The point of this blog is to, as Erich put it below, is to "search out how we should honor the office of Holy Ministry and the individuals who hold it." The assumption seems to be that one's pastor is strongly confessional so that the angle is how a layman should support his pastor in his difficulties and pressures coming from his own congregation, maybe his circuit, as well as the ways of the world.But what if one has a pastor who is ‘middle of the road’? He doesn’t do anything crazy, like dress up in a wookie costume; he doesn’t have a praise band; he does the liturgy and preaches from the lectionary.
But maybe he does little things that would make a confessional Lutheran wince: He doesn't do the liturgy straight from the hymnal, but tinkers with it a little and prints the entire service out in the bulletin. He does a 'lambs message' during the service. He doesn't offer a set time for private confession and absolution although he would give it to you if asked. Maybe you've heard him say, "I'm not a theologian," by which he probably means "I'm not an academic." Maybe his sermons don't measure up to the good examples reviewed on Issues, Etc., but you do hear the gospel. Maybe there are countless other things that might give a confessional blogger cause for concern, but again, as Erich says below, "There are very few biblical reasons to remove a pastor from office... Unless a pastor is guilty of one of these offenses, it is not Christian to oppose him. And not only are we not to oppose him, we are to honor him!"
Well, shouldn't this guy be honored too then? I suppose a response would be, 'Just leave. Find another church," but would that be right, if we are to take seriously the Fourth Commandment as it is expounded by the Large Catechism? I'm not going to leave my temporal father just because he didn't do as good a job as my best friend's father down the road. Nobody's perfect.
Perhaps the best way to honor this pastor is to gently admonish him. How does a layman do that? I'm not sure I'm as interested in hearing an answer from a pastor because he is not in the same situation. His view will always be as one pastor to another. I'd rather hear an answer from a layman. How should a layman confront his pastor on such matters?
