Caroline
Puritan Board Sophomore
So any thought about where the line is for telling a pastor he made a mistake in his sermon? And I mean actual mistakes, not something like, "I think he should have talked more about this subject" or "I disagreed with his interpretation," but just actual factual mistakes--the sort anyone can make when they speak in public often, but hope they don't. (And as a former teacher, I am very much aware of the pain of making mistakes in public, of which I have made a few myself, and probably more than I even know about.)
On the whole, I tend to lean toward, "If I would want someone to tell me, I should tell him." And so sometimes I let things go because they were insignificant. And sometimes I say to a pastor, "Uhhhhh, just so you know, you got your biochemistry mixed up a bit in that science illustration. Not that it is important, but just so in the future you can give a slightly better informed rant on that subject," or "You know, technically, the Bible doesn't say that Noah's neighbors laughed at him. I know everybody says that is in the Bible, but it isn't. I mean, maybe they did laugh at Noah, but there's really no way to know for sure. It might be better to state that more hypothetically in case some people like me are really obnoxiously nitpicky that way. Your point was still valid and all, but just sayin'."
My own pastor never takes that badly, and in fact, his major complaint is that I too often do not tell him if he makes a mistake (if I don't deem it significant enough to mention), and how can he correct it when nobody tells him?
On the other hand, sometimes when I have noted something small to a pastor (even just to ask for clarification), it was met with extreme defensiveness, even if it was meant helpfully, as in, "Your point was good, but you might think about changing your wording here, because I do not think that word means what you think it means, my friend." And he responds, "Why are people always picking on me?" or something to that effect. So I've grown hesitant about offering Helpful Suggestions to pastors who are not confident enough of my esteem to take suggestions as helpful. I generally only mention anything if the pastor in question is a personal friend, and otherwise I consider it outside the realm of Things That Are My Business (unless it is posted somewhere like an internet forum that invites suggestions and comments.)
The current dilemma is this: Suppose you hear a pastor repeat a slanderous lie from the pulpit as a sermon illustration... something that you think he believes to be true, but you know to be false, and could easily have been established to be false if he had simply looked it up? This is not a reference to my own pastor. In fact, I will say emphatically it is NOT my pastor, and therein lies the problem--if it were my pastor, I'd just say, "Hey, uuuuhhhhh.... *ahem* You might want to Google before you sermon-illustrate, because that accusation you made against that guy may not have been as true as one might have hoped. And ... well, bearing false witness and all. It's kind of important."
But what if it is a guy that you really don't know? I'm caught between thinking that with the stricter judgment on pastors, it is really a favor to tell them when they lie from the pulpit even inadvertently, and thinking that on other hand, if it was an honest mistake, it's probably better not to go about punching pastors for Failure to Google.
So I just wonder.... if you are a pastor, would you want someone to tell you? Or if you are a parishioner, would you tell someone? And more generally, when is it helpful and when is it just nitpicky and annoying?
PS Years ago, I heard a pastor (again, NOT my pastor, who finds this story hilarious) inform his flock that "my yoke is easy and my burden is light" was referring to an egg yolk, as in "God is like a good egg". It was at that moment that I became convinced that some pastors, despite their best intentions, needed some helpful information to make sure that they did not hurt themselves. Most errors are not that painful, but it is somewhat common that some mistakes are made here and there. I understand that and I don't mean to be excessively judgmental. In that sense, my intention is to help, not to tear the poor guy down. Preaching is a tough job.
On the whole, I tend to lean toward, "If I would want someone to tell me, I should tell him." And so sometimes I let things go because they were insignificant. And sometimes I say to a pastor, "Uhhhhh, just so you know, you got your biochemistry mixed up a bit in that science illustration. Not that it is important, but just so in the future you can give a slightly better informed rant on that subject," or "You know, technically, the Bible doesn't say that Noah's neighbors laughed at him. I know everybody says that is in the Bible, but it isn't. I mean, maybe they did laugh at Noah, but there's really no way to know for sure. It might be better to state that more hypothetically in case some people like me are really obnoxiously nitpicky that way. Your point was still valid and all, but just sayin'."
My own pastor never takes that badly, and in fact, his major complaint is that I too often do not tell him if he makes a mistake (if I don't deem it significant enough to mention), and how can he correct it when nobody tells him?
On the other hand, sometimes when I have noted something small to a pastor (even just to ask for clarification), it was met with extreme defensiveness, even if it was meant helpfully, as in, "Your point was good, but you might think about changing your wording here, because I do not think that word means what you think it means, my friend." And he responds, "Why are people always picking on me?" or something to that effect. So I've grown hesitant about offering Helpful Suggestions to pastors who are not confident enough of my esteem to take suggestions as helpful. I generally only mention anything if the pastor in question is a personal friend, and otherwise I consider it outside the realm of Things That Are My Business (unless it is posted somewhere like an internet forum that invites suggestions and comments.)
The current dilemma is this: Suppose you hear a pastor repeat a slanderous lie from the pulpit as a sermon illustration... something that you think he believes to be true, but you know to be false, and could easily have been established to be false if he had simply looked it up? This is not a reference to my own pastor. In fact, I will say emphatically it is NOT my pastor, and therein lies the problem--if it were my pastor, I'd just say, "Hey, uuuuhhhhh.... *ahem* You might want to Google before you sermon-illustrate, because that accusation you made against that guy may not have been as true as one might have hoped. And ... well, bearing false witness and all. It's kind of important."
But what if it is a guy that you really don't know? I'm caught between thinking that with the stricter judgment on pastors, it is really a favor to tell them when they lie from the pulpit even inadvertently, and thinking that on other hand, if it was an honest mistake, it's probably better not to go about punching pastors for Failure to Google.
So I just wonder.... if you are a pastor, would you want someone to tell you? Or if you are a parishioner, would you tell someone? And more generally, when is it helpful and when is it just nitpicky and annoying?
PS Years ago, I heard a pastor (again, NOT my pastor, who finds this story hilarious) inform his flock that "my yoke is easy and my burden is light" was referring to an egg yolk, as in "God is like a good egg". It was at that moment that I became convinced that some pastors, despite their best intentions, needed some helpful information to make sure that they did not hurt themselves. Most errors are not that painful, but it is somewhat common that some mistakes are made here and there. I understand that and I don't mean to be excessively judgmental. In that sense, my intention is to help, not to tear the poor guy down. Preaching is a tough job.
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