Friends, it is good for our
own souls and for the souls of others to work to maintain the nobility of the
pastoral office. As soon as we start
denigrating this office, refusing to esteem it as we ought, we put needless
obstacles in the way of our benefiting from our pastors. If you think little of the pastoral office,
then you will not value preaching, and you will not value the Sunday gatherings. If you think little of the pastoral office,
you will not value the counsel of your pastors, the example of your pastors,
the exhortations and admonitions of your pastors. In other words, so much of the good that God
seeks to do in your life through your pastors will be hindered.
So I want to frame our study this way: How can we continue to protect the nobility
of the pastoral office? Especially in a
day when the pastoral office is being constantly denigrated both by church members
and pastors themselves?
Here are seven answers to how
we can protect the nobility of the pastoral office.
Here is the first answer: We should treat the
office of pastor with respect by taking great care not to put someone in the
office who is not qualified. There is a
reason God gives us 1st Timothy 3:1-7! Notice the warnings that are there. Notice in verse 6 that putting a man into the
pastoral office before he is ready can ultimately lead that man to hell. “He
must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall
into the condemnation of the devil.”
That’s serious. Look at the next
verse: “Moreover, he must be well thought
of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the
devil.” When you put a man who Is
unqualified into office, you put his soul in danger!
Look at 1st
Timothy 5:22. There Paul says to Timothy,
“Do not be hasty in the laying on of
hands, nor take part in the sins of others…” This shows us several things. First, Timothy, who was already serving as a
pastor in Ephesus, was to lead the way in appointing other pastors. Its’ because of verses like these that we
don’t believe pastor search committees are the best ways to bring on
pastors. Rather, those who have already
been appointed and shown to be qualified are to lead the way in appointing
others.
But this comes with a heavy
responsibility. Paul seems to be saying
that by hastily appointing someone to be a pastor, Timothy himself would have a
part in the sins of that pastor. Timothy
will bear some responsibility for the damage that is done by putting a man in
office recklessly.
Second, we
should treat the office of pastor with respect in the way we install pastors
into office. In the New Testament, it
appears that church leaders would lay their hands on him as a sign of their
solidarity with him and support for him.
Moreover, this was a way of blessing him, calling for God’s grace and power
to be at work in him. Paul not only
speaks of this in 5:22, but also in 4:14.
There he reminds Timothy of that day when the council of elders laid
hands on him. For the rest of his life
Timothy would look back on that day and remember the sacred task to which he
had been called.
This was done in a public
way. By having a special time of
installation through the laying on of hands and asking God to bless, the church
showed that this was a big deal. This is
how it should be with us. When we bring
a new pastor into the leadership of our church, the whole church ought to
gather. This ought to be a day of
celebration and rejoicing, a day of thanksgiving to God and a day of great
prayer for the future. It is no small
moment, because this is no small office.
Christ’s ministers are a great gift to His Church.
Third, we should
treat the office of pastor with respect by relating to our pastors in
love. Look with me at 1st
Thessalonians 5:12-13 and let’s spend a few moments here. Here is what we read: “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are
over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love
because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”
Here,
Paul is writing to the Christians in Thessalonica, and he addresses
specifically the relationship that church members are to have with their
pastors. There’s a few things I want us
to note here. The first thing to notice
is that Paul calls these church members brothers. The word is adelphoi, as in the word
Philadelphia. It refers to siblings – to
brothers and sisters. Though he is an
apostle, with authority over these believers, Paul addresses these Christians
as fellow members of the family of God.
This
is important to remember as we think about the relationship between pastors and
church members. The sharp distinction
between clergy and laity that claims that clergy are
somehow cut off and different from laity is simply unbiblical. Pastors and church members are all part of
the same spiritual family, and all have their gifts and callings. Though pastors are over others by virtue of
their office, at the end of the day they are still brothers in Christ to their
church members. Thus, Paul told Timothy
in 1st Timothy 5 to treat older men in his church as fathers, older
women in his church as mothers, younger men in his church as brothers, and
younger women in his church as sisters.
