How harsh is harsh?

Recently, our senior pastor preached a series of sermons meant to restore discipline in our church, and make known the "house rules". The sermons were preached to the point, speaking to those who have the intention to challenge the rules, and telling them that if they do not like the rules, they should move on to another church where such rules are not instituted.

Some fellow church members with whom I chatted, however, felt that the messages were preached too harshly. They felt that too harsh a message might cause the congregation to rebel more. I seeked God in an attempt to see why our senior pastor preached the sermons the way he did, and this is what I felt.

When our senior pastor needs to pass down a message to his congregation, he has 2 methods to do it. Either to tell them himself directly in a sermon, or to tell the pastors who are under him, who will pass on the message to those who are under them, and the message eventually gets passed down to the general congregation at the bottom.

Logically, the second method seems to be the more preferred method, having the individual leaders of the congregation tell their people at their own pace. The problem with this method? Well, as humans, we tend to take a message from someone as it is, but if we feel that its "too harsh" for our members to take, we add a buffer to it so that "its easier to achieve". Then we pass down this message with "a little buffer. By the time this message goes down a few levels, the amount of buffer has increased significantly, and becomes a watered-down version of the original.

That's when the senior pastor should decide if the message is important enough for him to convey to the congregation directly to prevent the watering-down of the message. The good thing about it is that the congregation will receive the unadulterated full-force version of the message.

The problem arises when some of the leaders do not agree completely with the message. The senior pastor needs their assistance to enforce the message among their members. If they do not share the same vision, and assist in enforcing what was preached, we end up with a group of people who are not obedient to the instructions of the senior pastor.

That is also one of the reasons of church division, which should not happen in this day. I pray for our leaders, and all who do not yet share the vision of our senior pastor, to renew their minds and re-think the messages preached, and to enforce them in their lives.