Dream about a pastor and his two sons

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A dear sister in Tamil Nadu saw a dream and sought my interpretation. In that dream, she saw a beloved pastor in Chennai who had a very big congregation. (I do not want to reveal the name of this dear pastor). She saw him in the company of his two sons. As she visited them, the pastor appeared to be resting and lying in bed. He was not laid down with any illness, but was just resting. The two sons were at his side. She told them "How united the three of you are! You are so much in synch with each other in all your operations". She thus had a word of praise about their unity in thought and spirit. She, however, received no comments from either any of the sons or the Pastor. Then she told the Pastor, "You are the root, and the boys are like trees, and we are all the leaves on the trees". Then the sons got up to leave, and she was excited about the unity of the three. But after the sons had left, the pastor told her "There are problems. Pray about it."

This dream shows the peculiar problems with a typical pastoral ministry which is not ministered by the apostles and prophets in the Body of Christ.

This dream shows that there are many problems with pastoral ministries which are not edified by the apostles and prophets. No doubt, thousands of people attend the worship services of these pastors. The growth of a local church should not be measured by the number of people who would attend the worship services on Sundays but by the people who would become disciples of Christ, and who would take upon themselves the work of evangelism or any other function in the Vineyard of God. During the New Testament days, there were many house churches and the disciples were actively involved in the work of evangelism. There were apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, elders and deacons. In the local churches, there were elders or deacons. They were not merely attending the worship services. They were all participating in the evangelical work. Every local church was a witnessing church. Every local church was on fire for God. Today, we find a local church, either Anglican or Pentecostal, as a place of singing hymns and hearing "good" sermons on Sundays. Of course, in some churches, there is time for giving testimonies also.

In Delhi, during my earlier days of Christian life, I was associated with a local church which had no permanent place for worship. At that time, we had to go in search of a hall for our worship. Nobody wanted to rent out his building for a church on Sundays. We had to shift our church to many buildings. We did not seek funds or raise funds for construction of a church building. On Sundays, we worshipped the Lord. Then we took our fellowship lunch in the church and we went out in the evening for gospel outreach. It was a witnessing church. It was a moving church. We went to different places in and around Delhi, preached the gospel and healed the sick in Jesus' Name. On the streets, we sang hymns and choruses and worshipped God. People used to wait for our arrival in their localities for receiving divine healing.

The dear sister only found the unity of the Pastor and his two sons in flesh. The ministry of God should not be hereditary at all. A minister of God or a Christian leader should entrust the responsibilities of the ministry to the elders in his ministry and not to his kith and kin. The unity has to be forged amongst the members of the Body of Christ and not merely amongst the members of the family of a servant of God in flesh.

The dear sister told the Pastor in the dream, "You are the root, and the boys are like trees, and we are all the leaves on the trees". In a God's ministry, the root should be the Word of God and not the minister concerned. In this dream, the children of a minister of God are compared to trees and the believers to the leaves on such trees. It is a false doctrine. The children of a minister of God should not take the place of elders in the ministry. A local church should be rooted in the Word of God and should be ministered by the elders or deacons. The whole church is a living tree in the God's vineyard. The leaves are part of this tree and should not be viewed as distinct from the tree. When we look at a tree, we perceive the whole tree as a single object.