Mount Hermon, we are a church family – we are united with a bond that
will last into eternity. Our earthly
families are temporary, but this family isn’t.
We are to treat each other as family members, full of love and honor for
one another.
The
second thing to notice here is that we are to respect our pastors. The word used here is an interesting one: it
literally means “to see”. It was used
not of seeing with your physical eyes, but of seeing with your mind. Sometimes we’ll say, “Oh, I see what you
mean.” That’s the kind of “seeing” this
word refers to. It means to take notice
of, to acknowledge
So
the point is that we as Christians are not to take our pastors for
granted. We are to take note of them,
the work they do, and the service they offer to our souls. We are to know
our pastors. And this is not a
shallow knowledge, but a knowledge that comes from having conversations with
them. Christians should regularly talk
to their pastors, coming to them with their questions and issues of
conscience. Their counsel and thoughts
are to be sought after. Over time, a
mutually caring relationship should form.
Certainly our pastors can do us little good on a personal level if we
don’t really know them. Similarly, we can do them little good if we do not know
them.
We
are to acknowledge the office that pastors have, and show appropriate respect
because of the dignity of that office.
We are to remember that pastors come to us as ambassadors of Christ, and
are weak, fallen, but true instruments in the hands of Christ for our
good. We are to know our pastors as
brothers in Christ, but also as under-shepherds to whom we owe esteem and
honor.
To
help us, Paul draws our attention to the work of pastors. He reminds the Thessalonian Christians that
their pastors are laboring among them, overseeing their souls, and admonishing
them. The word labor is meant to remind us that the work of pastors is just that –
true work. Any pastor who is fulfilling
his calling will be able to testify that the work he does is labor – happy
labor, I hope – but still labor.
Moreover, there is an added weight to the work because it is a work of
authority. Souls are entrusted to their
care. The stakes are high. If pastors fail at their work, it isn’t the
same as failing at some other work. If a
lawyer loses his case, or a doctor misdiagnoses a condition, those failures are
significant and not to be demeaned. But
if a pastor fails at his work and leads those people under his care away from
Christ, the consequences are eternal. On
top of this, pastors have the difficult task of being responsible to bring
correction to souls. How many of us like
being corrected? How many of us enjoy
having our sins pointed out to us? To do
this work, and to do it with genuine love, often brings a lot of inner-stress
and heartache. In light of all these
aspects of a pastor’s work, Paul encourages us to take note of our
shepherds.
He
then says that we are to esteem them very
highly in love because of their work.
To esteem them simply means that we hold our pastors in high
regard. We are to do this in our own
hearts and minds, and we are to do this in our speech and behavior. Even when we have disagreements with our
pastors, we are not to speak in a way that dishonors them. We are to honor them in the way we speak of
them before others. We should seek to
intentionally speak highly of our pastors before our children and
grandchildren, so that they will learn to esteem this office.
Paul
could have simply said that we are to esteem our pastors, but instead he adds
the double emphasis – very highly. We
are not simply to respect them, but we are to respect them to a great
degree. This is to be a serious matter
to us. We are not to take the name of
the LORD our God in vain, and pastors serve us in God’s name. We are to show no tolerance, then, for a
disrespecting of our leaders. We are to
go to great lengths to protect the dignity of the pastoral office.
We
are to do this in love. That is really the key of what I want us to
see here. There is to be a real love
that is shared between pastors and church members. The relationship is not to be a superficial,
formal, shallow one, but a relationship of genuine care and concern. Our pastors are we to rejoice with us when we
rejoice and weep with us when we weep.
We are to rejoice with them as they rejoice and weep with them as they
weep. Love should be at the center of a
church’s relationship with its pastors.
Why? Again, Paul draws our attention to the work
of pastors. The weightiness of the work,
the importance of it for our souls, these call us to love our pastors. These men have taken on the obligation of
helping us make it safely to heaven.
They’ve taken our concerns as their own.
