Your Pastor Is The Jesus You See.

 Your Pastor Is The Jesus You See. 

This is one of the favourite captivating lines & chain of words used by vain talkers/preachers to seduce & bind men to themselves. 

They will tell you that they represent God; they represent Christ to the church. That in his absence they are the Christ you see.

None of the apostles preached such a crap. 

Peter writing to the overseers and elders of the church on spiritual leadership, speaks of Christ as the Chief shepherd, and he himself as nothing but an elder also. - 1st Peter 5:1-5.

He never said anything like representing the Chief Shepherd to the elders or being a kind of a general overseer who has general oversight of both the overseers & the flock/church at large; neither did he say anything like the elders representing or being a kind of Chief Shepherd to the flock. 

There is only one Chief Shepherd and no elder is to usurp his place or act in His stead as though representing Him to His people. 

Echoes & Lines Of Hero Worship. 

Some dangerous preachers might run to Galatians 4:14 seeking to draw out & use a portion of it to validate the hero worship going in the denominations they lead.

They can dwell on the part of it that reads "but ye received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus"; A seeming exegesis on that line would see them saying that if the church in Galatia could receive Paul as an angel, even as Christ Jesus, then it's clear that your pastor is the Jesus you see and should be highly regarded, revered and respected as such. 

A contextual exegesis of the text however, reveals that the spirit of the message in that verse and it's preceding verses, is the direct opposite of anything hero worship and religious superhumanism.

Galatians 4:12-15

Be as I am , for I also am as ye, brethren, I beseech you: ye have not at all wronged me.

But ye know that through(by means of) weakness of the flesh I announced the glad tidings to you at the first; and my temptation, which was in my flesh, ye did not slight nor reject with contempt; but ye received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then was your blessedness? for I bear you witness that, if possible, plucking out your own eyes ye would have given them to me.

Just as in Corinth, Paul had not come to these ones in Galatia in the excellency of human speech, or man's wisdom.

He was so simple that he could tell them that he is as they are..."Be as I am , for I also am as ye, brethren". He was just as they are; as a brother to the brethren. 

He had not come showing himself to be some superior, 'super' or 'senior' apostle; very strange & alien titles to scripture which many today bear & glory in. 

That which they ought to be ashamed of, they yet glory & pride themselves in; they relish wearing the crown of folly in the error of their way. The wisdom of this world even where it is found operating in the church, is indeed foolishness in the sight of God. 

Paul went further to say to the saints in Galatia: "ye know that through(by means of) weakness of the flesh I announced the glad tidings to you at the first. 

He had come to them in the weakness/infirmity of his flesh; he was with them in weakness just as he was with the saints in Corinth, yet in weakness he had declared the gospel of Christ to them; he had preached Christ the wisdom and power of God to them. They were well acquainted with his weakness, and had seen the contrast between his weakness as a vessel, and the excellency/surpassing greatness of the power working in & through him; they could tell that the power thereof was of God and not of Paul. 

For Paul in himself and in his weakness, going by the infirmity of his flesh, could not produce such strength and power. 

How so transparent & sincere he was to them with his weaknesses, thus seeing the compassion & power of God raying through that meek & weak vessel in reaching out to them with the gospel, so endeared him to them; such that instead of despising and rejecting him for the infirmity of his flesh, they received him with so much warmth and hospitality as though receiving or entertaining an angel. 

They copiously received him like they would most gladly receive & minister to Christ if he were to manifest physically to them. 

This is the import of what Jesus said in

Matthew 10 when he said "He that receives you receives me, and he that receives me receives him that sent me"

(* Please read Matthew 10:40-42 to contextually understand it & compare it with a similar scripture in Matthew 25:34-40 ).

The warmth of the hospitality and care of these saints in Galatia to Paul was so much that if it was possible, they would have plucked out their own eyes to give to him. Biblical history has it that Paul was having challenges of an impaired vision. 

They had not taken offence at the weakness, the physical weakness that they saw in him; they had not rejected him on account of that, which, in fact, was only designed to make the power of the Spirit in him more apparent. 

They had received him as an angel of God, even as the Christ he represented. Had they then, in fact, known that blessedness of which they had certainly spoken? They would have plucked out their own eyes and have given them to him. 

What was going on here was not in anyway hero worship but the purity of love, affection & care which the saints in Galatia once showed toward Paul. 

Something had gone wrong with that brotherly affection, he thus reminds them of their history and the contrast of the present reality where he is now like an enemy to them, for telling them the truth.