An elderly woman walked into a little country church. A friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the steps.
"Where would you like to sit?" he asked.
"The front row please," she answered.
"You really don't want to do that," the usher said. "The pastor is really boring."
"Do you happen to know who I am?" asked the woman.
"No," said the usher.
"I'm the pastor's mother," she replied indignantly.
"Do you know who I am?" the usher asked.
"No," she said.
"Good," the usher replied. (Van Morris, Mt. Washington, Kentucky, www.PreachingToday.com)
At the end of another service, a woman greeted her pastor and said, "I enjoyed the sermon." The minister, humbly receiving the compliment, said, "Don't thank me. Thank the Lord," To which the lady replied, "It wasn't that good." (Robert S. Smith, Kane, Pennsylvania, Christian Reader, “Lite Fare;” www. PreachingToday.com) Ouch!
Sometimes, it’s hard to appreciate a pastor who is less than perfect, but pastors need that appreciation as much as anyone else.
The question is: How can a congregation show appreciation to their less than perfect leaders? How can people in the pews care for the ones who care for their souls? How do you love a pastor in such a way that truly encourages him and benefits you, as well? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 13, Hebrews 13, where the Bible shows you how to care for the spiritual leaders God has placed before you.
Hebrews 13:7-8 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (ESB)
If you really want to love your leaders…
REMEMBER THEM.
Memorialize them with your life. Honor them by imitating their faith.
Don’t remember them with plaques and pictures. Don’t honor them with monuments and mementos. Don ‘t put their names on buildings, because the church is not all about them; its all about Christ!
It would be terrible if anybody ever named this church “The Green Memorial Church” with “Tucker Auditorium,” “Lehman Hall,” “The Diener Stage,” and “Corbett Classrooms.” Oh, and don’t forget “The Bunton Banquet Hall.”
That doesn’t honor a godly leader; it embarrasses them. No! If you truly want to honor your leaders past and present, let your life be a living legacy of the lessons they taught you from God’s Word! Let your life be a memorial of the model they have been for you.
Imitate their faith. Trust Jesus like they did. Then experience His transforming power in your life just like they did, as well. You see, any good you see in your leaders is NOT something that came FROM them; it came TO them as they leaned heavily on Christ! And your life can be transformed, as well, as you depend on Christ like they did! For “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever” (vs.8). He never changes, but He can change your life as He changed those who went before you!
As an under-graduate student, theologian and author D.A. Carson helped to lead an evangelistic Bible study on campus. Even though he is one of the greatest theologians today, He confesses that in those days skeptics at times asked him questions he couldn’t answer. That’s when he would take them to Dave, a student who was known as a bold witness on campus. On one such occasion, a young skeptic said to Dave, “I came from a family that doesn't believe in a literal resurrection and all that stuff. That's a bit much for us. But we're a fine family – a good, church-going family. We love each other, care for each other, and we do good in the community. We're a stable family. So what have you got that we don't have?”
Dave looked at the young man and said, “Watch me. Move in with me. I have an extra bed. Just follow me around. You see how I behave, what's important to me, what I do with my time, the way I talk. You watch me, and at the end of three months you tell me there's no difference.”
The young man didn't take Dave up on that offer, but he did keep coming back to watch how Dave lived his life. Eventually the young man came to Christ and went on to become a medical missionary.
You see, a godly leader says in effect: “I'm one poor beggar telling another poor beggar where there's bread. I drank deeply from the wellsprings of grace. God knows I need more of it. If you watch me, you'll see some glimmerings of the Savior; and ultimately, you'll want to fasten on to him, as well.” (From D.A. Carson's sermon Biblical Authority: The Exclusive Authority of Scripture for Faith and Practice, 2008; www.PreachingToday.com)
The Apostle Paul told his followers, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ!” (1 Corinthians 11:1). That’s the only memorial your leaders need or want: Imitate their faith; Depend on Christ like they did, so you can live the life they live. If you really want to love and honor your leaders, remember them in that way; memorialize them with your life. Then 2nd…
FOLLOW THEM.
