His Eyes Are a Flame of Fire
Jesus walks among the churches today, which means He walks among all believers.
Remember as He walks in your congregation, His eyes are a penetrating flame of fire, and nothing gets past Him. These eyes see past the outward life into the motive of the heart, where sin begins (Hebrews 4:13).
Jesus sees into the heart of every believer, but He holds the pastor accountable for the spiritual well-being of the church. First Peter 5:3 says the pastor is to be an example to the flock, and in Revelation, chapters 1 through 3, it is to the pastors of the churches Jesus speaks when He comes to encourage and correct the churches. The call to the ministry means the pastor lives by a higher standard than the congregation. God holds him to a greater accountability ( James 3:1).
Because of this greater accountability, the sins you commit in private, God will make public. This may not include things you do accidentally or things for which you have repented and received forgiveness. This is whatever sins you persist in doing. If you live a double standard, preach one way, and live another way, God will see to it that it is exposed.
The reason God acts so strongly in this area is because in whatever sins the pastor indulges, that same sin will be found in his congregation. A church reflects the personality and life of its pastor. What he allows in his life, the people will allow in theirs.
Just as Jesus is the door for the universal Church ( John 10:7), the pastor is the door for the local church. He is the door allowing blessing or cursing into the flock. When there is righteousness in the pulpit, there will be righteousness in the congregation. If there is immorality in the pulpit, there will be immorality in the congregation.
We have seen sheep are God’s precious possession and ultimately His responsibility. Therefore, He will not tolerate a wayward pastor for His people for any length of time. God is long suffering, but not infinite suffering!
I am not referring to small problem areas—every church has those and must deal with them. These problems are not necessarily a reflection of the pastorate. But when a certain sin pervades most of the congregation, it is usually because the pastor is having the same problem. Because he refuses to plug the holes in his own life with the Word, the devil will use those openings as doorways into the congregation.
No pastor perfectly lives everything he preaches and teaches. And it is wrong for the congregation to expect the pastor to be perfect, but they can expect him to be faithful, to be an example to follow, and the chief one among them to practice what he teaches. They can expect him to live a moral, godly life before them and the world.
Sin is always selfish. I am ever amazed when a minister admits to sinning, while at the same time acknowledging he never thought about how his sin would hurt his family, friends, church, or the body of Christ at large. Whether it is a short time of pleasure or what appears to be an easy way out of a difficult situation, in the end, your sin will cause immeasurable damage to those you love.
As believers, we are repeatedly exhorted to guard our hearts against the wiles of the devil to entrap us in sin. The way we guard our hearts is by the Word of God. Therefore, as the one who feeds the sheep, the pastor of the flock should have the greatest hedge of protection around his own heart.
Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart….” And 2 Peter 1:4 says, “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
If a pastor sins in a major area and truly repents, the board of advisors, deacons, or elders of the church should determine a period of time before he will return to the pulpit. It has taken time for the pastor to fall into sin, and it will take time for him to renew his mind with God’s Word to build new habits of thinking and behavior to replace the wrong ones.
In some cases, the hurt and outrage of the congregation may be so great it will be impossible for the pastor to return. However, if he truly repents and submits himself to another pastor’s authority until he is fully restored, he should continue to fulfill his calling. Other than Jesus, no hero of faith in the Word of God was a hero because they were perfect. They were a hero because they got back up after they failed.
If a pastor goes into error or is overtaken in a fault and does not repent, the advisory board or board of elders should have the authority to fire him. In our church, this was the practical balance of authority: the pastor chooses the members of the advisory board, but the advisory board has authority over his salary and even his position in cases of extreme sin or doctrinal heresy.
But whatever the checks and balances are in your church government, pastors must always remember Jesus will have the final word! The pastor is called the star, but Jesus is the Sun, shining in full strength; the pastor is a voice, but Jesus is the living Word who speaks as many waters. His voice can never be overpowered or silenced, no matter what a pastor may say or do.
A life of holiness is expected and demanded by our Lord Jesus. Get rid of the image of an overindulgent Jesus who will let you brush off sin and ignore the things you are doing! He is merciful and gracious to “forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9), but don’t think He doesn’t care if we sin. His eyes are a flame of fire!
