At the same time, you seem to be painting with a very broad brush here. First you make the charge that everything MacDonald does is for men to see, but you don’t know the motivation of MacDonald’s heart. Then you go ahead and apply this verse to all church leaders as well! I would be careful about judging other people’s motives and focus on your own heart. I will use this verse to judge myself, but not others. Peace, Ray

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2″The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5″Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’

8″But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.[b] 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

    • James, you don’t understand.
    • You have drunk deeply from the cup of your fame.
    • Your life doesn’t matter to you unless it is on public display.
    • You don’t respect those with private afflictions.
    • You will never understand them.

As far as pastors and elders in the church, the word “pastor” is simply another word for “shepherd” and is specifically applied to elders in the Bible (e.g. Paul gather the elders from Ephesus and tells them to be shepherds of the church of God – Acts 20:28; Peter tells the elders to be shepherds of God’s flock – 1 Peter 5:1-2). A pastor is simply an elder who is responsible for teaching and leading the flock.

So I’m not sure what you mean when you say “those who … are the leader of any church are going against the teaching of Paul and the other apostles.” That is what pastors and elders are supposed to do. They are called to be leaders of the church and are accountable to God for their leadership. (Hebrews 13:17) Of course, this is a very different type of leadership than we find in the world. The good pastor/elder/shepherd follows Jesus’ example and lays down his life for the sheep. It is a leadership based on love for God and loving service to God’s people. Good pastors spend a lot of time with the afflicted in the church — loving them, praying for them, comforting them.

As far as James MacDonald, I don’t claim to know his motivations for ministry. But I have benefited from his teaching ministry and thought it would be good to let people know about his cancer so we could pray.

I can tell you about some things I know concerning Pastor McDonald. He lives in a very nice and secure home purchased for $1.9 million, is accompanied by a bodyguard inside the church, drives an expensive vehicle, and now at great expense flew off to get the finest treatment for his condition that money can buy. This is a man who claims to follow Christ and the examples of the apostles ?? James McDonald isn’t unlike so many of the elite Christian professional world. In their hearts they just love to be leaders. If you attend pretty much any church you are attending nothing but a show meant to entertain you. So many of the afflicted do sit in silence and wonder why those that “got it” get answers while they never do.

Ray and Jeff, how could you even think that John’s letter was judgemental ? It was not. Face it – Senior Pastors and pastors who lead churches are unscriptual. In the early church elders were the rulers. Now, are my comments judgemental too ??