How genuine is your pastor?

May 20, 2019

The pastors who are not genuine are created by the need of the society to get quick answers to problems yet no cross means total loss.

Henry Luke Orombi

PASTOR      GENUINE    CHURCH

Many unflattering stories have been told about leading pastors in the Born-Again churches, with allegations that some are fake or not worthy bearing God's name and duty. The Government's effort to regulate them fell by the wayside, leaving worshipers confused about who to entrust with their spiritual needs. John Semakula and Maureen Nakatudde seek answers from the pastors themselves

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Religious leaders react

ARCHBISHOP EMERITUS HENRY LUKE OROMBI
The yardstick for measuring genuine pastors is simple. A mango tree bears mangoes and not oranges. That is why Jesus said you will know them by their fruits and actions. Genuine pastors should walk the talk. If they behave in a mysterious way, then they raise a lot of questions from the public.

PR SOLOMON MALE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ARISING FOR CHRIST
There are signs to tell a genuine pastor from a fake one. If a pastor demands tithe or offertory in dollars, just know he has turned Christianity and the Church into a lottery.

Others who are not genuine put a lot of emphasis on the tithe and argue that it should be charged on the follower's gross income, which should not be the case.

Tithe should be charged from a person's net income and in the Old Testament, the money that was realised was used by Church leaders to help the poor and sick, which is not the case today.

When you go to many of the pastors with a problem, they will offer prayers for you. None of them will give you any form of physical help. The tithe collected by the churches benefit the priests/pastors.

Emphasis on the miracles is also an indicator that the pastor is not genuine. A believer should be built by the pastor to handle their personal problems, including being empowered to pray for themselves and not to expect miracles.

 Pator Male

A person should also not be a follower in a church with a genuine pastor for years without achieving spiritual growth. We need to emulate Jesus Christ who spent three years with his disciples and later left them after they were empowered.

Genuine church leadership must teach, empower and impact on the lives of others. Many of the pastors who are not genuine have turned their flock into spiritual slaves who go to their spiritual slave masters for nearly everything. A true pastor should never manipulate the flock. Most of these pastors who are not genuine instill fear in the flock, while others excite them. Genuine pastors also respect family and that is why Jesus respected Joseph as his earthly father.

Christianity is not coercive, but persuasive. The other sign that a pastor is not genuine is when he puts emphasis on fasting all the time.

Endless fasting is like forcing Jesus to do certain things for you.

PR. DAVID KIGANDA, CHRISTIAN FOCUS CENTRE
The Bible says they will know them by their fruits. The challenge is that many Christians look at the gifts of their pastors and not the fruits. They think that one is a great pastor because of his car and the size of their bank account.

The followers who believe in the gifts are wrong and should never blame Jesus when judgment day comes. Jesus left behind a yardstick for us to tell genuine pastors from fake ones.

 Pastor Kiganda

Being an orator will attract crowds to your church but will never take you to heaven. It is character which is your fruit that will take you to heaven. The gift of a woman would be her beauty that draws men towards her but character (discipline) is what will keep her in marriage

THE REV DR. JOHN SENYONYI, VICE-CHANCELLOR 
UGANDA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
A pastor who is full of himself, boastful and pompous, is a contradiction to the Gospel of Christ. Genuine pastors are accountable to a church structure/fellowship.

Paul is an example. The Church at Antioch sent him out, and each time he returned from his mission journeys, he was sure to give accountability. Paul and Barnabas went to the Jerusalem church to share with them the Gospel they taught and preached. A genuine pastor is a shepherd, not a wolf.

 Dr. John Ssenyonyi

He feeds the sheep rather than himself. Paul wrote to Timothy, Titus and Philemon Epistles for this reason and to instruct them on pastoral work. They show his tender care and concern for them though he faced hardships himself.

Like Jesus, the chief shepherd, Paul served rather than being served by the sheep. A genuine pastor lives the word he preaches. He must be one who has been to the cross of Jesus for salvation and understands repentance from sin, so that he can point others to the Cross. If the pastor lives in sin, no amount of preaching can validate his ministry. A genuine pastor exemplifies gospel transformation in his life before all.

PR ROSE RUTABUZWA,
MOUNT ZION CHURCH INTERNATIONAL, KIROMBE
The Bible says you will know them by their fruits. If the pastor preaches one thing and does the opposite, then they should not be followed.

