It's honestly ironic how often I've heard people like John MacArthur and Justin Peters call people hirelings but then there's an actual hireling regularly preaching at Trinity and they said nothing.
He was a celebrity rock star preacher, in that regard he was no different from the other celebrity false teachers they keep coming up against, the hypocrisy is thick!
@ it’s what I’ve been saying bro when I made that video comparing the prosperity gospel. Camp and the reformed camp, different teachings but the way they operate, same thing!
The era when God personally called individuals to be pastors and guided them through His process, humbling them and testing them before placing them as leaders in His church is behind us. Nowadays, someone simply attends college, auditions for a position, and if selected, they become a pastor. God never called most of these pastors!
A friend of mine in seminary knew of this beforehand. I put a lot of blame on the church members and on the elders of the church!! The whole arrangement was and is an offense to God and His Word!!
it's wild how this really shows the gap in some church systems, valuing big names over real, relational accountability. Makes you wonder what kind of impact this has on the community long-term.
Wow. He was a literal hireling. And the men in his camp must be too, because they had to have known and turned a blind eye. So my question is, at what point are we going to stop believing that these men are members of Christs’ body? How much more will we allow them to walk contrary to the faith unrepentantly before we accept they are anti-Christ? They don’t need church discipline they need the gospel.
They are just that, preachers not pastors. There is a disconnect between those who "preach" and those who they "preach" to. So sad. Why the church is ineffective today
Member or not, Steve is no longer in the pulpit. Do we need elders, yes. But elders were not doing their job and being yes men. Bloggers are doing what yes men refuse to do.
The “priesthood of all believers” emphasizes that each Christian has direct access to God and that the body of Christ is meant to function collaboratively, with each member ministering to others and sharing in the work of the gospel. However, the modern pastoral system, which centralizes authority in a single pastor figure, often undermines this principle by elevating one individual’s authority and focus. This distortion can lead to a system where believers become dependent on a personality, disrupting the mutual ministry and equal fellowship that the New Testament outlines. An example of this is the influence of figures like Steve Lawson, who, though not a member or pastor at Trinity Church, used his position and following to shape others' views while profiting from his platform. By positioning himself as a prominent voice in evangelical circles, Lawson created a following around his own teachings rather than fostering a community centered on collective growth and mutual service. This approach exemplifies how a “grifter” mentality can exploit the modern pastoral model, shifting the focus from Christ’s teachings to a person’s brand and influence. The most concerning aspect of this distortion is that it redirects the church’s purpose. When the focus of a gathering centers on the pastor’s presence, personality, or perspectives, the essential command to “love one another” and grow together in unity is sidelined. Instead, congregations may find themselves supporting a particular leader’s agenda or promoting their platform, rather than experiencing the deeper fellowship that true Christian community offers. Such a structure diminishes the individual believer’s role and places emphasis on the pastor as the mediator of spiritual truth, often to the detriment of believers’ personal growth and direct relationship with God. This focus on an individual undermines the priesthood of all believers, substituting mutual edification and loving fellowship with dependency on one person’s influence. It results in a church model more concerned with supporting the figure at the top than with cultivating a genuine, shared ministry among equals.
Remember when we were warned of the Peddlers of Gods word? I’m sure the early church was deceived for the same reasons we all get deceived now. Rubbing elbows and trading in long shadows we think others cannot see.
@@churchdropout oh most definitely brother, but it also highlights that church today is compromised to a degree and we need to go back to the authentic gathering of the body. For the Glory of our Lord Jesus. God bless you btw
Until people learn to relate to GOD in spirit and Truth, all this will continue to happen, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a True Leader as taught in the Bible, at least not in America
I don’t listen to MacArthur alot. However, when he made the statement it was in the context of confronting pastors that abuse their authority. Which the statement is true, he does not have authority over the body of Christ. However, he does have authority to teach the word and shepherd the flock where believers give over their submission/ authority to their local pastor to follow his lead and be accountable. There are pastors out here that believe they can literally tell you what job take, if you can take a vacation or not, and etc. I was under this type of leadership and it is NOT biblical. So yeah…MacArthur was right in that statement.
Thanks for this discloser. I used to be reformed in "their" circle for 25 years. They are actually at heart very serious sober and loving folk. Some of my most cherished years was under Macarthur. However, i do believe now after much study that the reformed perspective is off. So this may sound whacked but i believe we are in the Laodicean Church age. I am a futurist and I know Rev 2 and 3 may just mean churches then in the first century. But on one hand we see Joel Osteen circus and Kenneth Copeland with his $Billion flow. On the otherside its kind of like a well dressed upper echelon version of the keystone cops. I believe Laodicea was saved. But "self ruled." Which i believe God in loving and patient fashion is tapping on the reformed church shoulder to get it together...open the door...and let Jesus in. Because this is what it looks like when men commend themselves unto ministry. To a comical disastrous T. I believe. The blindness and harm of James2 favoritism. Blessings.