They are devoting their time to praying for us and to preparing messages
or Firm Foundations lessons that will edify and encourage us. If I know myself, I know that being a
shepherd to me cannot be very easy – especially since my flesh doesn’t even
want a shepherd. Therefore, any man
willing to take on this difficult task ought to have my love.
And
then, Paul adds this last thing: Be at
peace among yourselves. Do you want
to know one of the most important ways that we can bless our pastors, honor
them and show them love? It is by being
at peace with one another. When church
members are divided, striving against one another, doing one another harm, it
makes a pastor’s work to be a terrible burden.
It tempts a pastor to be devoid of joy in his work, and instead to be
plagued by sadness and anxiety for the sheep under his care. And so, Paul calls us to bless our pastors by
being at peace with one another. So all
of this is an example
Fourth, we
should treat the office of pastor with respect by submitting ourselves to our
pastors. Look with me at 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.”
Imagine two shepherds, each
caring for a flock of sheep. One flock
of sheep is very submissive to its shepherd.
The sheep come when he calls, go where he leads, enter into the
sheepfold when it is time to rest at the end of the day. That shepherd is happy, singing with joy as
he leads these faithful sheep. The other
flock refuses to come when its shepherd calls.
He tries to lead them, but they won’t follow. The sheep constantly bite and attack one
another. At the end of the day, the
shepherd is running this way and that, frantically trying to gather all the
sheep into the sheepfold. This shepherd
is unhappy, frustrated, stressed. My
question is this: which sheep are likely to be best served? Which sheep are likely to have the most
benefits, be the healthiest and happiest?
How do we submit to our
pastors? First, realizing that pastors
are first and foremost men of the Word, we must come to be fed. Don’t be like sheep on a hunger strike. Pastors spend hours and hours in prayer,
study, preparation to care for you through preaching and teaching. Nothing discourages a pastor more than
seeking to care for sheep who won’t eat.
Come to the worship services.
Come to Sunday School classes and the Wednesday night meetings if you
are at all able to do so. Empty rooms
discourage the few who come; full rooms encourage not only the pastors but all
in the church. It’s the sign of a
healthy flock
Don’t just come, however, but
come eager to receive. Come hungry,
ready to be served. Pay attention. Take notes if it helps you. Please understand, I am well aware that
listening to a sermon often requires hard work and discipline. It’s so easy for us to get sidetracked in our
thoughts, caught up in what we need to get done in the coming week. Sundays, however, are rest days. They are days for putting those thoughts away
and feasting on God’s truth. Come ready
to feast, and feast well. Don’t come sit
at the table and then just pick at the food.
Devour it! Talk about it with
your family after the service. Discuss
it with others. Pray about what you have
heard. Meditate on it. Trust me, this makes pastors joyful!
Of course, what makes pastors
most joyful of all is when they see real change occurring in the lives of the
people they serve. When Christians
actually believe and obey what they are being shown in the Word of God –
nothing makes a true pastor happier.
Godly pastors do not exist to preach their own ideas – they love the
Word of God and long to see others conform to it. When Christians live obediently, putting into
practice what they are hearing – there is just nothing sweeter than that.
Fifth, we should
treat the office of pastor with respect by caring for the needs of our pastors. Turn with me again to First Timothy
5:17-18: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor,
especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle
an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and ‘the laborer deserves his wages’”.
Paul uses the phrase “double
honor” here. All pastors are worthy of
honor because of the office they hold.
There is a kind of honor and respect that is to be shown to all pastors,
even those who are not fulfilling the office well, because of the nobility of
their office. We often here people speak
of public offices this way. We should
honor the president because he is the
president, even if we disagree with his policies and the decision is
making. There is a base honor that all
pastors are to receive.
But certain pastors are to be
given double honor – honor not only for the nobility of their office, but for
the way they are fulfilling that office.
Those who rule well – they lead and oversee the church well – these are
to be worthy of this honor. What’s more,
Paul particularly singles out those who labor at preaching and teaching. When a pastor takes the Word of God
seriously, and gives his all into preaching and teaching well, serving up truly
nourishing and sumptuous feasts to God’s people – that pastor is to be worthy
of this double honor.
