Pastors or Life Coaches?

[mfblume]

Is it me or are pastors nowadays actually more like life coaches and motivational speakers, instead of shepherds of flocks toward spiritual maturity? It's like psychologists rather than real Spritual leaders.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Is it me or are pastors nowadays actually more like life coaches and motivational speakers, instead of shepherds of flocks toward spiritual maturity? It's like psychologists rather than real Spritual leaders.

It's not just you.

[Sean]

Hey, we pay them the 10th to be our spiritual leaders because we are not spiritual enough to have a walk of our own and to speak for ourselves with the one Shepherd.

[mfblume]

Bye Sean

[Tithesmeister]

Dr. Phil kinda?

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Is it me or are pastors nowadays actually more like life coaches and motivational speakers, instead of shepherds of flocks toward spiritual maturity? It's like psychologists rather than real Spritual leaders.

It's more like the congregation viewing the pastor as a lecturer. They listen, but don't participate.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by Tithesmeister

Dr. Phil kinda?

That's it.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by Pressing-On

It's more like the congregation viewing the pastor as a lecturer. They listen, but don't participate.

That, but also some really aren't guiding in a Spritual manner.

[Tithesmeister]

Throughout the history of man’s relationship with God, it has been God’s desire to have a close, personal relationship with His creation that is man. It seems He was able to do so with Adam for some time, and Abraham was a friend of God.

However, when the Israelites came out of Egypt God would visit with them, and there was fire and smoke. The power of God scared them, so they told Moses to go up on the mountain and talk to God and come back and tell them what He said.

Later, they told Samuel (because his sons were corrupt) that they wanted a king so they could be like other nations. God said they rejected Him, not Samuel. Today people are still prone to want a priest to communicate with God on their behalf, in spite of the fact that Hebrews is clear that we can go boldly before the throne, and that Jesus is our high Priest and our mediator. It seems that it is our nature to want a go-between to speak to God for us, even today.

I think a true pastor and a wise pastor will teach in such a way that his saints mature to the point that they less dependent on him and more dependent on God. Some saints have to counsel with the pastors over every little thing. It must be frustrating to pastor these kind of saints.

[houston]

Originally Posted by mfblume

That, but also some really aren't guiding in a Spritual manner.

Joel Osteen-ish