One day Brendan (name changed), academic dean of the Bible College I was on the teaching staff of) invited the faculty into his office for a meeting. The question that Brendan asked us was: Should we allow Youth with a Mission (YWAM) to lead a chapel time for the students at our college? (YWAM is an international youth-oriented missions organization that evangelizes around the world and works with local churches in the areas in which they minister.) This would mean that YWAM participants might lead worship in chapel, would share what God is doing through their mission outreaches, provide more information to PBC students who might be interested in going on a YWAM missions trip, and maybe take up an offering. 

The discussion from all of the faculty members, some of which were elders of the local church that sponsors the Bible college, was very against the idea. Norm (name changed), one of the department heads in the church, for instance, said that the parents that send their young people to our school expect that they will be taught about “the local church,” and because YWAM was not a local church, it would not be promoting the local church values of their parents to allow YWAM to take up some of our chapel time. 

I disagreed with Norm and the others and, among other comments, said that if they were concerned about YWAM taking up an offering from the students, we could always give them the chapel time but just ask them not to try to raise any financial support. Why not? I had only heard of the much good that YWAM had done globally, and it would be a good opportunity for the students to expand their horizons and get the opportunity to go out to the mission field when they might not get the same open doors through our college. I was unable to convince anyone to allow YWAM to host the chapel.  

At the end of the meeting, I discovered that the decision not to have YWAM host one of our Bible college's chapel sessions had already been made by the elders of the church before the faculty meeting even began! For some reason, which is a whole issue in itself, Brendan allowed the faculty to weigh-in on the question even though their input had absolutely no influence on the previously-made decision! 

When I learned this, I felt used. I felt that I had just been set up by the church eldership to see if I would conform to their already-decided policy. To my regret, I let my flesh take charge for a moment and sarcastically told Brendan as I was leaving his office, "Hey, any time you want my input or advice as a faculty member of this college, you just let me know. My office is just right down the hall…"   

These questions come to mind about this story:   

(1) Why would the local church leadership want to discuss a question in a college faculty meeting for which the final decision had already been made? Wouldn't that just be a waste of company time?  

(2) Do you think that the reason Norm gave for not allowing YWAM to share in a college chapel, i.e., the parent/sponsors' “local church” philosophy, was the only or main reason the final decision was made?  

(3) Has the new pastor of this sponsoring church allowed YWAM, or any other para-church missions organizations, to host a chapel since he's taken over at the helm? Would he?  

(4) Do some local churches harbor a secret prejudice toward para-church organizations? If so, why?

Many senior pastor/leaders have stopped pastoring people, and, instead, spend their time thinking of more ways that they can "sell" them. Too many have ceased to treat God's people as hurting "sheep" and are treating them as potential "customers," "markets" and "investors" to increase their own personal incomes.

Like the priests in the Old Testament used spiritual-sounding phrases like,  "Thus says the Lord…,"  "the Lord's portion," "the only place where the Lord has put his name," etc. to increase their livelihoods from the gifts and sacrifices that the people were eventually required to bring only to the central temple (Deut. 12:11), so senior ministers dominate their pulpits (their marketing stages) so that they can record sermons, write books, cut CDs, film videotapes, sponsor concerts, mail out newsletters, lead Holy Land tours, promote ocean cruises, advertise seminars and conferences, etc. to their own captured audiences - their own target markets -  the members of their own congregations!  

Many of these pastor/leaders are able to get publishers to publish their books NOT because they are quality materials but because publishers know that they will begin to be sold to "pre-sold" markets beginning in their own local churches, and, sometimes, to their faithful broadcast audiences. (Even for many Christian publishers, it's all about the money.) 

In my view, this is a tragic reversal of the biblical role between shepherd and sheep about which Jesus spoke. In using his own life and ministry as an example, Jesus criticizes the pastors of his day and holds himself out to be the ideal example (the "Model Shepherd") that all true shepherds should follow. According to Jesus, genuine shepherds are to sacrifice their own lives for the sheep (John 10:11) rather than shear them of all of their wool!  

I am asking the Lord to remove any such crass selfishness as described by the prophet Ezekiel (below) from my own heart and ministry. Will you join me in this prayer? 

"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally…This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them." (Ezekiel 34:1-4, 10, NIV)

Craig at Doctrinetalk.com has posted a comment about Speaking in Tongues that asks some great questions and should lead to a good discussion.

 Check it out here.