Thankful For Pastors
Jeremiah 3:15 (KJV) 15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
In the United States, many of the churches have designated October as Pastor Appreciation Month. If you have followed me for a while, you know that while I do see a need for designated holidays and recognition days, I feel like they have become a crutch and have diminished the grateful hearts of many of us. While I extremely enjoy seasons such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter, the thing that pangs my heart is the fact that they are so quickly forgotten when the season is gone. I remember one year in my youth ministry I brought up the idea of switching the holidays. Celebrating Christmas during Easter time and celebrating Easter during Christmas. When we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we should also celebrate His resurrection. When we celebrate His resurrection, we should glory in His miraculous birth and always be thankful for it. In fact, the memories and thankfulness should run in the hearts of the believers every single day! I feel the same way when it comes to Pastor Appreciation.
Every day we should be grateful for our local pastors. As Jeremiah 3:15 states in its proper translation with context, God has given us pastors. Again, the idea of thanksgiving is to give thanks to God for what He has given us. Many of us don’t realize the sacrifices that many pastors make and what they go through in life. Instead, many of them are overly criticized, ostracized, and persecuted. The sad thing is I’m not even talking about the outside world, but how the Body of Christ treats many of them. I find it heartbreaking today that many in the body exalt and praise false teachers that tickle their ears and condemn those pastors that truly care for the Body of Christ and wish nothing but to see it healthy, healed, and serving our Master, Jesus Christ.
While some pastors have given the title a bad name because of their willful disobedience, the vast majority have remained faithful to the call. Also, for those of us who have been in the pastoral field and have fallen before, sometimes the reputation we have given upon the role can be detrimental. I think that is another failing by all of us as well. We must remember that pastors are not perfect and sin just like the next person. I find it amazing that the churches are so quick to condemn a pastor when they find out about a sin that the pastor may be struggling with. Honestly, it shows the biblical illiteracy of the church. Look at our heroes of faith! Abraham lied. Not just once, but many times, including twice to the Egyptian king! Abraham and Sarah both even had the audacity to commit adultery and laugh in the face of God. Moses killed. David lied, committed adultery, murdered, and directly caused the death of his child because of his actions. Solomon partook of adulterous actions and allowed himself to be taken away by new age thinking. Peter himself, in his avarice and fear denied the Lord, not just once, but three times when Jesus needed him most. What’s the difference? The difference is today because even though those men did those things, we see in the Scriptures their repentant hearts, the consequences, and their return to the Lord. The sad thing is when it comes to fallen pastors today, the church is not willing to look for those such things in the fallen. We turn a blind eye to the awesome redemptive work that God does in their lives, and many times, even strengthens these pastors' understanding and heart so they can lead His Church in greater wisdom. Instead, they are branded as forever reprobate and many can never grace the pulpit again, unfairly.
In today’s modern world with the struggle of COVID-19, many pastors have been placed in between a rock and a hard place. Pastors have to take the tough call as shepherds of God’s people. Should they allow the mass congregation of His people and the possible spread of the disease or continue on in live worship? It’s a tough call to make. Instead of condemning a pastor on this call, because I guarantee, there is not a winning position based on either call they make, why don’t you place yourself in their shoes. The pastor has to wisely care for his people. The priests of Israel had to make the same call. Our God is a healing God, yes, and He will be faithful and heal His people when He does, but the priests of Israel did not allow the lepers to run rampant among the camps. God loved lepers and still ministered to them, but the reality of the disease was still a reality. It’s hard, it’s a struggle. Let me ask you this as well my friend. A pastoral calling is a high calling that will actually be held under higher accountability. James 3:1 says,
3 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
With that being said, I’m going to be very rough to those with a condemning heart towards a pastor. Who gave you the right to be the judge when you yourself have not received such a calling? If you have received that calling, then shame on you if you have willfully disobeyed God and have not followed in His obedience to His call. Maybe you should heed the words of Matthew 7 and remove the plank from your own eye instead of causing disarray and disruption within the body of Christ.
Let me give you a list of what pastors do that we may have quickly forgotten about.
Most pastors could be making more money doing something else, but they choose to serve the church instead.
Pastors will do almost anything to help you.
Pastors want nothing more than to help you grow in your relationship with Christ.
Pastors are almost always on call, and sacrifice a lot of their “free time” to help people.
Pastors faithfully study Scripture so they can teach you what they learn.
Pastors continually remind you of the Gospel, which we can so quickly forget.
Pastors face a level of spiritual warfare that most will never understand.
Pastors put up with all of your junk, listen to your problems, and love you anyway.
Pastors love people who are hard to love (and you might be one of them).
Pastors do the dirty work you may never see—things like cleaning toilets, changing light bulbs, stacking chairs, scrubbing the baptistry, vacuuming the carpet, or mowing the lawn.
Pastors pray for you.
Pastors help point your family and friends to Jesus.
Pastors perform weddings. A pastor likely either did or will do yours.
Pastors perform funerals. One day, a pastor will probably do yours.
Pastors baptize people. One may have baptized you.
Pastors work hard to build the community in the church that you enjoy being part of.
Pastors visit people in the hospital.
Pastors generously give their money, time, and energy to help people in countries around the world.
Pastors make the unpopular decisions that it often takes to move a stubborn church forward.
Pastors help your faith, relationships, finances, and more by teaching you Biblical principles.
Pastors lead people to Christ. One probably was influential in leading you to Christ.
Pastors answer your calls, emails, and texts even after their office hours are over.
Pastors serve orphans, widows, the homeless, and the poor.
Pastors write books, articles, emails, and blog posts that have probably impacted your life.
Pastors do it all for the Glory of God.
Pastors coordinate community service projects and events.
Pastors organize small groups.
Pastors run children, students, men, women, recovery, counseling, and many other incredible ministries.
Pastors push you out of your comfort zone to be all that God created you to be.
Pastors welcome you back to church no matter how long you have been away.
Pastors work hard to remember everyone’s name, face, and story—even in large churches.
Pastors will celebrate your wins.
Pastors will help you in your failures.
Pastors don’t just tell you what they think; they open the Bible to show you what God thinks.
Pastors remain faithful to God’s Word, no matter how unpopular these beliefs may be.
Pastors will do their best to answer any of your questions.
Pastors often move away from their friends, family, and hometown to serve people they have never met in places they have only visited briefly.
Pastors often think about quitting because the job is too demanding, but find the courage to persevere.
Pastors continue to believe in people even when everyone else has given up on them. You may have been one of them.
Pastors do not work to make much of themselves but to make much of Jesus.
So, my friends, on this Lord’s Day, let us be thankful for our pastors. If you attend today, tell them how thankful you are. If you had any of those feelings that I mentioned above that are in angst against a pastor, search the Lord in prayer to see if those feelings are truly justified or if you should repent and begin supporting this man called by God. I love you in Christ!
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