Matthew 13:58
And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
One of the most puzzling statements you will read in the life of Christ is that He could not do many mighty works in His hometown because of their unbelief. The works of Christ were not done in secret. You would think those from His hometown would have embraced Christ and wanted Him to do mighty works in their midst. You would think those in His hometown would put a sign outside the city that read, “The hometown of Jesus Christ.” Instead, their unbelief in who He was kept Him from doing works in their lives. Only eternity will tell how many works were not done that could have been done in this town had the people believed in Christ.
The statement that many mighty works could not be done because of their unbelief could be said about many churches worldwide. Let me explain. Though your pastor is not Jesus Christ, he is a man that God has called to lead your church, which means that God has called him to help lead your life. Sadly, many pastors will never be used to help the people God sent them to help because of the unbelief of the people in their pastor. Oh, the pastor himself has no power in himself that he can do, but God could use the pastor to do many mighty works in the lives of those he pastors if they only believed that God has called him to help every person in the church he pastors.
Several different types of people are in my church. There is a crowd in my church who are there because they want to say they have been in church. There is another crowd in my church who attend the services, but don't believe what I preach, but they love how I preach. There is another crowd in my church that no matter what I say or how much God works through me, they will do their own thing because they will never show that they don't know everything. There is another crowd in my church who love me and my preaching, they come to me for advice to help them, but they still won't do what I tell them to do. There is another crowd who love me, believe what I say, come to me for advice and follow what I tell them to do, and this crowd sees God working through their lives. Now, I love every person no matter which crowd they represent, but I can only help the last crowd because they believe they allow me to be their pastor and lead them.
My friend, your pastor can only help you if you believe that God has sent him to help you, and if you will follow his advice and preaching. There are many mighty works that God could do through your life if you allow your pastor to truly be your pastor to help and guide you. No, he is not God, but God will use your pastor to help you do many mighty works if you will listen to what he preaches and follow the advice he gives you. Many mighty works go undone in churches worldwide because of people who won't believe in God’s providential power to help them through their pastor’s advice and leadership.
Pastor, don't run every group of people off because they are not the last group of people. Love them, pray for them, and continue to try to lead them. You will find that many of these people will go to the next group if you are patient with them and love them. God will allow them to go through something in their lives that will cause them to finally believe in your ability to help them. Until then, don't run them off, but pray for God to give you the wisdom to get their hearts so you can lead them to do mighty works for Him.
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