A LEADER OR AN INSTIGATOR?

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Tom Salmon
Christ’s Charge to Peter by Raphael, 1515. In telling Peter to feed his sheep, Christ appointed him as a pastor.

Do pastors lead their flock or do they instigate (Instigate | Definition of Instigate by Merriam-Webster) their flock to model Christ Jesus. What did the Good Shepherd do? What did the Apostle Paul say about this issue?

1 Corinthians 4:14-21 New American Standard Bible

14 I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant, but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in words, but in power. 21 What do you desire? That I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?

The Apostle Paul unambiguously held himself up as an example. Did he claim to be perfect? No, but just as he was in Christ he wanted his flock to strive to be in Christ. Paul understood that he led people to Jesus by modeling Jesus.

Consider the definition of lead.

Definition of lead

transitive verb

1a: to guide on a way especially by going in advance

//led the officers to his hiding place

(continued)

Lead | Definition of Lead by Merriam-Webster

Those who lead earn the right to direct others by demonstrating that they themselves know the Way of Jesus Christ.

Consider the example of elementary school teacher Byron “Tanner” Cross’ pastor, Cornerstone Chapel Pastor Gary Hamrick (Hello – Cornerstone Chapel). Cross’ pastor did not leave one of his flock to suffer alone for defending his Christian beliefs.

After defending the embattled teacher during a sermon on Sunday, Cross’ pastor was targeted by the Loudoun County Democratic Committee, demanding that he recant his “inflammatory remarks.”

“What are we to do?” asked Cornerstone Chapel Pastor Gary Hamrick during a church service on Sunday. Should we “throw our arms up and surrender and retreat and let our country and our county and our kids be taken over by progressive, liberal, Marxist ideology?”

“We need to be prepared,” continued Hamrick. 

“There will be people who will attack us, label us, dismiss us, try to cancel us,” warned the pastor, “but to be passive is to be complicit.” 

“The school board, some of them, are not doing their duty to protect, let alone educate, our children,” said Hamrick. “They are subjecting them to sexually explicit materials … and they are already talking about introducing [a] racially divisive curriculum. They are emotionally abusing our children by perpetuating the lie about gender confusion when they affirm pronouns that are contrary to biology, reality, and the beautiful design of God.” 

“So, they need to be held accountable and it’s time to step up,” he added.

Teacher suspended for refusing to lie to students that a ‘biological boy can be a girl’ | News | Lifesitenews

You want more information. Consider some of the references below. The first is interview of Pastor Gary Hamrick on WMAL’s morning radio show. Here Pastor Hamrick does an excellent job of explaining his conduct. Also consider the Redstate article, which includes a link to the portion of Pastor Hamrick’s sermon where he took up the defense of Tanner Cross.

Note also that the so-called mainstream news media is not making a serious effort to cover the uprising of parents against the insane agenda of the Loudoun County School Board. Yet the story clearly has national implications. Therefore, we need to share this story with as many people as we can.

In particular, we all need to pray that Christian pastors and their congregations will come to together and take a good look at the public schools in their communities. Is their school board determined to properly educate the children in their charge, or is their school board trying to indoctrinate children in un-Christian beliefs, beliefs the Bible clearly condemns? Does their school board need the support of Christian pastors and their congregations, or does their school board need to be replaced?

Instead of placidly accepting the ways of the world, we need to pray God will guide each of us so that we can be salt and light and participate properly in the political life of our country. As Pastor Hamrick observed, “to be passive is to be complicit.”

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

Stride Toward Freedom by Martin Luther King, Jr.

References

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3 Responses to A LEADER OR AN INSTIGATOR?

  1. boudicaus says:
    June 3, 2021 at 11:22 am

    Reblogged this on boudica.us and commented:
    H/T Citizen Tom

  2. scatterwisdom says:
    June 3, 2021 at 6:16 pm

    Tom,
    Sad when we witness messengers we trust begin to rely on themselves instead of the wisdom of the Bible.
    Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (Proverb 3:5)\
    Regards and goodwill blogging.

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