Well, isn’t that special???!!😳😡😱. What did they expect??? This is so off-track. Outrageous!!!!! You know what else is off-track? A church that grows too big for the pastor and elders to know their congregation. If it’s impossible to know him/them, then it’s too big. Furthermore, the congregation ought to know them. The congregation needs to know how and why a pastor leaves. Period. Communication has been sacrificed for size and celebrity. And zero accountability to members. And zero vote. And zero say. And zero voice as well as zero relationship. I’ve had it. Tell me, how many families can a pastor know genuinely???
Can you expound or explain what you mean when you say “The form of preaching found in most churches today is not biblical “? I’m curious to hear you say more about that.
Certainly. Preaching in the Bible is a practice that belongs to believers. We are all called to preach the gospel. There is nothing in the NT that refers to what we practice today called preaching. Meaning a man behind a pulpit speaking to a congregation. Preaching is a cultural thing not a biblical thing.
It's honestly ironic how often I've heard people like John MacArthur and Justin Peters call people hirelings but then there's an actual hireling regularly preaching at Trinity and they said nothing.
🎯
Do you think that Jmac and Peters knew Lawson that well? Perhaps they didn't knew.
@@JamesJones-d5w Jmac and Lawson were great friends.
Peters probably didn't know, and he condemned Lawson immediately for his affair.
It's unfortunate that this is how Lawson's scandal is going.
Thanks for revealing this! God is cleaning house
Lord Have Mercy On Us.
He should have kept His house clean to begin with. ; )
He was a celebrity rock star preacher, in that regard he was no different from the other celebrity false teachers they keep coming up against, the hypocrisy is thick!
Uh oh, Joe is getting fired up! 😂
@ it’s what I’ve been saying bro when I made that video comparing the prosperity gospel. Camp and the reformed camp, different teachings but the way they operate, same thing!
Yep.
The era when God personally called individuals to be pastors and guided them through His process, humbling them and testing them before placing them as leaders in His church is behind us. Nowadays, someone simply attends college, auditions for a position, and if selected, they become a pastor. God never called most of these pastors!
@ unfortunately, yes, that’s how it works a lot that way today
A friend of mine in seminary knew of this beforehand.
I put a lot of blame on the church members and on the elders of the church!!
The whole arrangement was and is an offense to God and His Word!!
Unbelievable.
@churchdropout It's the direct result of putting MEN on pedestals.
Agreed.
it's wild how this really shows the gap in some church systems, valuing big names over real, relational accountability. Makes you wonder what kind of impact this has on the community long-term.
I agree. I think this is having an enormous impact on the church that we will continue to see for years.
It just keeps getting good-er and worse-er!
Yep.
So the problem isn't just Steve Lawson. The problem is also the leadership of the church. And, the members have to expose their own leaders. 😢
Same as Ravi…no accountability 😢😡
Haven’t even finished the video but my jaw literally dropped at the title alone 😦
Crazy sis.
Just a another case of “do as I say and not as I do”
True.
Wow. He was a literal hireling. And the men in his camp must be too, because they had to have known and turned a blind eye. So my question is, at what point are we going to stop believing that these men are members of Christs’ body? How much more will we allow them to walk contrary to the faith unrepentantly before we accept they are anti-Christ? They don’t need church discipline they need the gospel.
Yeah.. Thats a word.
An important discussion within the local church fellowship. Thanks for your perspective. Blessings...
They are just that, preachers not pastors. There is a disconnect between those who "preach" and those who they "preach" to. So sad. Why the church is ineffective today
Absolutely. Well put bro.
Freelance Christianity bears its sad fruit. As you say Bro, broken indeed.
And why is it so secret when others they have shouted from the roof top!
Why would the Masters Seminary hire a person without any church member?
church membership!
Not sure. Steve Lawson could answer that question.
He's accountable to God.
Absolutely. We all are.
He has to answer to Daddy MacArthur!!
@@GalnRomnEph320 Not likely he will be doing any preaching for JMac anymore.
True but too many use that as a get outta jail free card and do their fellow humans like trash.
Member or not, Steve is no longer in the pulpit. Do we need elders, yes. But elders were not doing their job and being yes men. Bloggers are doing what yes men refuse to do.
Trust me.. God holds us all accountable...
The “priesthood of all believers” emphasizes that each Christian has direct access to God and that the body of Christ is meant to function collaboratively, with each member ministering to others and sharing in the work of the gospel. However, the modern pastoral system, which centralizes authority in a single pastor figure, often undermines this principle by elevating one individual’s authority and focus. This distortion can lead to a system where believers become dependent on a personality, disrupting the mutual ministry and equal fellowship that the New Testament outlines.
