By All Appearances

Did you know that all church pastors must be ordained into their positions through an official appointment process? And educational requirements for church pastors vary with the needs of the congregation. Some denominations require their church pastors to hold graduate-level degrees from schools of Theology aligned with the denomination. Churches in well-populated urban areas are more likely to have formal educational requirements than churches in rural areas. But most churches require that a pastor has to have completed a bachelor's degree or higher in religious studies, seminary, or theology. And once hired, they work as an assistant pastor as they master the practical skills of leading worship and providing spiritual guidance. Did you also know that most churches require that he be married, and at least thirty-five years old?

SO...

Did you know that Jesus would not have been hired at most churches today? Whoa...

The Bible commands us to do our best to be like Jesus. It's what we as followers of Christ live for and stand on as our way of life. It's not a suggestion. But before we can really live our lives as Jesus lived out His, we have to look at not only the big things He commanded us to obey, but also the little things that He did on a day to day basis.

What did Jesus do everyday? How did He spend His time? If we break it down simply, He spent His time doing five things: praying, walking, eating, teaching and hanging out.  And who did He walk with? Who did He eat with? Who did He teach? Who did He hang out with? According to the Pharisees and Sadducees and religious leaders, Jesus was doing everything wrong. He was walking with fishermen. He was eating with tax collectors. He was teaching for free. He was hanging out with drunkards and prostitutes and "sinners." According to they eyes of men, this was horrendous, as He was a prophet and spiritual leader and shouldn't have been doing the things He was doing.

So I have to ask...

If I hang out with prostitutes, does that make me a prostitute according to your eyes? If I eat with drunkards, does that make me a drunkard according to what you see? If I walk with druggies or gangsters, does that make me a druggie or gangster by all appearances? Because if it does, I guess that means that Jesus was a sinner and a tax collector and a leper and a drunkard and...the list goes on. Because by all appearances, to man, Jesus was no prophet or spiritual leader. And He definitely couldn't have been a pastor these days by our regulations...

I think sometimes, as Christians, we judge and gossip more than unbelievers! How many of us are just modern-day pharisees? If you were to see a pastor that you know sitting in a bar talking, I bet that most people would think, "What's Pastor So-and-So doing in a bar? He drinks? That is not ok for a spiritual authority!" Why do we so often think the worst of people before we think the best? Why are we so quick to judge someone's actions instead of asking them about it, instead of learning about their heart? It's biblical to go to the person first anyway! If you went to that person in love to ask what was going on in his or her life, I can bet that a whole lot of drama and gossip and pain would be spared.

It's sad to think that, in God's flock, the greatest wounds usually come from other sheep, not the wolves. I'm sick of God's children being torn apart by each other. All the wolves have to do is wait for the blood to be spilt, and then they can feast.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. 

James 3:9-12

Instead:

   "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35

This verse has really been hitting me hard lately. Jesus says that one of the only things that sets us apart from nonbelievers is our love for one another. Which means to me, if I'm not loving my brother or sister in Christ, I'm not proving myself to be a disciple of Christ. Ouch. I don't want to have to try to convince people that I'm a disciple. I want them to know it just from knowing me. I want them to know I'm in Christ's family. In His army. But God calls us first to be a family, and then an army. Because if we can't get it right with each other first, the rest of the world won't want anything to do with our army.

I'm going to end with this:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

   Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 

Luke 6:37-38

The Best Is Yet To Come...