The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Anjela Paje of Spokane, WA, from the tape, GC 1301-W, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 25."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  ©1983. All Rights Reserved.

Questioner

As a member of Grace Church, if I have an opinion or a view that I've really prayed about, and I think it’s worthy to be considered, and I want to express that to a Pastor, an elder, and I want to express it in a way that he just doesn’t put it under the heading of complaining. Is there guidelines that I need to take? And, also, are there guidelines that the Pastor and elder have after I’ve shared it with them about what they do with it?

John MacArthur's Answer

That’s a good question. Let me tell you how we do that. The reason we have so many Pastors, apart from my own incompetence, we got to have a lot of guys taking care of everything. But the reason we have so many Pastors is so that we can intersect with many, many people. And, if you have a view or opinion, as you stated it, or if you have a concern in your heart, you find the Pastor that you know, or the one that is closest to you, the one that, maybe, is in charge of the ministry that you’re involved in or an elder that you know very personally. And, you go to that man, and you carry your burden to him. And, I would suggest that you not only talk about it, but you put it in writing. And, ask him, if he will, to carry it to the elders, and he will do that. You don’t need to fear that. And, if something gets lost in the cracks, write a letter to me, and I'll get it. I read my mail. I don’t always enjoy it all, but I read it. And, I thank God for it. And, I mean, criticism, or evaluation, or doing this better--we depend on that; we need that. Listen, we’re not invincible. We’re trying our very best to do what God wants us to do and, maybe, there are some things that aren’t being done that ought to be done or could be done better or could be done differently, and I want to know that. You know, as I’ve said in this series, when I find out we have a problem, I get real excited about that because now I know where the problem is, and we can work with it. So, go to an elder that you know personally. Someone who knows your heart and knows how you feel about things, and not only talk about it, but write it down so he can carry it from there to the group of elders as they meet, and believe me, there’ll be some sharing of those things.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur's Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
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