An example of this is the influence of figures like Steve Lawson, who, though not a member or pastor at Trinity Church, used his position and following to shape others' views while profiting from his platform. By positioning himself as a prominent voice in evangelical circles, Lawson created a following around his own teachings rather than fostering a community centered on collective growth and mutual service. This approach exemplifies how a “grifter” mentality can exploit the modern pastoral model, shifting the focus from Christ’s teachings to a person’s brand and influence.
The most concerning aspect of this distortion is that it redirects the church’s purpose. When the focus of a gathering centers on the pastor’s presence, personality, or perspectives, the essential command to “love one another” and grow together in unity is sidelined. Instead, congregations may find themselves supporting a particular leader’s agenda or promoting their platform, rather than experiencing the deeper fellowship that true Christian community offers.
Such a structure diminishes the individual believer’s role and places emphasis on the pastor as the mediator of spiritual truth, often to the detriment of believers’ personal growth and direct relationship with God. This focus on an individual undermines the priesthood of all believers, substituting mutual edification and loving fellowship with dependency on one person’s influence. It results in a church model more concerned with supporting the figure at the top than with cultivating a genuine, shared ministry among equals.
Remember when we were warned of the Peddlers of Gods word? I’m sure the early church was deceived for the same reasons we all get deceived now. Rubbing elbows and trading in long shadows we think others cannot see.
True. But that’s what makes it damning for the church today. We have not leaned. Didn’t Paul warn us n 1 Cor. to not follow leaders?
@@churchdropout oh most definitely brother, but it also highlights that church today is compromised to a degree and we need to go back to the authentic gathering of the body. For the Glory of our Lord Jesus. God bless you btw
Agreed.Blessings!
Until people learn to relate to GOD in spirit and Truth, all this will continue to happen, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a True Leader as taught in the Bible, at least not in America
Yikes, I had no clue. Definitely thought he was the pastor!? This will certainly play into his restoration, what ever that is for a person like him.
Maybe this is why MacArthur said as a pastor he has no authority of the members
Wow.
I don’t listen to MacArthur alot. However, when he made the statement it was in the context of confronting pastors that abuse their authority. Which the statement is true, he does not have authority over the body of Christ. However, he does have authority to teach the word and shepherd the flock where believers give over their submission/ authority to their local pastor to follow his lead and be accountable.
There are pastors out here that believe they can literally tell you what job take, if you can take a vacation or not, and etc. I was under this type of leadership and it is NOT biblical.
So yeah…MacArthur was right in that statement.
Also, church leadership is accountable for the souls of those that follow them NOT their life.
Thanks for this discloser. I used to be reformed in "their" circle for 25 years. They are actually at heart very serious sober and loving folk. Some of my most cherished years was under Macarthur. However, i do believe now after much study that the reformed perspective is off. So this may sound whacked but i believe we are in the Laodicean Church age. I am a futurist and I know Rev 2 and 3 may just mean churches then in the first century. But on one hand we see Joel Osteen circus and Kenneth Copeland with his $Billion flow. On the otherside its kind of like a well dressed upper echelon version of the keystone cops. I believe Laodicea was saved. But "self ruled." Which i believe God in loving and patient fashion is tapping on the reformed church shoulder to get it together...open the door...and let Jesus in. Because this is what it looks like when men commend themselves unto ministry. To a comical disastrous T. I believe. The blindness and harm of James2 favoritism. Blessings.
MacArthur knew.
Let’s ask him!!
Well, isn’t that special???!!😳😡😱. What did they expect??? This is so off-track. Outrageous!!!!!
You know what else is off-track? A church that grows too big for the pastor and elders to know their congregation. If it’s impossible to know him/them, then it’s too big. Furthermore, the congregation ought to know them. The congregation needs to know how and why a pastor leaves. Period. Communication has been sacrificed for size and celebrity. And zero accountability to members. And zero vote. And zero say. And zero voice as well as zero relationship. I’ve had it. Tell me, how many families can a pastor know genuinely???
I know a pastor in SBC they called him their preacher..... So it does happen a lot
I wonder that if this was T D Jakes guilty of the same thing as Steve Lawson, would they say he was saved?
But we've concluded that formal church membership is unbiblical
Exactly. This is an example of why we need to rethink the church today.
Can you expound or explain what you mean when you say “The form of preaching found in most churches today is not biblical “? I’m curious to hear you say more about that.
Certainly. Preaching in the Bible is a practice that belongs to believers. We are all called to preach the gospel. There is nothing in the NT that refers to what we practice today called preaching. Meaning a man behind a pulpit speaking to a congregation. Preaching is a cultural thing not a biblical thing.
and he was faculty at macauthors seminary... smh
Where was discernment? For that long, really!
Which Local church are you a member of?
The one Jesus is head of.
Well, it just proofs that modern church membership is a man made tradition. Just read Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola for more info.