Wednesday, March 18, 2009

God-Given Talent to Gossip?

So I have been outside of my cult church for nearly 1 year now. And how awesome these past 11 months have been. I still find myself amazed at what I find and see. Case in point:

Since I have been away from MFC, I have not heard one single minister smear a congregant. I have heard ministers talk about how they have themselves have done things to embarrass themselves. But never, talking about someone sitting in the pews. At My Former Church, this happened on numerous occasions. One such occasion has always stuck with me, because of how vile of an attack the pastor gave. The pastor began to berate and belittle an individual who had just passed away. This was all from the pulpit. To make it more shocking, it was a staff member of the church, who was well liked. If he didn't like the person, he should have fired them long ago. But that wasn't it at all. They were an asset to him alive, but dead they were a liability. When a person dies of cancer in a church that the pastor "declares" a "cancer free" church, well it hurts his credibility.

This so-called pastor did not and, sadly, does not love and respect those around him. Rather, he uses people and when they are not convenient, he rolls them under the bus. This is not a sign of a true pastor. That man is a bully not a pastor. If a pastor begins to show this kind of sign, leave. Never look back, just leave. A pastor should never talk down to or bad about the people that sit in the congregation, especially from the pulpit.

I have an earlier post called "More Questions" where I reference the pastor stopping a service to talk down to some youth. This sort of behavior does not build up the congregation. It does, however, put fear into them. It begins to make people scared of what they have said to the pastor in counselling sessions or to go to the pastor for counsel. Nothing is sacred when a minister wants to humiliate you from the pulpit.