pastoring in America.

Why does a pastor think he must be the head of the church, by leading every single function and activity, and delivering all the sermons?

Why do pastors turn to secular styles of marketing and leadership? Why do they tend to focus on success principles, material prosperity, marriage, and political issues -- while neglecting deeper problems and spiritual issues?

Why are pastors moving away from traditional hymns -- and embracing repetitious, hypnotic praise choruses and contemporary music worship services that tend to be more emotional than doctrinal?

Why do they have "organ recitals", listing the cancers and diseases of members in prayers, when that is private medical information, and the emphasis should be on the organ that needs healing, instead of the disease of the organ?

Why do pastors shy away from preaching about gluttony, warmongering, witchcraft, gambling, sports addiction, cults, false prophets, sleazy televangelists, exploitation of the poor, drugs, secularism, racism, materialism, sexism, and other controversial issues?

Are pastors responsible for the hypocrisy, Bible illiteracy, militarism, and worldliness found in today's churches?

How can we respond to pastoral deficiencies?