Agree With The Preacher? Agree With The Preacher?
- The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 1 Timothy 5:17
Leaders can make or break a church. What makes leadership so solemn a responsibility? One part of the answer is implicit in this passage (1 Timothy 5:17-25): the importance of the church community's trust in its leadership. A member's mistakes may affect only the member, but a leader's mistakes affect the whole church. But if a church is to continue to exist and to carry out its God-given task, it must support and trust its leaders. For God has ordained that the fellowship of believers be led by people called to that task (1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11). (1)
We as members of the Body of Christ, His Church, need to both understand and honor the leadership challenges and accountability responsibility of "the elders, especially those who preach and teach" in our local congregations. In supporting these individuals, one area that we need to be especially cautious of is sharing our thoughts on areas where we may disagree with these elders. When we disagree on a topic, I would suggest we very much take the time to seek to understand the issue of disagreement not only from our position, but from the position of the one with whom we are experiencing disagreement. As Christians, we are blessed to have tools to help us consider areas in which we may disagree - one of those tools being the bible.
- All Scripture is Godbreathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
If we disagree on an issue, we would do well to consider the following "three point test" before even addressing the issue with either the person we disagree with and/or with others:
- Test the point of disagreement.
Test everything. Hold on to the good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21
- Test our own reasons for disagreement.
Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else. Galatians 6:4
- Test our approach to addressing the disagreement.
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:6
While there appear to be no inherent reasons that disagreeing with our "elders - to include preachers and teachers" is wrong, there can be approaches to voicing these disagreements that do great and persistent injury to the Body of Christ, to the Church Leader, and to those Christians who do not voice disagreements in a loving way. Let us ensure we carefully "test" ourselves when disagreements arise, for by doing so we can maintain the integrity of our Christian Walk, we can protect the integrity of those we disagree with, and we can do it in a way that can glorify God.
1:59:40 PM 
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