Lazy Pastors

DISCLAIMER: When we read something or hear something said, we are always tempted to think that the object of the article or discussion is someone immediately close to the writer/speaker, kind of like when we hear someone talk about "a friend of mine" we always believe that person to be the speaker him or herself.  Trust me that this is not the case with the below.  The pastors I describe, though sadly not fictional, are not anyone I have ever worked with, whether in the present or in the past.  Phew!

No doubt the title of today's ramblings piqued your interest, at least until the above disclaimer took your interest, shot it in the head, and buried it in a shallow grave somewhere.  Perhaps some of you even think you know where I'm going with this.

You probably don't.

For some of you, a "lazy" pastor is the man (and yes, I said man) who doesn't make as many house visits as you'd like.  Or he's the one who let you sit two whole days before visiting you in the hospital.  Or he lets someone else teach that bible study you're in.  Or he expects you to do the work of ministry too.

Some of those pastors may indeed be lazy.  In truth, they are probably overworked and can't get to everything they'd like to do.

When I write of the lazy pastor, I refer to the pastor who believes he can omit the Old Testament from his preaching and teaching, self-righteously determining that it no longer matters.

If you are reading this and have never heard of such a thing, in the spirit of the season let me just say "Hallelujah!"

Today's blog springs from a Facebook post by a friend of mine who writes of a friend of his (and I believe that this "friend" is truly a different person :) ) who was taught that the OT no longer applies, and thus we should only be taught from the NT.  When challenged, apparently friend #2 "de-friended" friend #1, which of course pales only to the dreaded triple-dog dare in seriousness.

Note to Jesus: the Old Testament no longer matters.  Please stop referring to it.

Note to Paul: the Old Testament no longer matters.  Please stop referring to it.

Note to Peter, James, Luke... well, you get the picture.

I could be kind and chalk up such thought to poor teaching of the teacher, but despite the holiday mandate, I shall not be so charitable.  The Old Testament is hard work.  Much of it is narrative, so discovering God's "point" takes thought and sometimes research.  The prophetic books are mysterious and often scary, and besides that always refer to some "ite" or another who no longer exists.  Proverbs reads like theological bumper stickers.  The Psalms are poetry, and who ever learned anything from poetry??

The apostle Paul, a man well acquainted with the Law and the OT, told the Ephesians, "I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:26-27, emphasis added) and elsewhere added, "whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction" (Romans 15:4).  And lest you declare Paul a heretic for teaching such foolishness, Jesus (yes, that Jesus) said, "until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished" (Matthew 5:18).  Interesting to note is the ESV words I quoted- iota and dot- are derived from the Greek letter iota, (the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet), and dot (which comes from the Hebrew letter yod; the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet).  Might it be that Jesus thought that even the smallest portions of the Law must continue??

The Old Testament is important, but no one ever said it was easy.  In my first preaching class in seminary, our sermons had to come from the NT epistles, because the author's points are generally laid out clearly.  Yes, research is required to do the text justice, but application from an epistle is generally easier than trying to determine application from Amos.  And because of the relative ease of crafting a sermon from the NT, too many preachers take the easy route and skip the OT altogether.

In truth, many of these pastors likely have the hands full with other valid tasks, such as managing their church or caring for its members.  Labeling such pastors as "lazy" would be an overstatement that is totally unwarranted.  To those pastors who are so busy ministering that their preaching suffers, I applaud you and apologize for any disrespect you may have felt reading this.

For any pastors who have allowed themselves to believe that they can skip the OT, I challenge you to challenge yourself and ask yourself how you came to that conclusion.  Was it because something in the bible led you to that conclusion (good luck!) or is it because it's just easier to skip the first 2/3 of Scripture.

For those of you who are not pastors and are reading this, should you attend a church where the pastor faithfully proclaims "the whole counsel of God," tell him thanks.  Trust me, he will appreciate the encouragement.  You have no idea how important hearing all of God's word is!

In closing, don't risk the day when you meet Zephaniah in heaven and hear him ask, "so, how did you like my book?"