Whatever the pastor does should be rooted in the word of God. If they are lighting candles, giving water and selling testimonies, then you should find out whether what they are doing is biblical. If it is not, then they are doing their own things.

 Rutabuzua

Theological training is not superfluous to church ministry. In the early church, Aquila and Prisca instructed Apollos in the right way. Paul mentored Timothy and others, and wrote letters as instruction manuals for the Church. The early disciples equipped the future pastor for the work of ministry, for the Holy Spirit instructs His ministers through His people. An untrained pastor is likely to be a danger to his church.

DR RICHARD BOGERE, PASTORAL TEAM LEADER, CHRIST CHAPEL INTERNATIONAL
A pastor must have the balance of the content of God's word, character that conforms to both the Living Word (Jesus Christ) and His written word. Any Christian under the pastoral oversight of a man or woman who may be a good preacher but living an evident sinful life should leave.

 Bogere

On the other hand, if your shepherd is ignorant of God's word and you are not growing spiritually, leave.

Remember, the body of Christ is bigger than that local church. Believers should form a habit of praying to God to lead them to a church whose shepherd preaches the word and lives the same word.

PR GERALD MWEBE, STREAMS OF LIFE CHURCH
The major one would be keenly scruitnising what that pastor is preaching. This is because we all have been entrusted with one message - the gospel. The gospel is clear. It is what Apostle Paul preached; it is what the early church fathers preached and it is what we of today should preach.

 Mwebe

The second consideration is on the lifestyle of such a person. The lifestyle of a man or woman of God should align with what they preach. In this case, I mean preaching the word of God as it is in the scriptures.

They should not preach something from one side of their mouth and live exactly the opposite on the other side.

MSGR JOHN WYNAND KATENDE, IN CHARGE OF FOYER THE CHARITE, NAMUGONGO
Genuine pastors are given to us by God and are in Church stories/history. True pastors are not an accident; they come in a predictable way like cultural leaders in Buganda.

 Wynand Katende

You know that after the current king has passed on, his successor is this. Sometimes they are elected in a genuine way like the Pope. Genuine pastors come from God.

Unfortunately, today you can see someone telling lies but the flock sticks with them. The pastors who are not genuine are created by the need of the society to get quick answers to problems yet no cross means total loss.

PR MILLY KIINGI, FOUNTAIN OF GOD'S GLORY, KAGOMA
They should be Christ-like. The anointing is not what makes the person, but the character. Jesus had compassion for the people. The pastor should be like Jesus who was a good shepherd and laid down his own life for the sheep.

 Milly Kiingi

The good shepherd tends to the sheep. He is not only interested in their milk and meat but cares for their wellbeing. He checks to see if the animals are not feeling well and administers help instead of stepping on them and leaving the kraal.

MSGR. GERALD KALUMBA, PARISH PRIEST, CHRIST THE KING
In the Catholic Church, a genuine priest must be sent by a person with authority. As long as the person with authority is genuine, the one who is sent is genuine. The challenge with most of the pastors is that they just wake up and say they are pastors when they are not sent by anyone.

The bishops in the Catholic Church are genuine because they are in the footsteps of the apostles of Jesus Christ. They also follow a line of church history that has been around for over 2000 years.

PR PATRICK KISUTU, MUTUNDWE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
A genuine pastor should have a discerning spirit. In the Bible, Jesus knew when Peter was canal and had to rebuke him. If a person preaches a one-sided gospel, they are not genuine. The pastor should be able to preach a balanced message.

You can have a prosperity message, but in the end, go to hell. Being wealthy is not the most important thing, but the salvation of your soul. You can have all the cars, land and houses, but end up in hell.
 
SIMON LWANGA, GOSPEL ASSEMBLY CHURCH MAKERERE
Anyone who wants to be a pastor should have a desire to minister to people. He should be a husband of one wife and should be able to lead his household well. As a father, the pastor should be able to take care of his family members well.

 Lwanga

If he cannot take care of his own family, how can he be able to take care of the entire church, which is a bigger institution. Since the husband is the head of the family, he also represents Christ who is also the head of the Church. The pastor automatically becomes a spiritual father to the people in church since he is like God.

A genuine pastor should be with the thorough knowledge of the word of God so that he can be able to feed God's flock well. His conduct also in the community should be with no fault so that he can bring many to Christ.

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