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Q. My pastor really delivers the Word, but I know his actions and behavior do not match up with what he preaches. What should I do? Leave the church, confront the pastor, or just go on as if nothing ever happened while praying God would deliver him?

A. It's hard to hear God's voice through the mouth of a person you don't respect, isn't it? And yet in the Bible (Numbers 22), God used the voice of a donkey to speak to one of the prophets. Sometimes God does speak through a flawed instrument. In fact, with human beings, it's always through a flawed instrument. No matter what our position in church, all of us sin. There will be no sinless pastor.

It's important to try to hear the voice of God at church even when the preacher is one you have a hard time respecting. At the same time, if your pastor's actions are really troubling to you, I'd encourage you not to leave the church, and not to confront the pastor yourself, and not to just act as if nothing is wrong. I'd also encourage you to not talk to just anybody about this situation. It could easily turn into gossip. Instead, I'd encourage you to talk to one of the church's elders that you really respect. In private, be honest and explain what you've seen and how it's making it hard for you to worship and receive the voice of God.

I realize that this advice is different from what we are told to do in Matthew 18:15-17. But this passage seems focused on someone who has "sinned against you" personally. From what you've said, I don't think this is about your pastor offending you personally. So for this case, you really need input from a wise elder of your church. And by elder, I mean someone who is in leadership. Maybe you have misunderstood what the pastor has done, and this elder can point this out. And if the pastor is in error, this elder should know what to do. Maybe your church even has a procedure for this sort of thing. This elder should know this procedure.

Ask this mature Christian leader if you need to extend grace to the pastor and try to accept the pastor's imperfections, or if there's something else going on that he can help to address. And by all means, keep praying that God will bring good out of this bad situation.

Marshall, a former pastor, is editor of Leadership, a magazine for pastors.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today/Ignite Your Faith magazine.
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