Brandon Hughes Regular Worker Guy

I'll take a stab at answering this question. I can think of two situations this hiding behind the pulpit idea might come into play.

1) If a pastor is teaching something that doesn't square with scripture and a member of the congregation wants to discuss the issue in private yet the pastor refuses; what I have seen in most big church settings is that the pastor is puffed up and full of pride. Many of the pastors who grew their churches from 50 people to 5000 by being "innovative" or "relevant" are very prideful. They see the numbers grow and think it is because what they teach is correct or that God is with them. The problem is that weeds grow pretty quickly; a church building can fill up fast when people are told what they want to hear. In these pastor's eyes there is no such thing as a godly critic.

2) If a pastor tends to focus on preaching against one sin in particular over and over and over, that could be a signal this pastor is steeped in said sin. When a member of the congregation wants to discuss it, feeling threatened, the pastor might shut down the conversation for fear of being found out.

I'm sure there are other cases or situations that can be thought of as hiding behind a pulpit but hiding behind a pulpit being puffed up with pride and hiding behind a pulpit to keep your sin hidden are what comes to my mind. Ex cathedra? I don't think so, I see it as a preacher trying to mask their own sin.

February 13 2014 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report