Tuesday, 27 March 2012
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Pastor Pressure: When the Church Wants Seekers to Hurry Up
Submitted AnonymouslyI have felt pressure from the little church I attend. I started to inwardly question the pastor's and his wife's motives for wanting me to hurry up and be baptized and be a member. I believe they think they are entirely Biblical, but there were red flags and still are. I just know that the Lord wants me to stay there until he says to move on.
Maybe I am being kept there right now because the LORD is working on the pastor too, as well as myself? I don't know. I just have to trust the LORD in it all.
The pastor kept going on and on about "disobedience" in his sermons: hurry be baptized, next step; then become member, hurry up, next step. He would say this is from the LORD -- but was it? Are all his poor jokes from the LORD too? I personally don't want to hear jokes when I go to church. I am there to honor the LORD.
The LORD has used this confusing time for me, however, to make me see my need to delve into the meat of His Word. To really read the Bible for myself -- really read it, not skim it. To have full understanding. To not rely on man so much and his rules and regulations.
I was baptized for the right reasons. I wanted to show my family and friends that I was very sincere in my walk with the Lord. I did not get baptized so that I could quickly become a member of that church. I "am" a member of the body of Christ already; I believe this wholeheartedly.
Please don't let "man" put you off. There is no perfect church, though; just know that. However, the more we rely on the LORD, the less we rely on what the "church" we are attending thinks of us.
Please do not let the enemy interfere in your walk with the Lord. If you believe in Jesus and that He died on the cross for your sins -- we are all sinners -- remember He says we can't keep His commandments, so He shed His Blood on the cross for us so that we could have an eternity in Heaven with the Father and not an eternity in hell.
Check out Living Waters website. I took Way of the Master study and it was really helpful in understanding my need for a Savior in the Lord Jesus. I believe this is when I really gave myself to the Lord, cried out to Him and I am now saved. I don't think I was saved at the little church when I first started. They failed to tell me why I need a Savior in the first place. This is a mistake that churches make all the time, resulting in false converts.
I pray the Lord bless you and give you full knowledge and understanding.
Have you ever felt pressured by the church to accept Christ, be baptized or become a member of a church? How did you handle the situation? How can Christians on the whole become more patient with those who are seeking Christ but aren't ready to accept Him just yet?
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Comments (8)
Yes, I have. I no longer attend services.
Wait, I'm confused. He's asking you to be baptized when you already were baptized? Or were you saying that you did get baptized there?
Anyways, I feel like this kind of pressure shows some insecurity in the pastor. It seems like they want you to do this so they can kind of "claim" you. I don't know. I feel like smaller churches may have more of a tendency to do this.
I went to visit a small kind of gospel church when I first got saved. I only had heard of it because the pastor was in one of my community college classes and he had randomly gave me a prophetic word at school which helped lead to my salvation. I figured I should go visit his church and let him know the drastic change that had occurred in me since the class and how what he shared with me really impacted me. After his service, he wanted to talk to me, and basically was like "when can we get you baptized?" I felt really pressured, especially because I didn't really think his church was for me. I didn't end up going back, mostly because I didn't really feel called to that church. I ended up getting baptized about a couple weeks later, though, at a conference at the International House of Prayer. I just felt that the timing was right and I was with people I knew who I was comfortable with.
Anyway, I don't really know where I'm going with this. I think baptism IS really important. Everyone in the new testament gets water baptized after they get saved. But, I don't think that anyone should be pressuring you to get baptized and I also don't think anyone should be pressuring you to become a member anywhere.
how wonderful that you have been saved! I can understand your not liking pressure...maybe those "messages" weren't really directed at you, and maybe they were. God has to be the one to convince you through the faith He gives.
I also appreciate your not bolting for the door just because of the pressure. The teaching is important though and should line up with scripture. We are encouraged to check to see if what is preached and taught is scriptural. may God bless you in your walk with Him.
Do not let anyone or anything including institutional church seperate you from God.
Do not pray for God to give you more Patience! If you do; God will send you turmoil. To recieve more patience with others read your bible more, getting closer to God, learning God's love, for God is love, and all love comes from God.
Our job is to preach the gospel. Their job is to choose heaven or hell. The gospel is offensive, Hell is offensive. There is no way to do it without some getting offended. The offense of the gospel is not reason to not preach. But we are to have an answer to all being sensitive but firm. It sounds to me he wasn't being sensitive to you. But cut him some slack. being a preacher is not an easy job. The ultimate responsabilty of our spiritual growth lays on us, not the Pastor.
We are all a priesthood of believers!
Church is not a building or institution. Church: Where two or three gather in Christ's name there Christ is in the midst of them. Read your bible and be fed. Hear your preacher and be fed. Anything that seperates you from spiritual growth is not from God. Do not allow yourself to be spoon fed Christianity by some church institution. Check and double check your bible for scriptural accuracy always. Buy yourself a quality Study Bible and be fed. Forget the cheap bibles, get a nice one. Invest in your spiritual growth. God will smile on you.
God Bless,
Brother RobertLeeRE
If you have been baptized, why do you need to do it again? If baptized, then you are already a member of the church; maybe not the little congregation, but the church of all believers. If you have faith, then you are 'saved'. Learning more about Him helps to strengthen your faith. Membership in a particluar congregation is not tantamount to salvation, it is simply joining a community of believers for the mutual benefit of the participants. No reason to rush.
Without knowing all the details, I would still say to hang in there. Stay in the church and also - more importantly - stay grounded in God's Word. As you grow in your knowledge of God you will discern the validity of those things (whether rules of practice or faith) that you are confronted with.
But I will say this: One never becomes baptized in order to be a member of a church. This is true on two counts:
1. No passage in the Bible equates baptism as an entrance requirement for attending, or being a a member of, the church. It is a convenient practice of some churches, but has no warrant in Scripture.
2. Membership in a church (and I have good friends who differ on this) is not done by human means. God made all believers members of the one body of Christ (which Paul speaks of several times in 1st Corinthians).
We are members. We don't need to be re-membered into that which we are already part of.
I dont mind some humor, as long as it points to a deep fact or truth, but generally while preaching or leading a bible study, I dont make jokes, usually they are lame and have to be stretched to fit the context of the message well. however, I do not think just because we are religious or Christians we have to always be serious. I like to think of it as a balance really. there is a time for seriousness and a time for laughter. A time to be stoic and a time to be emotional.
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