Questioning authority.. is it Biblical or is it witchcraft (rebellion)? If you question the way the church is going and what is preached on, is it Biblical to confront the pastor in private and share how you feel or is it rebellion? I belive that it is not rebellion if you are just questioning the vailitity of what is going on in the church. I have heard of a pastor telling one who questioned what was going on in the church that he had a problem with authority and that he needs to come into trust and submission of that authority. What do you guys think?

_________________
Josh Parsley

I think it is important to first establish the fact that sometimes what we want to hear preached or taught is simply not what God is saying to the people at the moment. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit sayeth unto the Churches. The Pastors role in most churches is to have a word from God to the congregation for the times at hand. A lot of times people are looking around wondering why this or that is not being preached and it is because God is dealing with other issues within the body FIRST. This is not always true, but often it is.

We simply do not have the wisdom to know what God is saying to a congregation from an outsiders viewpoint. Our faith does not stand in the wisdom of men and nor does the wrath of man work the righteousness of God. These are key things to remember.

A lot of people are itching to say things during a service and that is good. Sometimes people have an actual word from the Lord. In our circles people are allowed to give that 'word' and if it is 'on' (accurate) it will be accepted- if not it will be cast aside.

I am pursuaded what a lot of people need is their own ministry. They need to get doing what God has called them. there simply is not enough time for everyone to take turns exercising their gift inside the four walls. If you do not get into your calling you will likely get cold and seek to be edified by the operation of your 'gift' within the context of a church service.

Sometimes people want to sing or give a word or preach or lots of things. Yet, if they come to the meeting full of the Holy Ghost they will be content to work the altar and pray with folk who need prayer until they break through or pass from death to life. For the FULL it is enough for them to minister from the fulness. But, when the fulness dwindles- they want to exercise their gift and when there is no opportunity the get mad and disgruntled. Whats wrong? They need to get full of the Holy Ghost and go out and minister beyond the four walls first and then come to service ready to be of service no matter what capacity they are needed.

I am stunned by the utter neglect of the very ministries Christ said should go forth. Pure religion is to visit the fatherless and the widows. where are the fatherless in huge concentrations? They are with single mothers in the inner city. Where are the high concentrations of widows? They are in nursing homes. Wanna exercise your gift? Wanna sing? Wanna preach? Wanna give a word? I just gave you the biggest mission field in the US. I guarantee you your gift will spend and be spent before you had gone over this neglected group that Christ commanded we reach.

As for preaching? If HERESY or false doctrine is being preached that would be a different story all together.

God Bless,

-Robert

_________________
Robert Wurtz II

Simply questioning what is going on or what is being taught is not rebellion. A pastor is to serve as "under shepherd" and care for the flock under the direction of teh Holy Spirit. Every believer has a right to "feed in safe pastures." If someone feels that what is being done or taught is contrary to Scripture, he has every right to question it. Paul commended the Bereans church for examining the Scriptures to be sure what they were being taught was true. If it is a matter of personal opinion, and not a matter of Scriptural soundness, it doesn't really matter. If it could (or one thinks it could) jeapordize the spiritual health of the flock, it should be questioned. The one caveat is that we should approach our church leaders with the respect due their office. Our questioning should not be confrontational or combative. And we should never form little groups to complain about what we see as wrong in our church -- we should also respectfully bring our grievances to our leaders and, hopefully, find the mindof the Lord together and continue in a relationship as brothers or sisters in Jesus.

_________________
Alan Arnott

Hmmm.

Jesus submitted Himself to every authority, both secular and 'religious' - trusting and committing Himself to God in the power of the Holy Spirit.

This seems to be the pattern laid out in scripture -

Slaves are instructed to submit themselves to their masters - whether the master happens to be fair and kind, or cruel and unkind.

Believers are instructed to submit themselves to secular authorities, good or bad - recognizing that God has given them authority.

Likewise Scripture instructs believers to "obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you."

There is a difference between asking questions and challenging/confronting authority.

Any pastor will tell you that in every congregation there is usually one or more members who take it on themselves to correct everything the pastor says and does. The pastor will typically spends an inordinate amount of time 'baby-sitting' these self appointed watch dogs who believe God has called them to police the pastor. Normally, these watch-dogs strike directly after the service - the time (typically) when weak believers would be most inclined to seek the pastor for counsel or support - but they cannot speak to the pastor because "Rover" is clamped onto the pastor's leg yet again...so the weak believer starves for yet another week...!

I digress. :-)

Addressing the pastor privately about something isn't normally "rebellion" - it can become rebellion if our meeting is just an opportunity for me to pitch the I am right, you are wrong about such and such speech. If it is some important doctrine (such as the gospel), or whatever that we disagree on - if the pastor doesn't agree with me, I think I am free to resign whatever ministry I have, and leave the church. If on the other hand, it is not a big issue, I should just accept his authority. If God wanted me in the pulpit and not him, God could do it.

So I don't know - without knowing the details of the situation it would be speculation at best.

Normally though, I am inclined to say 'rebellion' (but just barely - 49% vs. 51%) - not that asking questions is automatically rebellious - just my own bias I suppose.

Dan
/\/
\/\

_________________
Daniel van de Laar

Just a point, not the whole answer: Jesus could be described as the pre-eminent person in questioning authority on earth. And He asks us to walk in His footsteps. So . . .

On a personal note, when I was serving in the Peace Corps in Lesotho in 1981 I attended a Lutheran church run by a fundamentalist pastor. I had quite a few questions at the time and brought them to him. In short, his response was "you cannot ask those questions, just believe as I (and the Church) tell you." (In reality, I believe he just didn't know the answers to my questions.) This was the end of my attendance and membership in conventional, pastoral churches and the beginning of my path to unprogrammed worship and Quakerism.

Bub

Umm... Jesus did question "religious" authority. Just about everytime he met the Pharisees he challenged their authority. He called them names like "white washed tombs". No one dared to talk to the religious authorities like He did.

Anyway... Paul commended the Bereans because they studied the scriptures to see if what their teachers were teaching was true. That, in a way, is questioning authority. Not in a rebellious way, but making sure that the authority is legitimate.

Not all rebellion is bad. America was founded upon a rebellion against England. We bucked the authority. The French Resistance rebelled against the Nazi's that took over France. On and on...

Martin Luther rebelled against the Catholic Church.

If John Wycliff & William Tyndale hadnt rebelled against the religious authority... we wouldnt have a Bible in English.

Krispy