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Thread: Make Pastors Uncool Again - John Cooper of Skillet

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    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    Make Pastors Uncool Again - John Cooper of Skillet

    GREAT article. I could have just bolded the whole thing. I may have posted this before but can't find it. :)
    _____

    [This is a guest post from my dear friend and brother, John Cooper, lead singer for Skillet. When John asked me to proof read his article, I immediately asked if I could post it on our blog as well, and he gave me permission. -James White]

    Pastors shouldn't be rock stars. Yeah I said it. A rock star promotes himself, builds his brand, and entertains people. It's his job. A pastor is supposed to lay his life down for his sheep. He serves, he protects, and he equips the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). So why does it seem like many of our celebrity pastors are obsessively self-promoting, building their own brands, and protecting themselves by never preaching or teaching anything that would put them in Twitter prison? Yes, it's sad and devastating to watch our leaders fall into sin, but when the foundation is built so poorly it shouldn't be all that surprising.

    Many Christians have been saying this for years and its past time that I join them: I'm tired of celebrity pastors. Pastors aren't supposed to be cool. They're not supposed to be fashion trend setters. We are ALL called to decrease, that Christ would increase both in our hearts and in our lives (John 3:30). HIS fame should be known, not OURS. Celebrity Pastors, get out of the way! You're hogging the spotlight by making yourself the story. Instead, you should be taking some hits on the front lines by stating clearly what God commands. Celebrity pastors seldom do this. Instead, most of what we hear is rhetorical gobbledygook, veiled mysticism, and repackaged new-age movement self-help promotional material disguised as the work of the Spirit.

    My pastor helped change my life in college. "Really, who?" Exactly. He remains faceless, nameless, and will never get the adoration of the world because his desire was for Jesus to have all of the glory. He taught me how to read and understand the Bible. He took my midnight phone calls, he instigated the necessary but uncomfortable conversations, he taught me the importance of sexual purity, and he even taught me how to paint a house and balance a checkbook. It almost sounds more like being a father, doesn't it? Working, serving, teaching your kids and never expecting a "thank you" or a hand clap is what pastoring is all about.

    Pastors, I am thankful for you. Many are serving faithfully and you will be rewarded by God. But for the pastors who are receiving their reward on earth, I have a request for you: please stop looking for adoration from the world. We don't need you to look "awesome", we need you to be fearless and preach the gospel according to the unchanging, authoritative Word of God. Stop finding clever ways to evade questions. You know the ones—God's commands about sexual morality, Gods authority structure in the Church and at home, God's righteousness that demands punishment of sin. Answer them. And answer them clearly for heaven's sake. Please stop trying to find new ways to explain the perceived inconvenient truths of God's Word. You ought to love what He loves and hate what he hates. This used to be a prerequisite for church leadership. Today, its deemed radical and even bigoted.

    Play time is over. The battle is raging, and the field is full of wimps and boys who have never picked up a sword because it just "feels mean." We need generals and leaders who don't care about their brand, their look, their "likes", or making allegiances with the world. In short, it's time to make pastors uncool again.

    Make Pastors Uncool Again - Alpha and Omega Ministries

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    That's what keeps prophets and apostles busy, trying to clean up and sort out church messes caused by self-centered platform speakers and the weak ones that require the show to feed their ego. What a mess.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FireBrand View Post
    That's what keeps prophets and apostles busy, trying to clean up and sort out church messes caused by self-centered platform speakers and the weak ones that require the show to feed their ego. What a mess.
    Yeah, we just saw a recent fall from a 'cool' pastor that was all about him and his celebrity friends and his infidelity.

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    The Pastor that was most influential in my life was not cool. He wore a lift in his shoe because an injury as a child caused him to have one leg shorter than the other. He wore coke bottle glasses and a weird furry hat that I would snatch off his head and run off with. (He told that story well into my adulthood!) He was NOT cool, but man did he LOVE the Lord! He brought life to our lifeless church and he became like a second father to me, to the point where he cried while officiating my wedding. I was not special, he had several "daughters" and "sons." He had such a heart for people, if anything happened to his parishioners, he was the first one there, always! In contrast, there was another pastor who was "cool" He zeroed in on the "cool parishioners" and ignored everyone else. It's funny that so few saw that. I mentioned it to my mother years later, explained what I saw and she realized what I was saying was true. I think he did so much damage.

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    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Susan View Post
    The Pastor that was most influential in my life was not cool. He wore a lift in his shoe because an injury as a child caused him to have one leg shorter than the other. He wore coke bottle glasses and a weird furry hat that I would snatch off his head and run off with. (He told that story well into my adulthood!) He was NOT cool, but man did he LOVE the Lord! He brought life to our lifeless church and he became like a second father to me, to the point where he cried while officiating my wedding. I was not special, he had several "daughters" and "sons." He had such a heart for people, if anything happened to his parishioners, he was the first one there, always! In contrast, there was another pastor who was "cool" He zeroed in on the "cool parishioners" and ignored everyone else. It's funny that so few saw that. I mentioned it to my mother years later, explained what I saw and she realized what I was saying was true. I think he did so much damage.

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    Senior Member Pentecali's Avatar
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    This is great. I want to share it but I don't see a link

    Can you share it?

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    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pentecali View Post
    This is great. I want to share it but I don't see a link

    Can you share it?
    Link is at the bottom of the post.

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    Senior Member Pentecali's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fuego View Post
    Link is at the bottom of the post.
    It's not there. At least not on my end

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    Senior Member Pentecali's Avatar
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    Need link please

  14. #10
    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pentecali View Post
    Need link please
    Make Pastors Uncool Again - Alpha and Omega Ministries

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