Frank Viola names some of the struggle Leslie & I have had over the past several years as paid pastors.
HOW THE PASTORAL ROLE DAMAGES CHURCH BODY LIFE
The unscriptural clergy/laity distinction has done untold harm to the body of Christ. It has divided the believing community into first and second class Christians. The clergy/laity dichotomy perpetuates an awful falsehood--namely, that some Christians are more privileged than 
others to serve the Lord.
The one-man ministry is entirely foreign to the New Testament, yet we embrace it while it suffocates our functioning. We are living stones, not dead ones. However, the pastoral office has transformed us into stones that do not breathe.
Permit us to get personal. We believe the pastoral office has stolen your right to function as a full member of Christ's body. It has distorted the reality of the body, making the pastor a giant mouth and transforming you into a tiny ear. It has rendered you a mute spectator who is proficient at taking sermon notes and passing an offering plate...
..By his office, the pastor displaces and supplants Christ's headship by setting himself up as the church's human head. For this reason, nothing so hinders the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose as does the present-day pastoral role. Why? Because that purpose is centered on making Christ's headship visibly manifested in the church through the free, open, mutually participatory, every member functioning of the body. As long as the pastoral office is present in a particular church, that church will have a slim chance of witnessing such a glorious thing.
HOW THE PASTOR DAMAGES HIMSELF/HERSELF
Most pastors are expected to juggle fifteen major tasks at once. And many crumble under the pressure.
- Casting Vision
- Identifying & Training Leaders
- Preaching & Teaching
- Raising Money
- Serving the Needy
- Providing Strategy & Planning
- Organizing Church Activities & Programs
- Overseeing All Administration
- Managing Staff & Volunteers
- Resolving Conflicts
- Representing the Congregation in the Community
- Providing Congregation Care & Counseling
- Evangelizing the Unsaved
- Administering the Sacraments
- Discipling Individuals
..Jesus Christ never intended any person to sport all the hats a present-day pastor is expected to wear. He never intended any one person to bear such a load...
..It is "lonely at the top" because God never intended for anyone to be at the top--except His Son!...
..The contemporary pastor is the most unquestioned fixture in twenty-first century Christianity. Yet not a strand of Scripture supports the existence of this office.
I challenge & encourage (even dare) you to pick up Pagan Christianity? and give it a thoughtful read. Be warned: it is not for the easily offended and narrow minded. But, if you are open to questioning all that you hold dear in your heart and mind with regards to your Christian faith & practices - this book is well worth wrestling with.
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