Intimidation Does not Produce Righteousness

[Kevin Schaal]

As a pastor, I must convince, not command.

This is extremely important. If a member does what I ask, just because I ask it, but not because they are convinced that what I am asking is truly God’s will and truly scripturally supportable, then I am running a cult, not a church, and their obedience is conformity, not righteousness.

This type of leadership is hard. It is time-consuming and often does not produce the type of uniformity or support that leaders like within a congregation. But it does produce solid well-grounded Christians who are following Christ and his word, rather than a human leader or an organization.

I very much appreciate these statements. Too often I’ve seen pastors take the stance, “Because I’m the pastor of this church, we will operate this church based on my preferences, opinions, and convictions.” It is a rule by pastoral fiat. Instead of seeking to convince via scriptural argument or reasonable application of scriptural principles, some pastors speak ex cathedra and expect their congregation to fall in line. Any disagreement is then viewed as a test of loyalty and obedience to spiritual authority.

If we cannot convince our people on matters of scriptural application and have to resort to pastoral fiat to accomplish our will, we are dangerously close to a cult.