(3) Ignorance of the Hireling and Membership
In addition, the preachers of the organizations do not know the members and problems of the past or present. They are immediately placed in a position of leadership without any knowledge of their needs. In some cases, the customary practice and advice given by the local leaders are to preach lessons with general application and let the people make the application for themselves. In other words, they are responsible to teach but do not help anyone with its application. When some preachers refuse to do this and can no longer in good conscience remain silent, they stir up problems and are seen as trouble makers. All of a sudden, he’s no longer the nice guy and can’t do much right or preach a sermon without others finding fault with it. This is unfair to him and results in collective unrest and the toleration of sinful attitudes. Either, a conscientious preacher boldly preaches the convictions that cost him his friends, support of the members, and perhaps his job or he remains silent where there is unrepentant sin, avoidance of any subject that is known to carry potential differences of opinion, and decisions to choose the path of least resistance. Compromise is very attractive as it promotes future popularity among fellow peers and ensures job security.
In other cases, the leadership has completely delegated their role to a very qualified and experienced preacher. Here, the preachers are doing the work of shepherds and the membership has all the confidence in him. The prudent pacify the leaders with words of public commendation and respectful gestures because they need their support. But, they have become “yes” men and follow their rule. One solution that has been in practice among some brethren in recent years is to select leaders among those who have preached for years and have remained in the same area for years. This attempts to eliminate the confusion of roles between the evangelists and shepherds of the organization and seeks to fix it. But, it still requires the gift of speech for the local leadership of the organization.