This is one of the most difficult messages for me to deliver. It is difficult for two reasons; first, I have no moral authority to deliver it and secondly, in the perception of the gullible, it looks like am defending myself. As a bible student, I have resolved to always attempt the difficult, defy the odds, and always present my personal convictions. I do not write for everyone however, for a particular audience that has been exposed to what I have and to those who have the same experience that I do.
Today, I want us to look at the relationship between the Message and the Messenger of that message. Is there a relationship or not? If people don’t practice what they preach, can we trust their message? What is wrong or right of the cliché that says; ‘Be the Sermon’. I know my pastor is not perfect but shouldn’t he at least be a saint. If my preacher and teacher sins, should I trust what he teaches or not? These and more are questions that believers and their shepherds ask in different ways.
It is because of such, that religions have set ethical codes and policies for their ministers to follow. Institutions like the Catholic Church invest heavily in the reputation of their priests, for the institution believes that once the image of the Catholic Church is compromised, then the message is not excluded. All organizations religious, industrial and political fight tooth and nail to ensure that the public image of their representatives is in relation to what those agents stand for. How should we then as Christians relate with the same?
Messenger Ethos
Aristotle taught that effective communicators possess three qualities and these are; ethos (credibility, appeal to the morality or speakers public image), pathos (appeal to the emotions), and logos (logic, appeal to reason and sense). My focus will be on the credibility (ethos) of the speaker. Let us not pretend here, we are human beings who don’t essentially celebrate the message but the messenger. What touches us to the core are the preachers not what they preach though we are likely to love them through what they preach. We begin from the point of listening to what they have to say, and once we like or resonate with what they say, we lose touch with the message and get glued to the messenger.
It is at that point that the credibility of the messenger becomes the determinant of the message. We preachers, people come to us not knowing our dark side and they listen and like what we have to say (message), but when these people get close to us and know a few things (both right and wrong) about us, they henceforth judge the message based on what they know about us (messenger). A certain church elder who had been involved in a fight with his wife was on the preaching program the next day and he had to preach about husbands loving their wives like Jesus loved the Church. As he preached, and other church members were blessed, his wife (a congregant too), in reflection on last night’s events, loudly jeered at the preacher of the day and walked out of the service in public protest.
Pastors and Preachers must be credible people, starting from their homes and in their communities (1Timothy 3:1-7). The elder ought to have applied wisdom and treated his wife differently not only the night before his preaching but throughout their stay. The devil being the devil, however, I have to mention that, pastoral moral purity might not necessarily be a safe haven for a pastor’s reputation. Many pastors have been falsely accused of crimes and many immoral atrocities, in reality, they never committed. Pastors and church leaders are occasionally victims of circumstances, I know of a pastor who was blackmailed by another due to church position and he was set-up and blackmailed into a rape-ordeal.
A lady entered his office before the pastor knew who she was, the lady jumped on his laps, and cameras were all-over his office and the rest was media truth. Many pastors have fallen victims in a similar manner and other ways. However, even with this at hand, the pastoral calling is also a call to a higher moral standard and sensitivity. Paul asked us, ministers, to always put no stumbling block in anyone’s path so that our ministry will not be discredited. (2Corinthians 6:3). All of us Christians and especially we pastors must behave right before a scandal, within a scandal and after the scandal. Apostle Paul said: Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. (Philippians 1:27). Apostle Paul in his epistles to the churches he founded always reminded us that we are stewards and stewards must be trustworthy (1Corinthians 4:1-3).
Public Perception
While it is true that as a minister you cannot be molded by what the public knows, thinks and understands you to be, it matters that as a leader you give yourself a reputation that the public feeds on. Brand yourself openly and guide the public’s perception of you (1Thesolonians 2:9-12, 2Corinthians 11:9). You are in charge of how you want to be understood in the public and this can be determined by what you do, how you look and what you say. Here is what Jesus said: ” Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Mathew 5:16 RSV). The text says LET YOUR LIGHT, it is your light, not the Light (John 8:12).
You are the salt, and in charge of the flavor, therefore. Ministers are called to morally guard themselves as representatives of Heaven on Earth. Another responsibility they have is to guide the public perception not to look at them (ministers) as the message or the Lord himself or incarnate in them. Many morally upright ministers are worshipped and venerated as saints by the public. Such a worshipped minister is equally worse and dangerous as a minister who has morally failed.
The public finds itself directly or indirectly worshipping a human being due to his moral uprightness. This is a sin of idolatry and it begins with the minister himself for not denouncing these personal praises rendered to him or to God through him. (Revelations 22:9, Acts 10:26). When human Priests like me start forgiving sins, then you know they have become the message itself. The truth is that however much a minister is morally upright, that minister is not morals themselves or morals personified.
The language for us ministers should be; I’m not the message; I behave because I believe the message. The message is not the way I behave, the message is why I behave that way. We ministers however good we are, we are called to decrease and Jesus Christ the message to INCREASE. In order for his message to grow in me and to grow in the lives of its audience, Jesus must increase and “I the minister must decrease” (John 3:30 NKJV). You cannot BE THE SERMON, JESUS IS THE SERMON.
God bless you I invoke TRUTH, REASON, and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Priest Isaiah White (+256-793/775 822833 for further inquiries)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
@Think & Become
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 