Two Sins a Pastor Might Commit

The Sins of Commission

It’s hard not to go online in any Christian setting these days and not see a litany of sins that pastors commit.

In fact there is a whole industry built around these matters, which often expose every sordid detail of sexual sin, or financial sin or other type of relational sin.

And some of it is pretty grubby. And most of it is disqualifying.  It’s not hard to find it. And it’s not hard to find commentary about it. These sins of “commission” are up front and lamented. They anger and hurt many people.

And I’ve also written around these matters, especially in the more grey areas of abusive leaders – the “rough sheep” spoken about in Ezekiel 34, which I also believe to be disqualifying of pastors.  There are plenty of temptations out there that we can succumb to.

But it struck me reading my Bible this morning of another set of sins, this time not of “commission” – the stuff that is being done that should not be done -, but of “omission” – the stuff that ought to be done that is not being done. And there are two sins of omission that are are just as tempting.

Now at this point many a pastor is rolling their eyes and sighing “Tell me about it!’  The work of pastoring churches is complex and the tasks never seem to be finished. There are lots of sins of omission sitting in your Macbook’s in-tray.

And if you are of certain personality types, then your own frailties and psychology (and sometimes laziness) will ensure that some tasks that ought to get done don’t.

And also, what you don’t need at this time is probably a church member telling you what you should be doing that you are not. If anything kills the will to live – or at least kills the will to serve in church – it’s church members who are hypercritical of their pastors.

Ok, sure keep your pastor to account as a congregation. But make sure that you are not calling them to a level of busyness or task-oriented work that you don’t commit to yourself.  The fact is one of the pastor’s primary roles is to keep you to account!

The Sins of Omission

So, what are these sins of omission that we can be tempted into?  What’s the stuff pastors need to do that they might be drawn away from on a regular basis, or at least to push to the side and allow to wither through neglect?

Well, as I said, in my Bible readings this morning, I read 1 Samuel 12, the farewell address of the prophet Samuel to the people of Israel after they have chosen a king.

And after recounting Israel’s history (a common feature of farewell addresses in the Old Testament), he calls on the LORD to call out the wickedness of the nation for asking for a king when they already have one in the LORD.

The people asking for a King (Morgan Picture Bible circa 1250AD)

But then, when the people are sufficiently sorrowful for their asking of a king, he assures them that if they follow the LORD all will be right with them.  And then he says this:

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and right way. (1 Samuel 12:23).

It would have been easy just to point out the sins of Israel, but in stepping aside from the judge’s role in Israel to make way for a king, Samuel points out his duties.  And they are the duties, if you notice, of the pastoral role today, namely praying for the people and instructing them in the right way.

For Samuel, whatever the role he is giving up, he focusses on the task that if he neglects, would be a sin. And it seems so minor. After all of the sins that Israel’s leaders commit – and will continue to commit – these two omissions seem so trivial.

Whoops I forgot to pray for you. Oh, sorry, I didn’t lead you in the good and right way.

But in all of pastoral ministry in the church from then until now could there be anything more important than those two things? Bringing your people before God, and instructing them in the good and right way?

Or simply to put it in the way that we recognise: The ministry of the Word and prayer.

In the busyness of pastoral life these two tasks can fall off the radar. In the rush to professionalise the ministry and ensure that we are great leaders who maintain focus, build churches, streamline processes, create memorable online content, and structure teams, we will often neglect the primary focus: The ministry of the Word and prayer.

And for Samuel to neglect these two tasks for Israel would mean that he was sinning.  And I just don’t think we would see it the same way.

We might feel a little guilty or agitated about not getting to it. We might outsource those things to other people as we do the other important work of ministry. But Samuel is on to something.

The Ongoing Temptation

And it’s something that the Apostles then back up themselves when the busyness of ministry threatens to overwhelm them in the early chapters of Acts. For there we read, when there is a dispute over food distribution among the church needy:

And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:2-4)

Notice the negative and the positive. It is not right to neglect the preaching God to serve tables. And it is right to devote ourselves to the pray and word ministry.

Not of course that they neglected the table service either, as they put matters in place.  But at a critical juncture in the church when community life was under threat, the apostles did not throw their energy at the matter, but rather found a way for others to throw their energy at it, while they maintained their focus on prayer and Word ministry.

And as we go deeper in the New Testament, we see it was the habit of the Apostle Paul, as well as his call to Timothy. Even as he calls for the whole church to be a praying and word focussed people, he also singles these two things out for those who lead. And the reason is clear: You will not lead people to a place that you have not been – or do not live in – yourself.

And something about these two tasks seem a bit of a waste of time in our modern technological age in which the pace of life, and the need for productive output shouts louder than anything else. Something about that seems like a way to avoid doing work.

More to the point, something about that seems to be a way of being accused by others of avoiding doing work.  But let me assure you pastors that there will be nothing more important in your calling than the ministry of the word and prayer.

And nothing easier to avoid doing. Nothing easier to neglect. A quick one-sentence prayer here. A ChatGPT-directed sermon there. Everything in the modern world mitigates against you fulfilling those two important tasks well. And many things in your own brain and frail nature will mitigate against you doing it as well.

But remember Samuel’s words. He’s just castigated God’s people for their own sin. But he then points out his own temptations: to neglect prayer and the ministry of the word.

How are we tracking with this? On the last day as we stand before our Lord Jesus who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, will the gifts he has given us, and the tasks we have committed to for the sake of his church, be evidenced?

Let’s by all means ensure that we avoid/flee/reject the sins of commission that will put us in the dock of the earthly court. But let’s also ensure we avoid/flee/reject the sins of omission that will never find us guilty in a court of law, or have us publicly exposed on a Christian news service website.

Let’s heed the words of the prophet Samuel and commit ourselves in the crazy-busy ministry life of the modern West to this increasingly peculiar obedience.

And perhaps, just like with the temptation towards sins of commission, as pastors it might be helpful to have trusted people who can hold us accountable for these more respectable, but also damaging – albeit often subterranean- , sins of omission.