Pastors Are Called to be Mentors and Not Tormentors Towards Their Flock
There was a statement that teachers should be mentors and not tormentors. What does God have the purpose of a shepherd? Jeremiah 3:15 says that the pastors will be raised by God to replace the corrupt ones to feed the people with understanding. God was angry with the priests of Jeremiah's time for not doing their job. Jeremiah 5:31 describes the hellish situation where people love to have their false prophets and hate the true ones. While not every teacher is a pastor (ex. Sunday school teachers are not necessarily pastors) while every pastor is called to be a teacher. But there's one question that needs to be asked. Is your pastor a mentor or a tormentor?
The Bible doesn't condone to any activity where a pastor is indeed a tormentor rather than a mentor. A pastor is not only a teacher but also a shepherd. It means it's double responsibility. What does the Bible say about the responsibility of a pastor?
Ephesians 4:11-12
And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; [12] for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
1 Timothy 3:1-4
This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. [2] A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; [3] not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; [4] one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; [5] (for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) [6] Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the Devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the Devil.
1 Peter 5:1-4
The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: [2] feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; [3] neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. [4] And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
The Bible calls for the pastors to be gentle authorities whenever needed and to only use force when necessary. They are called to discipline not out of hate but out of love. The pastor is called to be someone who while he must hate sin but he must do all his actions out of love. It's required that a pastor must live a blameless life. Also, it's not just avoiding the sin of women and finances - it's also a call not to be an ill-tempered tyrant over God's heritage. There's no room for a dictator pastor or a bully pastor. Peter already wrote that no one should be as lords (or as some translation would render it as lording or domineering) but as examples to their flock. In short, while pastors ought to take charge with authority while they must remember that they are entrusted by God to run the pulpit properly.
No pastor should be taking authority over his flock like a dictator. There's a fine line between an a disciplinarian pastor against a dictator pastor. A pastor who is a disciplinarian starts with himself - he's dignified and runs control as calmly as possible and won't resolve to extreme measures. A pastor who is a dictator may not have any self-discipline. Such a pastor doesn't really care about how he acts as long as he gets people to do what he wants and not what God wants.
It should be a shame to really preach Jesus who showed by example. Jesus confronted the Pharisees and called them out for their sins and compared them to vipers. Yet, He also showed compassion to repentant sinners. Being the Son of God - He could show the perfect balance between exerting one's authority yet maintaining a gentle, loving relationship with one's subordinates. This means pastors have the duty to remind them of who's in charge yet maintain a loving relationship. It's like a teacher who scolds his or her student because they don't want to see that person continue in that path of error. Likewise, pastors are called to show Jesus' love to others by being good examples and not as tormentors but as mentors of the members of God's flock.
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