PASTORAL OVERREACH AND MINISTERIAL DESPOTISM

Pastoral overreach and despotism, once almost unheard of in churches, and thankfully still relatively rare, is a phenomenon that has developed over the last few decades. It exists where pastors have gotten out of their “lane” — the lane of legitimately defined pastoral authority — and assumed and exerted authority over people’s lives that isn’t theirs to assume or exert. It involves a toxic leadership style, Diotrophian and Nicolaitan in nature  (3 John 9-11 and Rev. 2:6), that defies plain pastoral instruction such as that found in 1 Peter 5:2, 3: “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock."

Pastoral despotism involves what it known as mass-psychosis whereby people are gradually brought into a state of mental lockstep which enables them to be manipulated and made merchandise of emotionally, and in any number of other ways. In some cases, pulpit predators deliberately perpetrate it; in other cases well intentioned, but naïve and careless pastors and congregations have allowed themselves to be caught up and carried away captive by pastoral overreach turned into despotism. It is a wicked and dangerous thing that cripples and destroys. Churches need to resist and reject it, being careful not to confuse it with what may actually be good, strong biblically-aligned pastoral authority and leadership (1 Cor. 11:1; Heb. 13:17).

Pastoral overreach and despotism is a type of home made trouble, rooted in, and the result of, what all church problems are rooted in and the result of — the failure of churches and pastors to make the Word of God the sole rule for their faith and practice. All trouble, for that matter, whether in the life of an individual, a church, a community or a country starts when and wherever people have stopped recognizing God’s Word as their Guidebook for Life.