I have seen many believers gripped with lifelong fear and unequivocal guilt for voicing any thoughts of preachers in any negative light. Some of this fear is from a Pentecostal tradition that preaches “touch not mine anointed, do my prophets no harm” and the reemphasising of this message by preachers themselves sometimes with examples of people who apparently experienced consequences for voicing seemingly negative opinions about such preachers. Here are an ample range of reasons why having and voicing your opinions about preachers is perfectly alright.
Not one Preacher out there paid the price of your salvation– What was the price of your salvation again? The blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross for you. The price that bought you salvation was not paid by the preacher, it was paid by Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53:3 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him……”. That is talking of Jesus, not any man!
Pastors are human, not divine, if you do not talk about their humanity, you are ascribing divinity to them– While many preachers might paint themselves on a pedestal that suggests they are near divinity and in a fellowship with God not available to other believers, we know that this is not consistent with the word of God. If something of a scandal happens to a ‘man of God’, it is alright to talk about it, the scandal happened because he is human! However talking about it should not be about destroying the person, it should always be in humility. If we sweep all pastoral scandal into the bin of silence, we will never learn from them or act on them as a church and such scandals will have a chance of repeating itself.
We have the same access; that is the whole purpose of the new Testament– When Jesus died, the veil/curtain of the Temple separating the holy of holies was thorn in two, making access for all to the throne room of God, that was not only symbolic, it is the reality of the new relationship made possible for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. So you and the many great preachers we honour have the same access, located in the same place near the throne room of God.
That scripture refers to God’s people, not ministers of the Gospel– The scripture that mostly sends a chill in the back of believers is in Psalm 105 Vs 15- “saying do not touch my anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm.”. Like many other references David makes in his Psalms, this was a direct reference from 1st Chronicles. reading the preceding verses in both, it is clear that the anointed ones God was referring to where his people, the Israelites. Look at Psalm 105 vs 14-15 “He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying do not touch my anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm” NKJV. Dear Christian, that scripture has always been about you the believer and was never about the preacher or the prophet.
It is perfectly alright to judge the actions of preachers by the word of God: 1 Corinthians 2:15″ But he that is spiritual judgeth all things…..”. Well if you are a spiritual man, you make a judgement about all things against the word of God, actions of preachers are not excluded.
No fear for anointing or unction– Oh how preachers have used the ‘annointing’ and ‘unction’ to run God’s people scared. John wrote to believers saying in 1 John 2:20- “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”, the NKJV uses the word ‘annointing’ to replace ‘unction’. You, the believer have the anointing , the preacher/prophet/apostle has his calling and the relevant grace to support it.
This piece is written by a believer. The Pentecostal landscape has changed significantly and the preeminence of church brands and attachment to leadership identity has become a defining trait of the African Pentecostal movement. This is not the intent of Christ for the new testament church; the church is one body; not the brand to which we are affiliated. May believers gain this understanding, appreciate the humanity of their leaders, the divinity of Christ and the lines that delineate ascribing divinity to mortals.
Let me drop this final one here, there is very limited reference to ‘man of God’ under the new covenant and that is precisely because we are all children of God under this new covenant! There are however leadership offices and gifting available to all believers.
Yemi Shodipo 