Support pastors . . .

Scandals involving moral issues with television preachers seem to have faded from the headlines, yet the dangers and temptations for pastors remain a threat. Those who lead large churches have opportunity to be side-tracked by a desire for greater power or financial success. Others may struggle with relationship issues. Since their task is difficult, burn-out can happen and the weakness of it can mean vulnerability in many areas.

Paul was aware of this when he wrote Timothy, a younger pastor. He was also aware of sinful tendencies in congregations and the fact that those same things can also tempt ordinary Christian people. He wrote:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1–5)

Pastors must focus on their task of proclaiming the Word of God, always ready to convict listeners of sin using forceful warnings if necessary, encouraging them to walk with Christ. They must patiently endure all sorts of resistance (including weekly emails of complaint about minor issues) as they teach God’s truth with focused faithfulness.

Paul warned about a time when people would opposes sound teaching. It started back then and is certainly an issue these days. Why do we have “name it and claim it” and other doctrines that appeal to human comfort and prosperity to the neglect of the Gospel? It is because this is what many people want to hear. They want a God who will make them healthy, wealthy and comfortable, not a God who uses suffering to build character, gives contentment even in poverty, and bids us go and tell the world of sin, righteousness and judgment and that they need salvation. Yes, the Gospel is good news, but not to those who have no desire to change or submit their lives to an unseen God.

In our many years of moving around and attending different churches, we have not experienced those who have totally gone off the rails. Most of them still use the Bible and still talk about sin and salvation. However, the itching ears are evident. People in the pews want pastors who make them feel good about themselves, not those who convict them of sin and their need for Jesus.

This puts pressure on church leaders. They are to be free from ordinary desires that would draw them away from their primary focus. They must endure the pain of being unpopular with many and stick to the work of telling others about sin and salvation. They must fully accomplish the role God has given them — not an easy task.

How do I apply this? Pray for pastors. Ask God to protect them from temptation. Pray for grace to do their work with joy, enthusiasm, and faithful dedication. Tell them how their messages are blessing my life and helping me in my walk with Christ. Tell others the same thing, particularly those prone to having ‘roast preacher’ for Sunday dinner. And be thankful to God for their faith and the perseverance He gives.

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Lord, there are a host of reasons to support my pastors. There are also a host of temptations that endanger them and therefore entire congregations and Your work in our communities. Bless me with wisdom and with a supportive and encouraging attitude. Criticism is cheap and easy to come by. Words of support and thankfulness go a long way. Keep me alert and part of the solution, never on the destructive side of a pastor’s struggle.

Today’s thankful list . . .

A rich time of prayer with others.

Shopping success for two great grand kids who love drawing and cats.

Safety driving in scary traffic.

Fixing my google account without having to change my password again.

My hubby is healing.

An incredible fall day, warm, sunny and lots of green still in the trees.

Wolves in the church

In our many moves, we have attended many churches of all sizes. Some were small and struggling. Others were healthy and growing rapidly. In my observations and experience, it seems that the biggest blessings are for those leaders and congregations that are concerned with God’s glory. Personal desires and ambitions have no place and because of that, the churches whose focus is on Jesus Christ are blessed, united and strong. 

However, the Apostle Paul knew that strong churches would become targets. Our spiritual enemy will attack, using whatever will work to divide its members and crumble its foundations. The church at Ephesus was a strong church. When he met with their leaders, Paul warned them…

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:28–30)

Here, “fierce wolves” seems to apply to those who teach false doctrine in an effort to draw people from the truth. These wolves want to build their own kingdom and will try to split the church toward that end. However, pastors must be watchful against all that tends to injure and corrupt a congregation. If false teachers and other factions come in, the elders of the church must put them right or put them out. Yet, this is a task for which they receive little training. 

Most courses offered by seminaries for a Master of Divinity degree do not offer instruction in how to deal with those who try to split or corrupt a congregation. There are a few online sermons that explain how to spot wolves and deal with them, but I get the impression that those preachers learned this from experience rather than advance preparation.

This problem actually requires more than one person. Church leadership at its best is in a congregation with a plurality of elders. In fact, the word for Christian elders in the New Testament is almost always plural. These days when individualism, authoritarianism or even economic necessity make the pastoral role a “one-man show,” churches still must promote teamwork in their leadership. 

