Pastors are specially appointed to lead the people of God but they may also be wolves in sheep's clothing, says John Piper in a new podcast.  

The Desiring God theologian used his podcast to advise Christians on how they can tell the difference between a pastor who really is a bully and a pastor who is just someone they don't like.

In his view, a bullying pastor is one abusing his authority and who may demonstrate ungodly characteristics like impatience, being quarrelsome, or thinking everyone in the church should agree with his way of doing things.

"Does the pastor get down and live alongside his people, giving examples to them or is he always pompously pronouncing with a domineering sense of 'I'm a big shot in this church and you guys ought to toe the line'," he said.

If that's the case, that is bullying, says Piper, and "the opposite of what God calls his shepherds to be".

Although it's not meant to be, it is the case in some churches, he concedes.

"There are bad shepherds," he said. "The Bible makes it clear that there are; our experiences today make it clear that there are. Ther eare bad, abusive shepherds who don't love the flock."

On the other hand, there can be pastors who are unfairly accused of bullying when the truth is simply that the complainant doesn't like their style of pastoring or because the pastor got firm with them about something.

"Someone might accuse a pastor wrongly of bullying just because they don't like his tone of voice or he seems to be a little bit more firm than they grew up experiencing by their dad," Piper explained.

"People don't generally like to be rebuked," he added.

In Piper's view, the best measuring yard in determining whether your pastor is a bully is the Bible, especially the New Testament, and Christians should take the time to form a "well-rounded" understanding of what biblical leadership looks like and use that as a guide in considering their own church leaders.

If they do feel their pastor falls short, they should raise their concerns with the pastor directly.

"His reaction to you will tell you a lot," said Piper.

And if the pastor is indeed a bully, then they may need to be rebuked.

"They're hurting other people and out of love and the up-building of the other people, you may have to get tough with a sheep-hurter or destroyer or a wolf in sheep's clothing," he said.