Manipulation and Leaving your Fellowship?
Hello friends,
I come to you humbly seeking counsel (Pro11:14) and encouragement (Heb3:13).
Over the past few months my wife and I have been feeling the Lord leading us out of our particular fellowship. There were indications along the way that pointed to such but we didnt receive confirmation until recently. We've been deep in prayer seeking His will for us. Last week, we both received a word from the Lord that He is asking us to take a step out in faith and that He has something planned for us outside of our current church. Upon receiving this confirmation I sought the counsel of some solid Christian friends and received further confirmation that a step of faith is what He was calling us to.
I spoke with our Pastor last night about how the Lord was leading us. I only mentioned that we received a word from Him and left out anything that wasn't relevant to that word (Pro17:9). I was very surprised and discouraged by his reaction. He was very defensive (which I somewhat expected) and even angry. His only focus was that there would be no one to fulfill the ministry duties my wife and I had taken on and mentioned that if we left before the Lord brought someone into those positions that we would be "flaking" on the ministry. He went on to tell me that he didn't believe the Lord would call me out without raising someone else up to take that position (referrencing Moses and Aaron).
Furthermore, Pastor has a 6 month "servants rule" where one cannot serve until they've attended the church for 6 months. So ideally, he would have us wait until someone was brought into that position and then another 6 months for the candidate to "qualify." I feel that waiting for his ideal situation would be waiting on the approval of man and not responding to the call of God. As you can imagine, I have no desire to see the belly of a whale.
The only closure he offered to the conversation was that we could do what we wanted to do but choosing to leave would be flaking on the ministry. Then he stood up and walked out.
I feel that he is being shortsighted and focused more on the brick and mortar church than the direction and calling of God. I also feel that the way he presented the situation was forcing us to choose allegiance to this church and ignore God's call or be considered a quitter and a flake. I feel this is extremely manipulative and not representative of the sheparding character of a Pastor. He didn't even ask what the Lord was doing in our lives, how He specifically spoke to us, or what He possibly had planned for us. He focused soley on his loss and nothing else.
On a side note, I know that it doesn't matter but I feel some may be wondering if we are employed by the church or volunteers. We serve as volunteers unto our Savior and are not compensated by the church. We feel that there are those who are called to make a living through full time ministry and others who are called to give of their time to the Lord. We feel that in our specific situation, serving is a blessing in itself and compensation is the last thing we need. Depending on His plan for us we are open to either full time ministry or to continue serving as He has called us in the past. I know that is a complete tangent and really has no revelance to the problem at hand but I figured someone may be wondering.
I can undertstand him being dissapointed that two of his sheep are being called elsewhere. What I can't understand is how our service, or lack there of, is the only thing that is a matter of interest. I'm also frustrated that he thinks we are walking out on the ministry and have no concern for those in the wake.
Am I off base with this type of thinking or do you agree that there are some issues of concern?
I should mention that our decision is made and am not seeking advice on where my allegiance should lie.
In Christs Love,
The Flake
Hello friends,
I come to you humbly seeking counsel (Pro11:14) and encouragement (Heb3:13).
Over the past few months my wife and I have been feeling the Lord leading us out of our particular fellowship. There were indications along the way that pointed to such but we didnt receive confirmation until recently. We've been deep in prayer seeking His will for us. Last week, we both received a word from the Lord that He is asking us to take a step out in faith and that He has something planned for us outside of our current church. Upon receiving this confirmation I sought the counsel of some solid Christian friends and received further confirmation that a step of faith is what He was calling us to.
I spoke with our Pastor last night about how the Lord was leading us. I only mentioned that we received a word from Him and left out anything that wasn't relevant to that word (Pro17:9). I was very surprised and discouraged by his reaction. He was very defensive (which I somewhat expected) and even angry. His only focus was that there would be no one to fulfill the ministry duties my wife and I had taken on and mentioned that if we left before the Lord brought someone into those positions that we would be "flaking" on the ministry. He went on to tell me that he didn't believe the Lord would call me out without raising someone else up to take that position (referrencing Moses and Aaron).
Furthermore, Pastor has a 6 month "servants rule" where one cannot serve until they've attended the church for 6 months. So ideally, he would have us wait until someone was brought into that position and then another 6 months for the candidate to "qualify." I feel that waiting for his ideal situation would be waiting on the approval of man and not responding to the call of God. As you can imagine, I have no desire to see the belly of a whale.
The only closure he offered to the conversation was that we could do what we wanted to do but choosing to leave would be flaking on the ministry. Then he stood up and walked out.
I feel that he is being shortsighted and focused more on the brick and mortar church than the direction and calling of God. I also feel that the way he presented the situation was forcing us to choose allegiance to this church and ignore God's call or be considered a quitter and a flake. I feel this is extremely manipulative and not representative of the sheparding character of a Pastor. He didn't even ask what the Lord was doing in our lives, how He specifically spoke to us, or what He possibly had planned for us. He focused soley on his loss and nothing else.
On a side note, I know that it doesn't matter but I feel some may be wondering if we are employed by the church or volunteers. We serve as volunteers unto our Savior and are not compensated by the church. We feel that there are those who are called to make a living through full time ministry and others who are called to give of their time to the Lord. We feel that in our specific situation, serving is a blessing in itself and compensation is the last thing we need. Depending on His plan for us we are open to either full time ministry or to continue serving as He has called us in the past. I know that is a complete tangent and really has no revelance to the problem at hand but I figured someone may be wondering.
I can undertstand him being dissapointed that two of his sheep are being called elsewhere. What I can't understand is how our service, or lack there of, is the only thing that is a matter of interest. I'm also frustrated that he thinks we are walking out on the ministry and have no concern for those in the wake.
Am I off base with this type of thinking or do you agree that there are some issues of concern?
I should mention that our decision is made and am not seeking advice on where my allegiance should lie.
In Christs Love,
The Flake