Jamin Bradley

My friend was sitting in a room full of pastors when they had the vision. In it, they saw a pastor preaching. But as the pastor became more passionate about what was on their heart, a person in the front row began to threaten to harm themselves if they kept going, so the pastor backed down. My friend shared the vision with me about an hour later and mentioned that they knew the Holy Spirit was saying that the person threatening to hurt themselves was not acting on his behalf.

I could feel this vision in my soul. Pastors are aware of so many variables while they’re preaching. They are always adjusting the way certain words come out of their mouths as they read the room. There are times when they catch themselves thinking, “So and so will hear that the wrong way, so I’d better say it differently.” There are times when they feel that they have to get into a specific topic, but they know certain congregants who will not be happy if they do. They do their best to maintain their composure when they see the congregant leave the room to catch a break from their message.

If you wonder why more pastors don’t talk about important subjects in your churches, it’s sometimes because they’ve been paralyzed by their congregants. Certain subjects are expected to be off the table, unless what pastors have to say about them fits the norm of what’s always been accepted. If passion comes upon them while they’re preaching, knit eyebrows will sometimes ask them to chill out, and pastors can’t help but feel like they need to obey. After all, they’re a pastor. They got into this job because they love people and want to take care of them. And for that reason, they don’t always know how to handle the rejection of the people they love.

By no means am I saying pastors are always right, but they need to be able to challenge their churches. They need the space to humbly say what they think the Spirit is saying. They need to make the Bible applicable to their world, even if it’s not the most pleasant message. They don’t need everyone to agree with them—as congregants should of course be discerning about what they hear—but they still need the space to speak. (I realize this can be a dangerous message to share, as it has the potential to inspire hateful pastors on one end and pastors who think they’re right about everything on the other end, but I hope that is received by the paralyzed pastoral majority that needs to hear it.)

Many of us have sat under the tutelage of an ever-watching pastor. What message are we sending them as they read the room?