28/04/2026
OUR BEHAVIOUR AS PASTORS IS THE REASON WHY OUR MEMBERS MISBEHAVE:
Matthew 27:51 (NIV)
“At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.”
In matters of the Temple, the change must begin from the Top to the Bottom, and not from the Bottom to the Top. We are always trying to change our Members as Pastors, forgetting that members are always doing the things they see us do as their Pastor. In fact, the Pastor needs more training than the members. If the change doesn’t start from the top, it won’t produce at the bottom.
Stop getting angry with members who are doing just exactly what you are doing.
Until a Pastor can say “Follow me and you won’t miss God”, he is not qualified to be a PASTOR.
From the above scripture, when the change takes place from the top to the bottom, then the earth will shake in heavy revival and our Rock‑like problems within our Churches will break into pieces.
So emphasis must be placed on those at the top of the ladder and not at the bottom of the ladder.
7 AREAS WE GET ANGRY WITH MEMBERS THAT WE THE PASTORS ARE MORE GUILTY OF, THAN THEM:
1. YOU ASK MEMBERS TO PAY TITHE BUT YOU DON’T PAY TITHE YOURSELF.
You think they don’t know you don’t pay. You are the High Priest of the Church. You receive from all, and give to no one.
2. YOU TELL MEMBERS TO BE PROUD BEFORE EVERYONE THAT YOU ARE THEIR SPIRITUAL FATHER YET YOU HAVE NEVER CALLED ANYONE YOUR SPIRITUAL FATHER BEFORE YOUR MEMBERS.
Can you be their Spiritual Father and no one knows your own Spiritual Father? Keep deceiving yourself. MEMBERS MUST BEHAVE LIKE YOU.
3. YOUR MEMBERS MUST GIVE TO YOU, YET YOU GIVE TO NO ONE.
If you are their Prophet that receives their Prophet Offerings, who receives your own Prophet Offering? Are you consistent in giving to your Father? Yet you want members to be consistent in giving to you.
4. MEMBERS MUST NOT COME TO CHURCH LATE, YET THEY WATCH YOU COME LATE EVERY WEEK.
Never put a law you cannot keep. If you and your wife are above the law, it won’t work, because:
Like Shepherd like Sheep, Like Priest like People, Like Leaders like Followers.
5. MEMBERS MUST BE LOYAL AND FAITHFUL TO YOU, YET YOU ARE NOT LOYAL AND FAITHFUL TO ANY LEADER.
Loyalty is a Seed. When you sow it, you will reap it. They see how you follow to know how to follow also.
6. MEMBERS MUST NOT SERVE YOU AND EXPECT PAYMENT, YET YOU HAVE NEVER PREACHED FOR ANY CHURCH WITHOUT PAYMENT.
Sometimes you stay there and tell them to increase your offering, you won’t leave the hotel room. This is why members ask for money for every service they render to you also. Honour is better than honorarium.
7. MEMBERS MUST WORK IN LOVE WITH OTHER MEMBERS, YET WE THE PASTORS ARE KNOWN FOR HATRED, BETRAYALS, AND EVIL SPEAKING AGAINST EACH OTHER.
There is hardly any Pastor on Earth who does not have a Pastor he is not talking with. Anytime you hear a Pastor go through a Storm, if you check it very well, a fellow Pastor stirred it against him. The wickedness amongst Pastors is something else. The enemy of a Pastor is a Pastor. In this particular one, our members are far better than us.
Let us repent as Pastors. Pastors no longer sit down to do Bible study. Anytime they sit, it is to plot a PASTOR that is not in their “camp”. Cultist wearing a Pastor’s Collar. Anytime you see tears in one Pastor’s eyes, check the hand of another Pastor, you will see the teargas that is making the Pastor shed tears.
A. THE PRINCIPLE OF “TOP TO BOTTOM” IN SCRIPTURE
· God’s order always flows from the head down (1 Corinthians 11:3 – Christ is head of every man, man is head of woman, God is head of Christ).
· When the High Priest sinned, the whole nation suffered (Leviticus 4:3). Today’s “High Priest” under the New Covenant is Jesus, but His undershepherds carry representative weight (Hebrews 5:1‑4).
· The curtain tore from top to bottom because Heaven initiated the change; earthly leadership must likewise initiate repentance before demanding it from the flock.
B. TITHING & FINANCIAL INTEGRITY
· Malachi 3:8‑9 – “Will a man rob God?” The context was written to priests who had departed from God’s statutes (Malachi 2:1‑2). A pastor who does not tithe from his own increase (including gifts, honorariums, and other income) cannot teach tithing without hypocrisy.
· Hebrews 7:8 – “Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.” The Levitical priests themselves tithed from what they received (Numbers 18:26‑28). Therefore a New Testament pastor who claims a Levitical‑like right to tithes must also practice the Levitical duty to tithe.
C. SPIRITUAL FATHERHOOD & ACCOUNTABILITY
· Paul could say “Follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1) because he was himself under authority (Acts 9:6, “Lord, what will You have me to do?”).
· A “spiritual father” without a spiritual father of his own becomes an orphan in leadership – unaccountable, unteachable, and prone to abuse. Jesus had a Father in heaven and submitted to John the Baptist’s baptism (Matthew 3:13‑15) as a pattern of humility.
D. PUNCTUALITY & LEADING BY EXAMPLE
· Nehemiah 4:21‑23 – The leader worked alongside the people, day and night.
· 1 Peter 5:2‑3 – “Be shepherds of God’s flock… not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” Arriving late tells the church that the pastor’s time is more valuable than theirs.
E. LOYALTY AS A SEED
· David refused to touch the Lord’s anointed (1 Samuel 24:6) because he honoured the office – yet he himself later received incredible loyalty from his mighty men (2 Samuel 23:13‑17).
· Hebrews 13:17 – “Obey your leaders and submit to them” assumes those leaders are themselves submitted to a higher Leader. Disloyalty to one’s own pastor or overseer guarantees disloyalty from one’s own members.
F. HONOUR WITHOUT HONORARIUM
· 1 Timothy 5:17 – “Elders who rule well are worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching.” Honour in the Greek (timē) includes material support, but it is never to be demanded or priced.
· Paul worked with his hands (Acts 20:33‑35) to avoid being a burden. A pastor who never serves without a fee has forgotten the grace of giving (Luke 6:35).
G. LOVE AMONG PASTORS – A CRITICAL MISSING WITNESS
· John 13:35 – “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” When pastors war against pastors, the world sees a house divided (Mark 3:25).
· James 3:14‑16 – “But if you have bitter envy and self‑seeking in your hearts, do not boast… this wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.”
· The “teargas” from fellow pastors must be replaced with the oil of brotherly unity (Psalm 133:1‑3). Repentance begins with a private phone call to a pastor you have spoken against.
H. FINAL CALL TO REPENTANCE
· 2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves…” – not first the congregation, but the leaders.
· Revelation 2:5 – “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works.”
· A pastor’s greatest revival is not a packed church; it is a broken, honest heart that says, “Lord, change me from the top, then let the bottom follow.”
May the Lord shake our temples, tear our hypocrisies, and raise shepherds after His own heart.