THE IMAGE OF GOD.
As you look at different governmental structures you might notice that many of the strong handed regimes of the world employ a very simple yet aggressive means to control the populace, bigger than life images of their leader everywhere you go. From Stalin to Hitler to Hussein, these men kept a strong presence amongst their people to keep them intimidated.
God didn’t give us a picture of Himself. He could have easily made a rendering of Himself on a third tablet and handed it to Moses. He could have drawn a picture of Himself on the wall when He wrote that “mene mene” thing in the book of Daniel. There are all kinds of places that He could have posted a big picture of Himself to keep us on our guard. Yet, He didn’t do that, have you ever wondered why?
In fact, He gave explicit instructions not to make any graven (carved or sculptured) images of any god or pseudo-god. He didn’t want a fierce or condescending image of Himself plastered on every wall of downtown Jerusalem or New York City or Wickett, Texas. Instead He did what He does best.
He created avenues of beauty to whisper or even shout His presence to the world.
Some feel like the pastor must keep a separation from “the people” and not become close. That may be so “the people” won’t be able to see behind the curtain and realize that the wizard is really just a little man with a loudspeaker.
Jesus wasn’t afraid to get close to people.
That’s it, too. We have created this image that the pastor is somehow elite, like royalty, but he’s not. There is nothing inherently different about him. Pastors struggle with sin, doubt, temptations, etc. just like everybody else.
I’ve met some guys that pastor that have really bought into this elitist mentality. They have the entourage, expect the spiffs and treat the “little people” like (I was going to use the word crap, but my wife thought it was a little too strong.) It’s all really kind of silly. They can be very territorial, too. I’ve seen some people with great potential squashed by these guys because they became a threat to their kingdom.
