John 9:24-26 and 34-35, “Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? ...They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”
I love this wonderful story. A man had been blind from birth so that God would be glorified. Jesus came by and healed him. When the Pharisees saw the man, now able to see, they were angry that Jesus had healed him. They berated the healed man, grilling him and his parents, interrogating them how this man received his sight. Long story short, the wicked Pharisees cast the man out of the synagogue, ostracizing him in their hatred for Christ.
I love this next part. When Jesus heard what had been done unto the man, the Lord went to find Him. What a wonderful Savior! I am so tired of hearing selfish church pastors make excuses of how busy they are for ignoring my emails, failing to answer my sincere questions, making me feel unloved and unwanted as did the Pharisees to the blind man who had been miraculously healed. If our dear Savior was willing to make time to go find hurting people, then pastors have no excuses! If our dear Savior humbled Himself to go search out hurting people, then so ought we follow His blessed example.
So Jesus finds the brokenhearted man who had been cast out of the local church for telling the truth. Boy, I sure know how that feels. When I told the truth at the apostate Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, their Pharisaical pastors cast me out and ostracized me for seven painful years. It is horrible that any Christian would be made to feel bad for telling the truth at church. Some people would label me as a troublemaker, but it is only because they are wicked false teachers that they would even dare say something horrible like that, when all I am doing is TELLING THE TRUTH!!!
The blind man who had been healed by Jesus was unloved and unwelcomed by the religious crowd for telling the truth. I know exactly how that mistreated man felt. I don't go looking for trouble, but dear friend, when you TELL THE TRUTH trouble will come to you. 2nd Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” My biggest ministry enemies are not witches, homosexuals and atheists, but proud and arrogant pastors who think they are above being questioned. Once you question their teaching, you become a marked man and they will avoid any dealings with you. That hurts and ought not be. Sinful men refuse to let things go, so they hold a grudge, making excuses to justify it.
I know the painful feeling of wanting someone to acknowledge me, but they won't. When I attend a church I want to know that their pastor is glad I am there. If I don't feel wanted or loved, then that pastor is in the wrong, not me, because all I can do is tell him that I love him in Christ and reach out in friendship. Every hurting person needs to know that they are wanted in a place. One of the most common things I hear from my web visitors is that they attended a local church, but the pastor didn't make them feel welcomed. Shame on today's shallow pastors who selfishly refuse to reach out to find those hurting people who have come to them for help. Jesus went to find the man whom He had healed, knowing that he was hurting in his soul after being horribly reviled and cast out of the synagogue. Jesus cares!
Perhaps some people have a different viewpoint, thinking that people ought to go to a church with the attitude of helping the pastor, lifting up his hands and encouraging him. The problem with that scenario is that it is unrealistic. A congregation rarely rises above the spirituality of a pastor. When I have tried to help pastors it backfired on me because they resented my help. Oh sure, they will gladly welcome your money, but if you dare to show them the errors in their teaching, you will be cast out just as the healed blind man was cast out! Everything rises and falls on leadership! The congregation cannot spiritually lead the pastor. Honestly, it would be a marvellous thing if 99% of pastor would be fired. YOU'RE FIRED!!!
Dear reader, oftentimes in life when you want someone to care, they simply won't. All you can do is put them into God's hands, knowing that something is wrong in their heart, not yours. If you go to a church and the pastor shuns, avoids and ignores you, then you can be rest assured that his heart is not right with the Lord. What saith the Scripture? ...
Ephesians 4:30-32, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
I sometimes wonder if most pastors even spend one hour a week walking with God. God is love. When a pastor is cold, evasive, defensive and avoids a new church member who has made it clear that they want to be friends with that pastor, something is spiritually wrong with the pastor. Something is wrong with a pastor who doesn't offer to pray with you. Something is lacking in a pastor who is so little of stature that he won't even express sympathy for a hurting person. We've got a bunch of academic types parasiting off the churches today, milking the money cow for everything they can, but they are not close to God, not pure of heart, evidenced by their callousness and lack of sincere brotherly love. The church is not a business, it is every believer's family in the Lord. Yet, so many pastors make people feel unwelcomed in their own Christian family. Shame on such horrible pastors!!!
If former U.S. President Donald Trump emailed a pastor, that pastor would respond that very day, likely within the hour. But when you or me email that same pastor, we'll be lucky to hear back in a week, if at all. That is called the sin of being a respecter of persons (James 2:1). Sadly, most pastors are respecters of persons. Jesus didn't care if you were rich or poor, seeing or blind, hearing or deaf, Jewish or Samaritan, He made time for people and humbled Himself to always help them. People sometimes shun us away for merely trying to be their friend. Sometimes all you have to do for people to dislike you is show up! This is why I am continually reminded by the Holy Spirit of Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
I wrote this blog because I am increasingly receiving emails from people who have been mistreated by pastors. They come to me because they know that I actually care. I DO CARE! I don't fault a pastor for his mistakes, imperfections and sins. I look at how he treats people. You can tell a man's character by how he treats people who can do nothing for him.
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