Por Mark Dance

Miguel Ibarra se hizo pasar por sacerdote durante más de 18 años antes de ser descubierto. Predicó y realizó bodas, bautizos y comuniones a pesar de nunca haber sido ordenado.

Después de una investigación exhaustiva, se determinó que Ibarra había falsificado sus documentos, por lo que fue despedido y deportado a su país de origen, Colombia. .

Se necesita más que documentos de ordenación para ser un verdadero pastor. Cualquiera puede cubrir sus paredes con certificados y títulos.

Se necesita más que un organigrama de la iglesia para ser pastor. Las iglesias en las que he servido durante 29 años han confirmado amablemente mi llamado y mis dones, pero ninguna me convirtió en pastor. Solo Dios puede hacer ese llamado.

Entonces, ¿cómo puedes saber si eres un verdadero pastor o solo un farsante? Probablemente hay muchas maneras de hacer esa distinción, pero aquí hay algunas para comenzar la conversación.

1. Los pretendientes confunden competencia con carácter.

Gran parte del entrenamiento formal de un pastor se enfoca en cómo hacer crecer una iglesia y el reino. Asegúrate de guardar tu corazón al menos tan bien como guardas tu rebaño.

Ten cuidado por ti mismo y por todo el rebaño sobre el cual el Espíritu Santo te ha puesto por obispo ( Hechos ‭20:28‬‬).

No pastor sets out to be a pretender. Character erosion happens gradually when soft compromises evolve into serious sins.

Each step away from innocence is a step away from the Lord. A second secret life is formed slowly and almost imperceptibly.

“Keep your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed from blatant rebellion” (Psalms‬ ‭19:13).‭

2. Pretenders pay more attention to their audience than their souls.

All pastors feel some pressure to grow their churches numerically. There’s an unspoken pressure inherent in the pastorate to deliver results.

The stakes are high because they’re eternal. Talented pastors learn quickly what their members want and can deliver the goods with or without God’s help.

Scary, isn’t it?

To be clear, church growth is not the problem. Personal growth is.

“Pay close attention to your life…for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy‬ ‭4:16‬).

3. Pretenders ignore wise counsel.

Most of us have a pastor-friend who was exposed for living a double life. Our typical response is to look back and wonder what we missed. We second guess how we could have prevented this ministerial meltdown.

In my opinion, the burden of guilt lies squarely on the shoulder of the fallen pastor.

Pastors have an “on” button we instinctively turn on, which gives others false assurance we’re doing fine. When we avoid hard conversations and surround ourselves with predictably positive voices, we have dangerously insulated ourselves from the people who love us the most.

An example to learn from is King Rehoboam, who turned away the sage voices he should have trusted ‭‭(1 Kings‬ ‭12:7-8‬)‬‬.

Positive feedback can become emotional carb-loading for a discouraged pastor. A healthy pastor will solicit a broad range of feedback.

“Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention but followed their own advice and their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward” (Jeremiah 7:24).

4. Pretenders compartmentalize their lives.

Compartmentalization is not unique to pastors and is a blind-spot for many people in general. The idea of a double-life dangerously presumes the possibility of separating the sacred from the secular.

The term “hypocrite” was originally used to describe actors in the ancient Greek theater who wore masks. Pastors become pretenders by acting one way on stage and another off stage.

“Know well the condition of your flock, and pay attention to your herds” (Proverbs 27:23).