However, that leadership must be God-given. Paul said, “The Holy Spirit has made you overseers.” The Lord motivates and gifts men to be leaders. Their job is to be caring, pastoral and corrective. They are to watch their own selves even as they protect and feed the people of God. Their role also includes admonition of those who stray, which presupposes resistance and even opposition. I’ve never envied the duties of a pastor!

As one preacher says, this leadership will be serious, conscientious and intensely personal. After all, this is the church of God, bought with the blood of Christ. It does not belong to the pastor, or the elders, or the congregation. 

Not only that, even with today’s emphasis on spiritual gifts and special roles, such as administrator, educator, counselor, church-growth strategist, and so on, the Bible puts greater emphasis on shepherding, tending, feeding, and protecting the people of God. We are like sheep and we need good shepherds.

Wolves are not interested in caring for the sheep. They want a following. They want power. They want to be in authority and have the strongest voice in all decisions. They are more interested in feeding and protecting themselves. In every church we have attended, there are a few who may faithfully attend, but constantly gripe about leadership and authority. They are not interested in unity or in promoting peace and spiritual growth. If the pastor knows how to deal with these, they tend to move on, looking for easier prey in another congregation. If not, the pastor will eventually be brought down and the congregation will fall with him. 

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Lord, nothing is more distressing than observing a church divided against itself, particularly when this division is fueled by wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing. As You said to the disciples, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15) and “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

Most of the time regarding these matters, I feel about as wise as an oblivious dove. I struggle with objectivity and clarity regarding those who do these wolf-like things. Are they dangerous? or merely disgruntled? Yet either way, You say to pay careful attention to myself. I am not an elder but can certainly pray for and support those who lead Your church with integrity and in the desire to glorify You.

Support your pastor

Pastors can struggle in ways that their congregations may not realize. In our travels, we’ve found ourselves in several churches. For some reason, perhaps because the pastoral staff knew we would not be there long, we found ourselves taken into their confidence and sought out for encouragement and advice.

Today’s devotional reflects that leaders are targets. The pastor who wrote it finds it painful that Paul endured opposition. He even said, “At my first defense (speaking of his first trial in Rome) no one stood with me, but all forsook me” (2 Timothy 4:16). This happened to Paul, a godly man who was being obedient to God!

On another occasion, Paul wrote to the Philippians and said of Timothy, “I have no one like-minded . . .”  (Philippians 2:20). He felt there was just one person at that time that he could depend on. This is scary for the average person, even worse for someone in leadership.

Despite this sense of being alone, Paul was a positive thinker. He could see the hand of God in even the worst situations. Just before writing that only Timothy shared his mind on things, he wrote about his imprisonment:

But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:12-18)

It was not Paul’ personality or anything about him that made him a target; it was his goal. All the unseen spiritual forces of evil are against the preaching of the gospel. The wickedness in this world opposes the message that will deliver people from sin and from the clutches of the evil one. No Christian leader is exempt from this opposition. No Christian layperson is either.

I’ve experienced some of this negativity during the past couple of days. God gave me the opportunity to share Christ with a person that I’ve known since my teens. She is of the opinion that she is a Christian, yet she does not know forgiveness, or have the assurance of eternal life. She is totally in the dark about redemption and grace. To her, Christianity is a “nice” kind of life in which she protects herself from unpleasantness, including the avoidance of any discussion about sin and repentance.

This time she asked me if I had any memorized prayers I could share with her. I told her that my prayer life was not like that, but more of an intimate conversation with a dear Friend. I shared how Jesus came into my life and changed me. I used a couple verses from the Bible, but my desire was not to “preach” but to share with her how the Lord saved me.

This was the second or third time I’ve shared with her. Both times it went right over her head. I’m reminded that Jesus said for some, when the seed of the Word is sown, the devil comes and snatches it away. The spiritual enemy has her happily living in her weeds and thinking they are sweet flowers, and he wants to keep things that way.

But he also doesn’t want me to talk about Jesus. I felt like he was hitting me again and again with sad, deflated, and hopeless kinds of thoughts, stuff I would not otherwise be thinking. This comes with a sense of spiritual oppression is like a black cloud and heavy.

All this supports the valid point of my devotional reading. If I get that sort of stuff thrown at me for sharing Christ, what happens to Christian pastors and leaders who are expected to do it all the time? Far too many Christians have “roast pastor” for Sunday dinner and have no idea how spiritual forces make their lives a battlefield. All of us ought to be on our knees praying for our pastors and others in leadership ministries.