Ben Milstead

Hey Pastors!  Raise your hand if you have ever had a church member say “God told me that you should…..”.  Raise your hand if you have ever sat in a committee meeting and heard the group start down a path that you (as the Pastor) knew wasn’t the way the Lord had directed you.  Don’t raise your hand if you have ever caved in.  Someone might be watching. 

The first time I read 1 Kings 13 it really messed me up.  Here’s what happened in a nutshell.  A person referred to as “a Man of God ” (identified in an earlier chapter as a man named Shemaiah) was instructed by God to go to Bethel.  God also told him not to eat or drink while in Bethel.  The Man of God (I’ll call Preacher Pat) was so committed to this that he turned down an offer to dine with the king there.  But another man, identified as an old prophet (I’ll call Deacon Dan), lived in Bethel and found Preacher Pat.  Deacon Dan lied to Preacher Pat and told him that he was a Man of God too and that God had told him to give him food and water and a place to stay.  So Preacher Pat went and ate with Deacon Dan.  Once Preacher Pat left and headed back home, God sent a lion to kill Preacher Pat.

Are you kidding me?  This ticked me off the first time I read it.  Why would God kill Preacher Pat?  It wasn’t his fault!  He was lied to by someone with the credentials of a prophet.  How was he to know?  After thinking about this for a few months I realized the following. 

1)  If the Lord gives you specific instruction, you should follow that instruction regardless of what anyone else tells you.  Don’t get me wrong.  I think great wisdom can emerge from a group of godly men seeking His will.  But on some issues, particularly those given specifically by God to a “Man of God”, the directive cannot and should not change.

2) If those around you tell you they are there to deliver a message from God you should validate that with the Man Himself!  Preacher Pat stuck to his guns in the beginning.  The King of Bethel invited him to dinner and Pat refused.  Pat went as far as to tell the King that he wouldn’t eat with him even if he promised to give him half of his wealth.  But when an old man approached him and said that he too was a prophet, Preacher Pat crumbled like a cookie.  The fate of Preacher Pat would have been much different if Pat would have just validated the prophets claims with God before he diverted from the plan.

3)  The easy way out will get you in trouble if it’s not God’s way.  For crying out loud, Preacher Pat was hungry!  I felt sorry for the guy.  He had a need and someone offered to meet that need.  Why shouldn’t he eat?  Simple….God told him not to!  No matter how desperate the situation might feel, God will take care of those that are at the center of His will. 

4) God takes disobedience seriously.  Does death by lion ring a bell?  It does to this Man of God, or should I say corpse of God.  The Lord could have had the man killed by robbers or some freak accident.  He sent a lion!  I wonder if the use of a lion was Gods way of sending a message to everyone else, especially Deacon Dan, that he was not happy with the disobedience. 

Pastors:  You are the Man of God.  You are the leader of your church second only to Christ himself.  Surround yourself with people that you trust and seek their council.  God can and sometimes does speak to those around you who will, in turn, share that with you.  But in a matter in which God gives you clear direction, directly from Him to you, He is the only one that should change that direction.  Your council can assist you with the logistics and implementation but don’t allow anyone else to talk you out of following God’s instruction.

Everyone else:  Never mask your personal agenda, wants or desires, behind the phrase “God told me to tell you…”  If you do not trust that Christ is leading your church through your pastor, you need to examine your pastor or your own heart because there is a problem with one of the two.  To second guess that direction is to second guess God and undermines the leadership of your pastor.   In the words of that wise bumpersticker I once saw:  GOD SAID IT, I BELIEVE IT, THAT SETTLES IT.   When you try to circumvent the will of God, and lie in the process, something is going to die!  It might be your church, your reputation, or your pastors career. 

Sadly, I’ve known lots of Deacon Dans and even played that part myself in the past.  I’ve seen the Preacher Pats of church world listen to their committees more than they listen to God.  We are taught to protect ourselves from the things of the world but it’s the things of the church that sometimes devour us.