Submit to their leadership. Yield to their guidance and direction in your life.
Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. (ESV)
If you want to love and honor your leaders, acquiesce to their leadership. Yield your will to theirs and follow their lead.
Benjamin L. Hooks once said, “He who thinks he leads and has no one following him is only taking a walk” (Leadership, Vol. 4, no.1; www.PreachingToday.com). Don’t embarrass your leaders by refusing to follow. God has called them to lead, so don’t let them just take a walk all by themselves. Acquiesce to their leadership.
Why? Because they must give an account to God for their leadership. They, not you, must answer to God for the condition of their followers. You see, your leaders are not always right, but God always holds them responsible for what’s going on in the church.
Turn with me, if you will, to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. In chapters 2 & 3, God passes judgment on seven different churches, but look at who He addresses in those two chapters.
Revelation 2:1 To the angel of the church in Ephesus – literally, to the messenger of the church – i.e., the pastor, the one responsible for declaring God’s message to the church. Verse 2 I know your works… Verse 4 But I have this against you…
Revelation 2:8 To the [messenger] of the church in Smyrna… Verse 9 I know your tribulation…
Revelation 2:12 To the [messenger] of the church in Pergamum… Verse 13 I know where you dwell… Verse 14 But I have a few things against you…
Revelation 2:18 To the [messenger] of the church in Thyatira… Verse 19 I know your works, your love and faith… Verse 20 But I have this against you…
Revelation 3:1 To the [messenger] of the church in Sardis… Verse 2 Wake up…
Revelation 3:7 To the [messenger] of the church in Philadelphia… Verse 8 I know your works…
Revelation 3:14 To the [messenger] of the church in Laodicea… Verse 15 I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
Jesus is addressing the pastors of each church, because for good or ill, churches begin to reflect their pastors after so-many years. That’s why Jesus holds the pastors responsible for the condition of each church.
Believe-you-me, that humbles me as it scares me! That motivates me to be a SERVANT-leader, as 1 Peter 5 urges all pastors to be. He says to them, “shepherd the flock of God… exercising oversight… not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3).
Leadership is NOT lordship. It is setting the example, communicating God’s vision, and inviting others to follow. That’s how God calls your pastor to lead; and when you have such a pastor, God calls you to follow his lead.
Don’t follow a pastor (or anyone) who leads you in ways contrary to what God has already directed in His Word. Don’t follow a pastor (or anyone) who tries to domineer and control you. Don’t follow a pastor (or anyone) who is not setting a godly example for you to follow. But when you get a pastor who humbly communicates God’s vision both in his words and his life, you’d be foolish not to follow such a man.
Please, don’t give those kinds of leaders any grief, because #1) They must give an account to God; & #2) It is to YOUR advantage to follow them. It is to your benefit. Turn back to Hebrews 13 and look at verse 17 again.
Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
It does not benefit you to give your leaders grief. It is not useful. It is not profitable. Why? Because we ALL need a leader; we ALL need a coach.
Atul Gawande, a distinguished Harvard surgeon and author, came to that realization after working eight years as a surgeon. At that time, he became aware that his operating room success had slowly reached a plateau. He was in the middle of a medical conference and had an afternoon free, so he tried to track down someone to play in a game of tennis. Finally, he went to the local tennis club and they told him he could use their courts only if he paid for a lesson and hit with the club pro.
Dr. Gawande was in his early twenties at the time. He was also a recent graduate who'd played on his college tennis team. He and the pro hit back and forth for a while, and the pro went easy on him at first. Then the pro started running Dr. Gawande around. The doctor served a few points, and the tennis coach in the pro came out.
“You know,” he said, “you could get more power from your serve.”
Dr. Gawande was dubious. His serve had always been the best part of his game, but he listened to the pro. The pro pointed out how his right leg dragged a few inches behind his body when he served. And with a few minutes of coaching, Dr. Gawande added at least ten miles an hour to his serve.
