10 People Every Pastor Should Fear

I enjoyed this post from Gospel Driven Church.  I laughed and agreed several times.  Good stuff.

1. The guy who “subtly” reminds you how much he gives to the church.
He thinks he is buying influence, and because some of his money pays your salary, he thinks he is buying more access to you and more pull with you than others have. Relieve him of this illusion if necessary.

2. The young guy who likes it when you rant against stuff or preach angry.
Beware of pleasing young men too much. Young men are notoriously stupid. (I know, ’cause I am one.)

3. The guy or gal who doesn’t like it when you rant against stuff or preach angry.
Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. If you’re sincerely and reliably preaching the Word, toes are going to be stepped on from time to time. If you’re not being self-indulgent about it and you are speaking the truth, beware those who think you should be more “positive” like those fellows on TV.

4. The lady with the unbelieving or spiritually unsophisticated husband who emails you a lot.
Danger, Will Robinson.

5. The person who finds you right after the message to point out something you got wrong, quibble over a minor point, or mention some other criticism.
You are tapped out right after your sermon, and this person will just crush your heart with one soft blow.

6. The person who likes every single one of your sermons.
You ain’t that great, and you know it. Don’t get puffed up.

7. The guy on the theological hobbyhorse.
His spiritual energy revolves around the rapture, paedocommunion, Calvinism or Arminianism, evolution, what-have-you and he thinks yours should too. These are distractions especially tempting for nerd pastors like me.

8. The podcast sermon connoisseur who thinks, “You really oughtta listen to what John Piper says about that.” Etc.
This person is a close relative of #5 and sometimes #2.

9. The worship leader who has CD’s of himself.
Always use a less talented guy with a submissive heart over a more talented guy who sees his role as a stepping stone to somewhere else.  This is closely related to the pastor who has written books.

10. God

(ht: Erik Kowalker)

Possibly Related posts:

1. Book Review- Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor
2. What Every Pastor Needs
3. Encouragement for pastors from Senior Pastor Jesus
4. Helpful Preaching Advice
5. Emotion in the pulpit

10 Responses to “10 People Every Pastor Should Fear”

1. Scott says:

   May 26, 2009 at 10:00 am

   Ouch! #2 hurt!

   But thanks for that one. In my honest moments I realize I can be the stupidest of all young men. I need to take that one to heart the next time I want to debate, and not necessarily with my pastor.
2. Barry says:

   May 26, 2009 at 10:54 am

   You know Pastor, I’d like to give more than $5 to the church each week. Maybe if I could sit in on the budget meetings I might be inclined to give more. Maybe $6. I also think you should check out Mark Driscoll’s sermon on Podcast, he explains how much of a good thing it is to allow members to sit in on budget meetings. He really puts the fear of God in people with that one. It would be great if you did a sermon like that once in a while. But other than that I love every one of your sermons. By the way, I’m not a worship leader but I aspire to be one. Have you heard any of my CD’s?

   But seriously. #10 is the botom line.
3. Laurie says:

   May 26, 2009 at 8:45 pm

   Fantastic!! I’m going to e-mail this link to my pastor. And, no, I’m not #4 – my pastor is my brother-in-law.
4. Scott C says:

   May 27, 2009 at 9:06 am

   There are multiple variations on many of these points. Furthermore, people are clever with the subtelty by which they communicate some of these things. I am always leery of the person that praises you all the time. In many cases they are trying gain a position of influence and power.
5. Andrew M says:

   May 27, 2009 at 4:25 pm

   Thank you for this – I appreciate the wake up call, as I’m one of those podcast sermon fan-boys. It may be mostly to get a wider view of thinking and to get more spiritual food but there is probably a good amount of pride and arrogance involved in it. Will have to look more at this blog.
6. Jared says:

   May 27, 2009 at 7:16 pm

   Just to be a #5, your #10 is 3 people…
7. Vanessa says:

   May 30, 2009 at 10:04 pm

   Dan Phillips has some good words about the heart behind #5 and #8
   http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2009/04/porn-and-paper-pastors.html
8. Latte Links (6/4) | Caffeinated Thoughts says:

   June 4, 2009 at 5:34 am

   [...] HT: Erik Raymond [...]
9. P.B. says:

   July 16, 2009 at 2:41 pm

   How about the guy who borrows books… lol

   Seriously, could I get “Apostolic Preaching of the Cross” by Leon Morris back? Its been quite a few months.
10. Erik says:

    July 17, 2009 at 2:02 pm

    PB- I sent you an email.. Let’s work out the details and I’ll get it back to you. Thanks!