There are lots of ways that
we can show honor to those who lead us.
In verse 18, however, we see that the kind of honor Paul has
particularly in mind is the kind that shows itself in the practical care of
pastors. He quotes Deuteronomy 25:4,
which told Israel that they were not to muzzle the mouth of an ox when the ox
is treading the grain. Oxen eat grain,
and it would not be right to make the ox work in and among the grain and yet
not be allowed to eat of it. The ox’s
work among the grain will serve the family; the family ought to make sure the
ox is well-served as well. The other
verse Paul quotes actually seems to be a statement of Jesus when He was sending
the 72 followers out to preach the gospel.
Jesus told them that as they went from city to city, preaching the
gospel, it was right for them to be welcomed into homes and to receive the food
and hospitality of the people they were serving. They were not to feel guilty for doing this;
it was right for these folks who were being served by the disciples to have an
opportunity to care for them. In fact,
if they came to a town where the people would not receive them, they were to
shake the dust off their feet and move on to the next town. Jesus said that those towns that would not
take them in would fare worse on the day of judgment than Sodom and Gomorrah.
So the laborer deserves his
wages, and it is a very poor testimony when churches fail to meet the needs of
their pastors. As we look forward to
bringing on a lay-pastor, the circumstances will be different than in caring for a "full-time" pastor. A lay-pastor is typically
supported at least in part by other work.
In many cases, a lay-pastor already has a full-time job
that supports him and his family. But
that doesn’t mean that a church has no obligation to that man. Churches should always keep close tabs on the
financial and material needs of their pastors, and be quick to jump in when
there is a need.
Sixth, we should
treat the office of pastor with respect by praying daily for our pastors. Pastors bear a huge responsibility. Not only are they responsible for the
continual study of God’s Word, the preparing of messages, preaching and
teaching from the pulpit. They are also
responsible for providing counsel to those who are hurting and struggling. Pastors bear the weight of not only the
concerns of their own families, but the concerns of many, many others that are
brought to their attention. Pastors are
given the sacred duty of helping prepare Christ’s Bride for the great Wedding
Day. If we really understand the gravity
of the pastoral office, we will pray often for our pastors. If we understand the role they are to play in
our spiritual growth, and the danger we are in if they do their job poorly, we
will pray! When we remember that our
pastors are just men, with limited gifts, limited understanding, limited
strength, and their own sins and foibles – we will pray!
Seventh, we
should treat the office of pastor with respect in the way we fire pastors. There are two points to be made here. The first is made in 1st Timothy
5:19: “Do not admit a charge against an
elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.” The point is that we should exercise caution
when we hear bad reports about our pastors, and not believe every accusation we
hear. Pastors are particularly
vulnerable to slanderous attacks simply because they are public figures. We are to be charitable to all people, and we
should never assume the worst, but rather, presume the best until the worst has
been proven to us. Be that way towards
one another, not just pastors. Don’t be
quick to assume the worst about each other, but in Christian love hope the best.
The second point is made in
the following verse: “As for those who
persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand
in fear.” The point is that when a
pastor does continue in sin, it is not to be taken lightly. The pastor needs to be dealt with in a way
that lets the whole church know that sin is dangerous and deadly. Pastors who abuse their office by living in
sin and refusing to repent are disqualified by 1st Timothy 3:1-7 and
should be removed from their positions (and in most cases the membership of the
church. cf. Matthew 18:10-20) The dignity
of the pastoral office means that when a pastor has dishonored that office, he
should be disciplined in such a way that shows to everyone the high honor of
that office.
Now, what does all this have
to do with Jesus? Pastors are simply
instruments in the hands of Christ whereby Jesus washes His Bride and prepares
her for Himself. So ultimately pastors
should be for us arrows pointing to Christ.
If pastor is faithful and serves us well, we should see this as an
expression of Jesus’ love for us – it is Jesus who by His Spirit is working
through that pastor to bless you. So let
us love our Savior, and praise Him, for being so good to us.
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