THE PASTOR

The pastor is the figurehead of "the church" (but no one in "the church" will admit this) while CHRIST is the figure and the HEAD of the BODY OF CHRIST. We have built an entire institution around a word that is only mentioned ONCE (in English) in the entire NT scriptures. (Eph 4:11, KJV). It is MY opinion that "most" pastors are good upstanding people who love God's people and are sincere in their work, However, the institutionalized church (or I.C. for short) system corrupts good people and draws corrupt people in (think Bishop Eddie Long and Ephram Taylor).  No matter how good your pastor is, (or how good you are as a pastor), if you are involved in the I.C., you will eventually begin to do things and fall in line with the system. This is especially true if a pastor receives a salary.  Not all pastors are in “the church”. There are a few who actually stand against the corrupt system known as “the church”. I know of one man who actually “pastors” but does not consider himself a “pastor” in the I.C. sense, but he FUNCTIONS as one. “Pastor” is not a title, nor is it an office.

The "office" of a pastor is revered in "the church" ("offices" are NOT biblical, but i will not get into that in this article). As I’ve stated before, most pastors are good, upstanding folk who love God's people, but they themselves have been deceived, and no matter how good and upstanding that pastor is, sincerity is no defense against deception!  In fact, it is one of deceptions greatest tools. The unsuspecting pastor will fall in line sooner or later, or leave the system entirely once the scales have been removed from his eyes, and if he is a true pastor, he will continue to function as one.

    NO WONDER

It's no wonder the church is in the state it's in. If the leadership in "the church" is deceived, the rest of "the church" will be deceived. Congregants believe they are doing God's work, building His kingdom (which has already been built and established), when in fact they are building a man's kingdom, the pastors kingdom, HIS (the pastor’s) church. They are taught to defend their “MAND OF GAWD” as if he were God Himself, after all, he is God’s mouthpiece, right?, Not only do his congregants defend him, they do it with vigor, regardless of what he does or teaches. Anyone speaking negatively about "their pastor" is going to get dealt with! How about defending the faith like that? Most congregants can't defend the faith. Why? They have been deceived into thinking that the “pastor” will take care of all their spiritual growth. They refuse to test all things. They refuse to become like the people of Berea (Acts 17:11) and search the scriptures for themselves, to see if what their pastor is saying is true. They refuse to "study to show themselves approved unto God, rightly dividing the word the truth.” They don't know how because they have not been taught by the pastor how to properly study scripture because a lot of pastors themselves are deceived and don't know how! He cannot teach what he does not know. What a lot of congregants do is take what the pastor has preached and study in order to back up what the pastor has said, not to make sure what he has said is true. They will study from the viewpoint of the pastor, and this in turn continues the cycle of deception going on in churches.

CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES AS OUR EXAMPLES.

The Greek word "Planao"  (G4105-to cause to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way, translated as deceive,  to err, etc.) appears 51 times in the Greek NT. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive (planao) you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive (planao) many." My interpretation of these verses is that Christ was not talking about people "claiming to be HIM", (although he could be) but he was warning of people who actually use His name to draw people unto themselves. (...if I be lifted up...). How many people in "the church" do you know that have said that Jesus is not the Christ? None right? Becasue if they did, they would not be in "the church", but outside!  Acts 20:30 says "Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."  How can they do that if they don't preach that Jesus is the Christ?  Paul is not talking about those outside the camp, like the Mormons, or Jehovah's Witnesses.  Paul is talking about those that claim the name of Christ drawing disciples after themselves, instead of making disciples of Christ.

"The Church" owes its modern structure and its hierarchal system of management to the world's systems, both political and business. If anyone denies this, they are only deceiving to themselves! Can you imagine Peter, Paul, James, or John doing the things that you see some of today's church leaders doing? Of Course not! They loved their lives not unto death! They were true defenders of the faith, willing to die for the gospel, but not these days.  Church leaders of today can't even take criticism, and will banish anyone who questions or threatens their power!