Should Pastors Be Held to Higher Standards than All Other Christians?
This has been a long debated and often contentious question that has been asked by pastors and congregants of the local church alike. It's a question that I have personally wrestled with and wondered about, but it is also a question I have never full addressed with any sort of real clarity. That has changed recently as I was asked to convey my thoughts on this subject by a dear friend of mine.My friend's are Chip and Halee Anthony. Chip is the head pastor at North Orange Baptist Church in Orange, TX. Chip has been in pastoral ministry for a substantial amount of time, and because of this he, Halee, and their four children have been under the microscope of peer scrutiny for some time. It's part of the territory for pastors. When we respond in the affirmative for God's call to be ministers, there is no question that we are responding in the affirmative to take on much of the baggage which comes with ministry. Does it mean all pastors/ministers are supposed to be held to higher standards than other Christians? Keep in mind, I'm not asking whether or not pastors/ministers should be held to high standards, but rather I'm asking should they be held to higher standards just based on their position than all other Christians within the body of Christ.This is the question I will be addressing. Halee, in addition to being a dear friend and someone who lives in the public eye as a pastor's wife, also has an amazing blog of her own. In fact, the tagline of her blog reads, "Pastoring and Parenting In the Public Eye." Halee asked if I would be willing to write a guest post on her blog, and I eagerly accepted the invitation. My thoughts on the question of pastors being held to higher standards than those of other Christians can be found on her blog by clicking the link below: