A Pastor's role
For this week's journal entry I would like to build a little bit on the discussion that we had in class on Wednesday. I believe that one of the many responsibilities as a pastor of a church is to lead the congregation down the path of righteousness rather than leading the flock down the path of spiritual destruction. One of the best ways for a pastor through his sermon to keep his congregation on the straight and narrow is to preach from the Bible regardless as to what the congregation may want to hear. Usually the things that people want to hear said in a sermon are most often contrary to what the Bible says for them to do. The Bible even says that this is true because it is in our nature to want to lean more towards or fleshly desires rather than the desires that come from God. Therefore if a pastor is going to give a sermon that is more pleasing to the ear of his congregation rather than following the what is written God's word then that pretty much defeats the purpose of his job. The congregation pretty much doesn't need to attend church and could get an equivalent message like that from the people outside of their faith. I believe that Jenny made a great point with saying that unless a Pastor is aligned with the teachings of God in his own life, then he really shouldn't be teaching others the way toward salvation. Not to say that, pastors are perfect. Because my dad is a pastor and I do come in contact with a lot of other pastors who are friends of my dad's who have fallen by the way side in their walk with God, it happens. Absolutely nobody is perfect. I am sorry if this sounds like I have turned this into a Bible study here.