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dating. “And the worst part of this” he said, “is that her daughters have been exposed to that example.”
    I commented, “Yes, and it is highly unlikely that her children will be able to exercise a higher moral standard than that set by their mother.”
    I was then struck by the thought that the spiritual children of a pastor, i.e. his congregation, will not normally be able to exceed his moral standards, either.
    Likewise, when a man in a position of spiritual authority deviates from the truth of Scripture, he opens the door for his flock to be exposed to the same types of error he experiences. If he falls in a particular area of sin, those following him are also vulnerable to that same weakness or sin. This may be due to the soul-ties which can be formed between parishioners and pastor, or to a form of idolatry.
    Actions speak louder than words; especially in the case of pastors. The world is little interested in hearing our theology; they want to see our fruit!
    When a pastor breaks his marriage vows, and divorces his wife, expect to see a flurry of divorces in that congregation. Lack of faith for marriage spreads through a congregation; then divorce spirits spread. The pastor has, at the very least, taught by his actions, that this command of the Lord’s is out of date, that it is not as important as has been thought in the past. Thus, the door is opened for the sheep to follow their shepherd into the same form of sin. I recognize that divorce is not the unpardonable sin, but it is frequently an unconfessed sin. This is probably because most women do not want to admit that their choice of husband was a mistake, lest that might somehow require them to return to the former husband whom they may still fear, or hate, or which might put them under judgment. Divorce, which God hates, needs to be confessed like any other sin.
    If a pastor harbors erroneous attitudes, false beliefs, corrupted convictions, or distorted doctrines, the errors of these spirits can be transferred to the entire congregation. We are reminded of the warning from Ezekiel concerning the dangers of bonding with false shepherds:
    Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; W oe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? ... but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost...
    Ezek. 34:2–4
    In many churches today there is a failure to proclaim the word of God, and through the word of God, to demonstrate the power of God. This is usually a result of the pastor’s cowardice, and of his fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of loss of prestige, or fear of loss of members.
    The Faith of the Pastor
Limits the Congregation
    I have discovered another surprising truth: the faith of a congregation apparently cannot exceed that of the one in spiritual authority over them. This is why Paul encourages like-minded fellowship. If you are in a church that doesn’t believe in healing or deliverance, you will not be able to muster much faith for those benefits, even though you may intellectually believe completely in them. As an example, years ago, we had three men in our fellowship who believed God for the healing of their hernias. Their faith had been ignited in part by the testimony of a skeptic who’d been healed.
    Jack, a man to whom I ministered more than twenty five years ago, was scheduled for a double hernia operation. The week before his surgery his friends coerced him into attending a service where I was praying for the sick. He came forward for prayer for his hernias, he related later, “sort of as a joke, not expecting anything to happen.” He was very surprised when all his pain left. And when he went the next day for a checkup, the doctor told him, “You no longer have any