Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks in rebellion, and not after the tradition which they received from us.
We set an example for you, and the pastor should be setting an example for the flock, but a good example to be sure.I heard of this one pastor who, with his deacon, decided to go hunting one day. And so they got in their pickup and they had their guns on the rack in the back and drove for several hours out into the country. And when they got out there, they found the whole area posted closed. And they said, oh, man, what a shame. We've driven all this distance and all, and the whole place is posted closed. The deacon said well, there's only one possibility of hunting today and that would be over on Farmer Brown's property, but I hear that he is the meanest guy in the whole town. He's -- everyone stays clear from him.The pastor says, well, we've come this far. He said, I'll tell you what, I'll go up to the door and I'll ask him. He can't do anymore than refuse us. So he went up to the door and knocked and the farmer came to the door and he said, "Hi, I'm Pastor Jones and my deacon and I came out this morning, drove all the way out here. Decided we do a little hunting, but we found every place closed." He said, "Do you suppose it would be possible that we could hunt on your property?"The farmer said, "Pastor Jones, what a joy to see you." He said, "I've been listening to you on the radio and have been so blessed by your ministry." He said, "Honey! Pastor Jones is here. Can you believe that?" He said, "Hey, it would be a privilege for me to have you hunt on my property. It would be a blessing." He said, "Would you do me a favor? The horse out there in the coral, the vet just went away and said I've got to kill him." He said, "Would you mind shooting the horse for me before you go." The pastor said, "No problem, I'll be glad to do that."As he went back to the truck he decided to play a trick on his deacon, sort of tease him a bit. And he said to the deacon, "Boy, you know the stories we've heard about that guy are true. That has to be the meanest, orneriest fella I've ever met in my life. In fact, the things he said to me have me boiling so inside that I've got to do something. I've got to get rid of this pressure, or I'm just going to explode." He said, "Give me my gun." And he took his gun, aimed at the horse and shot it. And the horse fell over. And he turned around to see the shocked expression of his deacon when he heard, "bang! POW!" And the deacon says, "I got two of his cows, preacher, now let's get out of here".Now Paul says, "Be followers of me", but that's to a point. Paul said, "I didn't eat any man's bread for naught;" In other words, I didn't sponge off of any of you. I didn't come in and eat you bread. I didn't come in and inflict myself upon you and say "all right, now take care of me and feed me". I didn't come in and tell you that God was broke and going out of business if you don't send your tithes and offerings in this week. "We didn't eat any man's bread for naught",