The Difference Between Leadership and Lordship
Chad Johnson
July 23, 2010

"Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willing; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock." I Peter 5:2-3 KJV

I want to say right off the bat that I do believe in pastoral authority. However, I am alarmed at what some pastors do in the name of pastoral authority. Pastor is translated from the same root word as shepherd. A shepherd was to feed and protect the sheep. This is the same thing a New Testament pastor must do.

The pastor has a great responsibility before him. Jesus Christ himself told Peter if you love me, go feed my sheep. The feed the sheep need is the Word of God. Paul told Timothy to preach the word. I have had my fill of preachers who read a text and never go back to it. They preach their opinion and not God's word. The reason they do this is they are lazy and don't study the Bible, so they get up and ramble on. It is a shame that churches do not demand more out of the pastor. It is not preaching if it is not full of the Bible.

Our text says for the man of God to take oversight willingly. He must do it because there is a burning desire in his heart, not because he has to do it. He must not do it for filthy lucre. I know preachers who work the church people over for all they can. They are deceitful and get things out of the church by playing the members. A true man of God does his duty of a ready mind. This means he does it wholeheartedly for the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse three tells us he must not be a lord over the church. The very fact this verse is here tells us it is possible for this to happen. You cannot drive people to Christ, you must lead them. There is a fine line between a leader and a lord. Some preachers use the pulpit as a throne over which they rule their kingdom. One of the main things a lord demands is unconditional loyalty. These kinds of pastors cannot be approached by their members. When asked a biblical question, they are told to read starting in Genesis until they find it. They want people to fear them so they won't bother them. Some godly people can leave the church because of the abuse this man gives out. The other members will be instructed not to fellowship with them just because they don't agree with the pastor. Lord-type pastors want no one to question them because they are right even when they are wrong. Instead of asking the godly people their side of the story, they blindly and ignorantly follow their lord.

God help us to be men of God who lead by example through the Word of God. If people do things just because their pastor says he is their lord and not Jesus Christ.

Amen.