Voice of Authority or Fellow Struggler?
Steve Brown
If an apparently strong-willed pastor admits struggles from the pulpit, it becomes a powerful preaching moment.
— Steve Brown Our church had just signed a contract for a $3 million building project. I panicked when those I banked on to help pay for it refused. So I called up every elder and deacon and cajoled them to pledge towards the project. I recruited someone to paste a large picture of our church on a cardboard box and cut it up into bricks of $10,000 each. I also convinced the elders and deacons to stand in front of the church one Sunday and announce their 100 percent support for the project. Then, as a climax to all my work, I preached a hard-sell message, a the-time-for-fun-and-games-is-over sermon. It didn't work. We raised the money, all right, but in the meantime I was criticized severely. I so deeply offended one person, he left the church. And that upset his girlfriend terribly, because she had decided to stay! As I look back, I realize how manipulative the sermon was. I practically said that if people didn't give they would get the fever! The church at that moment didn't need a blistering prophet who threatened but a gentle pastor who encouraged. In retrospect, I should have identified with people: "This is a huge goal, and even I'm afraid to make the sacrifices required to fulfill it. But if we depend on God, he can give us courage to do it together." I've been wrong in the other direction, as well, being vulnerable when I should have kicked the congregation in the seat of the pants! This is one of the toughest problems the modern pastor faces. We are called to be heralds of the truth, yet if we don't do that well, it backfires. People today don't like to be told what to do or what to believe. People need and want ...
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