5 Life-Saving Tips for Angry Pastors
3. Don't take it to the pulpit.
Never, ever make the pulpit into your personal battle station.
I know that’s the inclination, but remember, the pulpit does not belong to you. It belongs to the Lord, and on Sunday morning people come to hear a word from the Lord.
Now, that’s not to say there are not times when a pastor has to do some rebuking—that is biblical. However, you can rebuke outside of the context of your sermon and not try to take a Scripture out of context to hammer somebody over the head.
Now, if someone in the church tries to “read between the lines,” that’s on them. But if you’re preaching the Gospel without a fight in the back of your mind, the Holy Spirit will stand up and protect the preacher.
Dr. Melvin Von Wade, Sr. is an advocate of this, and several years ago in our State Convention in California, he recommended preaching from the gospels during a fight—but leaving the personal stuff out of the sermon.
Remember, there are those who gather every Sunday to hear us who really don’t care about church politics. They come there to hear a word from the Lord and not from the Lord’s angry preacher.
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Pastor Robert Earl Houston is the seventeenth senior pastor of the 180 year-old First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Kentucky. He is the husband of Jessica Georgette Houston. He has been serving as senior pastor since April 2009. He has been in ministry for over 34 years and pastoring for over 23 years.
He has pastored or served on staff in congregations in Oregon, California and Tennessee. He is a Board Member and Webmaster of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.; President, Kentucky State Convention of PNBC; Chairman of the Publishing Board, General Association of Baptists in Kentucky which produces The American Baptist Newspaper, one of the oldest African-American Publications in the nation.
More from Robert Houston or visit Robert at roberthouston.org/
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