Not long afterward, Dr. Gawande was watching tennis star Rafael Nadal playing in a tournament on TV. The camera flashed to his coach, and Dr. Gawande was struck by the obvious: even Rafael Nadal has a coach. Nearly every élite tennis player in the world does… But doctors don't. Dr. Gawande thought, “I'd paid to have a kid just out of college look at my serve. So why did I find it inconceivable to pay someone to come into my operating room and coach me on my surgical technique?”
Dr. Gawande is right when he concludes, “No matter how well-prepared people are in their formative years, few can achieve and maintain their best performance on their own.” (Atul Gawande, "Personal Best," The New Yorker, 10-3-11; www. PreachingToday.com)
And that’s not only true for athletes and doctors. It’s true for everyone! We ALL can benefit from a coach, and that’s what your church leaders are. They are life-coaches, called to equip you to serve at the top of your “game”, or as Ephesians 4 puts it, “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (vs.13).
The goal is Christlikeness, and none of us can get there on our own. So if you want to grow, if you want to be the best you can be in dependence upon Christ, then yield to your leader’s guidance and direction. It really is to your advantage not to give them grief.
If you really want to love and honor your leaders, remember them by the way you live your life; follow them; but most importantly…
PRAY FOR THEM.
Plead with God on their behalf. Beg God to keep them pure and honorable.
That’s what this 1st Century leader, the author of Hebrews, asks His followers to do for him. Take a look at it.
Hebrews 13:18-19 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. (ESV)
The author of Hebrews wants to be restored to his readers. He wants to act honorably in all things, and he wants to keep a clear conscience. He wants God to uphold his relationships, his reputation, and his integrity. He knows he cannot do it without the Lord’s help, so he asks people to pray for him.
And that’s the best thing you can do for your leaders. Pray for them! Ask God to preserve their relationships, their reputation, and their integrity. Plead with God to keep them loving, honorable, and pure, because they are under tremendous attack from the evil one. You see, Satan knows that if he can get a leader in the church to fall, he can bring down a lot of people with him.
Soon after we moved to Ellsworth (Kansas) to plant a church there in 1989, I met an older man who refused to even consider being part of any church. He had in fact rejected Christianity altogether, even though he was raised in a Christian home. Why? Well, when he was a young man, his pastor fell into grievous sin, and the whole congregation was devastated. It nearly destroyed the church (the Assembly of God church in Ellsworth) as it took down some of its members.
Thank the Lord, though, He brought a young pastor to that church the same year we moved to Ellsworth, and that pastor is still there nearly 30 years later. He and I became good friends. We prayed together every week, and God used him to revitalize a dying church, which is now making a real difference in the lives of so many there in Ellsworth.
I don’t know if that man ever came back to the church and to the Lord, but I do know his departure was completely avoidable had his pastor not fallen into sin.
When a church leader falls, he takes a lot of people with him. So, please, pray for your leaders. Please, pray for me! Ask God to keep my relationships strong, my reputation honorable, and my conscience clean, so I don’t destroy the faith of those who are under my care.
If you really want to love and honor your leaders, remember them by the way you live your life; follow them; and pray for them.
Several years ago, I came across an article entitled, “How to Get Rid of a Pastor.” Here’s what that article suggested: If you want to get rid of a pastor: Look the pastor straight in the eye while he’s preaching and say “Amen” every once-in-a-while, and he’ll preach himself to death. Pat him on the back and brag on his good points, and he’ll probably work himself to death. Rededicate your life to Christ and ask the preacher for some job to do, preferably for an opportunity to lead a lost person to Christ, and he’ll die of heart failure. Or get the church to unite in prayer for the preacher and he’ll soon become so effective that a larger church will take him off your hands. (Bible Illustrator #726-761, 10/1988.3)
Now, I hope no one here wants to get rid of me, because I have no desire to go anywhere else, but I think you get the point. As leaders care for people and people care for leaders, everyone benefits: the whole church grows; people’s lives are transformed; and God is glorified!
By the way, that “larger church” is none other than our church – the Faith Bible Church of Lyons, Kansas.
