What If I Disagree with My Pastor?
1) Direct answer
Stay with the Word, keep your spirit right, and handle it in God’s order. Pray, search the Scriptures, speak to your pastor privately with an open Bible, and seek peace. If it’s only preference, submit and keep unity. If it is clear doctrine or practice against the Bible and he will not receive the Word, obey God rather than men and step away quietly without causing strife.
2) Scriptural explanation
- Test everything by Scripture: The Bereans “searched the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11). “Try the spirits” (1 John 4:1). If any preach another gospel, “let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8–9).
- Respect the office and approach rightly: “Obey them that have the rule over you” as they watch for your souls (Hebrews 13:17). “Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father” (1 Timothy 5:1). Don’t receive accusations lightly—“before two or three witnesses” (1 Timothy 5:19).
- Handle it in order: Go to him “between thee and him alone” first (Matthew 18:15). If needed, take witnesses, then the church (Matthew 18:16–17). “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40).
- Keep unity when it’s not sin or false doctrine: “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
- Separate if the Word is rejected: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). “Mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine…and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). “A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject” (Titus 3:10). “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).
3) Simple clarifying logic
- God sets pastors to feed the flock, but the Bible is the absolute. A true shepherd points you to the Word, not away from it.
- If your disagreement is about taste, timing, or non-essential procedure, lay down your preference and keep peace.
- If the issue is clear Scripture—who will you follow, a man or the Word? If a leader asks you to do or believe what the Bible denies, your loyalty belongs to Christ.
- Don’t gossip, don’t rally people, don’t split the church. Speak face to face, with Scripture, in meekness. If there’s no agreement around the Word, step aside quietly and keep your heart clean.
4) Short reinforcing statement
Stay humble, stay Scriptural, and keep the sweetness of Christ. God defends His Word and guides the sincere who put the Bible first.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Respects
61-1015E §75
If you can't respect the man, respect the office he holds in God. That's exactly right, see, respect him. If a minister comes up, your pastor, always respect him. I've heard congregations talk about their pastor, just talk about him, run him down, ridicule him. How is that pastor ever going to do anything for you? He can't do it. You don't re... I don't say this church, but I mean churches I have seen, that if... You've got to love your pastor. You've got to know that he's a human being, but yet God has made him Hi...
Questions and Answers on Hebrews, part 2
57-1002 §92
The Lord bless you. I hope the Lord permits us to get together and discuss these things; it's all for His glory. We might disagree upon the ideas of them; but I will say one thing: if you all get as much joy hearing them as I do talking about them, we're having a wonderful time. Amen. Amen. All right, the Lord be real good to you now. Don't forget the services. Brother Neville's broadcast, now, that's on WLRP, Saturday morning at nine o'clock; the Neville quartet, and I'm sure they'll do you good, turn and listen t...
Identification
63-0123 §93
...reflecting Christ. You believe that? Certainly. Paul... You said, "Oh..." A woman told me, said, "He was just an old woman hater." Paul said in ... over in Galatians 1:8, "If an angel from heaven comes and preaches any other thing than this to you, let him be accursed." That's right. That's right. Now watch. Where are you reflecting at now? Don't take the popular side; take the Word side. Oh, yes, sir---left him. And when the issue come up, why, Paul took the stand. And they wrote and said, "The Holy Ghost told us...
Church Order
63-1226 §45
And by doing so, we have often ... people has often gotten mad at us. They do at me, too! They'll do at any man, see. A person that does that, there's something wrong with that person. They're not right with God, for the Spirit of Christ is subject to Christ's teaching, Christ's house, Christ's order, see. And any man that ... or any woman, or any person, children, that would get angry with a godly deacon that would tell them to be ... or any parent would get angry with a deacon... Really, we want everybody in this...
Questions and Answers
61-0112 §185
...ful for them to add to or take away of the teachings because of their own personal opinion or revelation?" No, sir. No. A deacon or a trustee should be perfectly in harmony with the doctrine of their church. They should stay perfectly with the interpretation of the Scriptures of their church, because, if they don't, they're fighting against the very thing. They're hurting themselves, see. You're battling... In other words, like if I say I love my family and try to feed them poison. See, same thing. See, you can't d...