Every couple months (or less) there's a story about some influential Christian leader who turns out to be a predator, or an abuser, or something like that.

Cue all the people who are shocked and dismayed and saddened.

But how we elevate leaders is a core piece of this. 1/

We LIKE leaders who are all flash and glam, people who keep telling us they are perfect and know all the answers.

We like them tall and beautiful to look at and preferably rich or successful in some way.

We are the Israelites shouting to God GIVE US SAUL AS OUR KING! 2/

I mean this literally, by the way.

Years ago there was an influential and abusive pastor who liked to say there were 3 types of leaders:

Prophets
Priests
Kings

And HE was a KING.

Which is why he had the big megachurch, etc. "The CEO type" as he would also say. 3/

This is an actual movement in some parts of church planting. It's called "triperspectival leadership" and some well meaning people use it as a framework/metaphor for explaining church leadership.

4/

It's not in scripture, unless you spend considerable time defining what YOU mean by those terms (which well meaning people have done).

Pastors are NEVER called "kings" in scripture.

Pastor/Shepherd? Yes.

Elder? Yes.

King? NO.

"Senior pastor"? Nope, not even that.

5/

Meanwhile, off in the fields somewhere, is the passionate shepherd kid, last child in the family, short and smelling of sheep.

So many pastors are praising David but emulating Saul.

So many Christians are shouting GIVE US SAUL!

6/

After all, didn't Saul prophesy? Of course he did.

Didn't Saul look wonderful in his armor? Didn't he say the right things and find the lost donkey? Yes and yes and yes.

So it's good... it's good for us to put our trust in him.

PUT OUR TRUST IN SAUL.

7/

And then, when we hear that Pastor King Saul was pressuring massage workers to have sex, when we hear that he made inappropriate "jokes" to the people in his church, when we discover he used his celebrity to set up and then cover up affairs we are shocked and shaken.

8/

And too many abusive ministers LOVE to be thought of as kings. Authoritative. Without peer. Without authority above him (other than God, who King Pastor speaks for). If King Pastor screws up, his people rush in to defend him. To cover it up. To deny it. To remove it. 9/

And Christians are SO QUICK to denounce those who don't show proper respect to Pastor King and SO SLOW to admit the horrors of the Pastor King's reign when he's removed.

The lawyers and the board meet and off the Pastor goes, quietly seeking a new Kingdom.

10/

I have been extremely fortunate in the last couple decades not to ever sit under a Pastor King. I've had shepherds and servants, friends and mentors, wise elders and kind teachers. If that sounds amazing/unlikely to you, it may be time to find a new pastor.

11/

Friend, if you've got a Pastor King, this is a great time to leave the kingdom. Not God's Kingdom, but HIS -- the Pastor King's -- kingdom. 12/

And if your pastor ever starts talking about himself as a king, demote him. Fire him. Remove him. Send him off to spend a few seasons with the sheep.

Like, actual sheep, not people.

13/

And let's not put our trust in people. Not build our spiritual lives around the insights of some flashy minister. It's toxic for us AND for those ministers.

14/

Warning signs your pastor is a king instead of a true pastor:

1. Rarely interacts with the congregation (there are layers of protection between him and the pew).

2. Critique *of any kind* is discouraged or punished.

3. He has the final word on how the Bible is interpreted.

Warning signs (cont'd)

4. Works to keep everything in his control. (May not like things like: overseas missions, popular youth ministers, successful women's ministries.)

5. Holds himself to a different (lesser) standard than others.

6. "You don't understand how hard I work"

Warning signs (cont'd)

7. Badmouths other ministers.

8. Doesn't like to share the pulpit.

9. All of his previous churches (or ministry relationships) were "against him." It's very tragic.

10. You'll rarely find him doing service to others UNLESS it's high profile.

Anyway.

A pastor should be a shepherd. It's what the word means.

So be looking for a shepherd who:

Knows his or her sheep. Cares for them. Protects them. Provides for them. Spends time with them.

If they don't at least KNOW YOUR NAME they're probably not your pastor

18/18