Believe it or not there are many ministers in this world who are murderers of God’s people. Those people who have gone into the ministry and then either starve, poison, or infect souls are guilty of murder.
They Starve Souls: ‘Feed the flock of God which is among you.’ 1 Peter 5:2 These are men who claim to be ministers of God and feed only themselves and starve the flock. These people do not preach or simply don’t have the skill to do so, thus they do not feed God’s sheep. A minister who is more concerned with his own pleasure than with the well being of the flock that God has entrusted to him is guilty of starving that flock and is ultimately guilty of murder. I wonder how many people are guilty of murder of the soul.
They Poison Souls: These ministers poison people with error. A heretical minister who is either ignorant of the gospel or denies the truth of it teaches others his heretical teachings, thus poisoning the souls of the people whom God has entrusted to him. Some will teach only what makes people feel good, leaving out all of the things that would convict. Others make the Bible say what they want it to say in order to get away with the most grotesque sins. And others simply preach in a way to draw attention to themselves making their sermons as emotional as possible trying to draw a response from the crowd regardless of whether the teaching is correct or not, since that isn’t the point of their sermon. However they accomplish their heretical teaching differs from person to person, but ultimately they still poison the souls of those listening and are guilty of murder.
They infect souls by their scandalous lives: Wow a scandalous minister, doesn’t sound right does it? Well welcome to the real world baby! There are ministers who claim to be one thing and live a repulsive immoral life outside the eyes of the public, defiling the very ground they walk on and spreading their sickness to every thing they touch. They infect their people with the bad lives they choose to live, preaching one thing and doing another. Qui Curios simulant et bacchanalia vivunt which means [they make a show of goodness, but live a life of riot.] “…such ministers have a golden office, but are dirty and polluted in their lives. They are murderers, and the blood of souls will cry against them at the last day.” - Thomas Watson. It is a sad truth that there is no pastoral position, youth position or any other ministerial position that is sacred. In fact, many times these positions can be a hiding place for the most debase and sick people.
They destroy others by getting them into bad company, and so make them proselytes to the devil: Vitia in proximum quamque transiliunt [Our vices leap on to the man next to us.] Hmmm… that means your neighbor can’t sin without getting a little bit on you. It’s kind of like your buddy with the flu virus sneezing in your face… “thanks dude.” We don’t live in a controlled climate where we can do anything we want without effecting other people. All of our mistakes and sins will infect others both directly and indirectly. How many people are guilty of murder for taking others with them down their own sinful path? “How sad will it be with those who have not only their own sins, but the blood of others to answer for!” - Watson
I heard one of the greatest bits of wisdom in the latest Harry Potter movie, “It is not your gifts and abilities that define who you are, it’s the choices you make.” Many have gifts that enable them to study, preach, teach, and even lead worship, but those gifts don’t define them, the choices they make do.
Pressed
Reasearch and information taken from the works of Thomas Watson. For more information go to www.fivesolas.com/watson/
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