At the core of being Pastor Pharisee is a lack of Mercy. Mercy is one of the most essential qualities a pastor needs. Every other one of the fivefold ministries travels from place to place, but a pastor has to get up week after week in front of the same people, and because people are people, they need mercy and lots of it.

But a Pastor Pharisee does not have the capacity to show mercy. Jesus pointd that out to the Pharisees saying to them: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law: judgment, mercy and faith; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone (Matthew 23.23).

The Pharisees were counting their mint leaves out to make sure their tithe was exactly ten percent (notice Jesus explicitly says they should tithe – and so should you, it’s just that mercy means more).

The Pharisees were big on rules, but they never ever walked with God so never ever understood mercy. There are principles that govern the way we should all act, but the giver of these principles is God, and God is full of mercy.

I love praying, but there times to rest and not pray. There was a time Jesus told His disciples not to sleep but to pray, but other times that he told them to sleep. Both are Biblical.

But good pastors show mercy to people. Good pastors don’t fall apart when other fall apart. they stand strong and show mercy. They are like the Lord, the Good Shepherd, the example shepherd – they ensure that when they are around people that they are showing goodness and mercy to them all their days.

If you fail to show mercy to people, you are not going to be an effective pastor. I was called by someone the other day who I have known for many years, he isn’t in the Tree of Life Church, but in another church, and his pastor had said some nasty things to him. I am all for speaking strong (as I am sure most of you know) and speaking truth, but this was degrading, it was stating that this person was not significant and important and that they should not have any aspirations for the future. I have never met someone who is not significant and who shouldn’t dream bigger. That made me sad because although I am sure my friend could be a nightmare in a local church, I know he did not deserve that said about him. A lack of mercy is the problem.

When the people in your church fall, help them get up. If they are unruly, warn them, if they are stupid, teach them. But all these things must be done in love. That’s more important than counting the mint leaves, or counting anything. It’s what truly counts.