{"id":693815,"date":"2018-11-12T02:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T08:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomrainer.com\/?p=693815"},"modified":"2020-02-07T15:06:01","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T21:06:01","slug":"seven-sentences-that-make-pastors-cringe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/seven-sentences-that-make-pastors-cringe\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Sentences That Make Pastors Cringe"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love the fact that the community of this blog is growing with pastors, church staff, and laity. The latter category, laity or church members, has been very receptive to many of my posts and suggestions. A church member from Virginia recently told me at a conference where I was speaking, \u201cI read your posts because I learn things I would have never known from the perspective of the pastor.\u201d The lady who said that is now the leader of the intercessory prayer ministry of the church, a ministry that includes specific intercession for her pastor.<\/p>\n

It is in that spirit that I offer these seven sentences. My purpose is simply to convey information you might not have considered otherwise. Many pastors hear these sentences frequently, even though the church member may think his or her comment is both novel and helpful.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cI heard a podcast pastor preach on the same text. Let me tell you how he dealt with it.\u201d <\/strong>The pastor often receives this statement as, \u201cLet me tell you how good preaching actually sounds.\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cWe believe we should pay the pastor as low as possible to keep him humble.\u201d <\/strong>Of course, that church member rarely wants to practice the same humility.<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cOur church is big enough. We don\u2019t need any more new members.\u201d <\/strong>Perhaps the church should place a sign outside saying. \u201cClosed for business. No longer practicing the Great Commission.\u201d<\/li>\n
  4. \u201cI wish I had your schedule.\u201d <\/strong>Translation: \u201cIt must be nice to work only one day a week.\u201d Sigh.<\/li>\n
  5. \u201cI love you pastor but . . .\u201d<\/strong> The pastor knows the purpose of that statement is not one of love, but everything that follows the \u201cbut.\u201d<\/li>\n
  6. \u201cPeople are saying . . .\u201d <\/strong>This sentence is the ultimate cop-out statement. It is a cowardly statement. The church member attempts to hide behind the anonymity of \u201cpeople\u201d when the member usually is the real source of the statement.<\/li>\n
  7. \u201cI was here before you came here. I will still be here after you leave.\u201d <\/strong>This statement is ultimately a threat. “Don\u2019t make any changes that I don\u2019t approve. I am in charge. Don\u2019t even try to lead.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Sometimes these statements are said with malice. Other times they are said out of ignorance. But almost all times they are painful to the pastor.<\/p>\n

    Be a source of love and encouragement for your pastor. Please avoid these seven and similar sentences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many pastors hear these sentences frequently, even though the church member may think his or her comment is both novel and helpful.","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,195,177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-693815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-conflict-and-people-problems","category-lead"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSeven Sentences That Make Pastors Cringe | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many pastors hear these sentences frequently, even though the church member may think his or her comment is both novel and helpful.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/seven-sentences-that-make-pastors-cringe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seven Sentences That Make Pastors Cringe | Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many pastors hear these sentences frequently, even though the church member may think his or her comment is both novel and helpful.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/seven-sentences-that-make-pastors-cringe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-12T08:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-07T21:06:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/andre-hunter-350301-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thom S. 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