After the Israelites left Egypt and were wandering in the wilderness, God gave instructions for the construction and use of the Tabernacle. Aaron’s family were put in charge of the sanctuary and its activities. God told Aaron, “And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting” (Numbers 18:5).
Although pastors aren’t exactly analogous to the priests and Levites of the Old Testament, they are still God’s gift to His Church.
“And I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15).
“And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12).
“Every good gift and perfect and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).
The question is, do we recognize that pastors are a gift from a gracious God, and do we treat them as such? They aren’t perfect, but neither are we. Like any good gift, we ought to take care of them to the best of our ability. I know of pastors who’ve been worn down by petty bickering in their churches. Others struggle to make ends meet because church members don’t give regularly, much less tithe. Many pastors feel like they are alone in ministry and have no one they can talk to.
But many churches love their pastors well. They pray for them, encourage them, support them through their regular attendance and financial giving, and make sure they have the people and tools they need to lead the church well.
The author of Hebrews wrote, “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” (Heb. 13:17). We all have days of groaning, but I don’t think any of us want to be the cause of groaning for the people we love. If we contribute to the joy of our pastors, they multiply our joy as well.
As I was writing this I did a quick internet search and stumbled across an article that said “Your pastor is not your friend.” I understand that there are limits to what a pastor can share with an individual church member, but my gut reaction was “How sad!” I would not want to attend a church where I knew the pastor would never be a friend, and I can’t imagine anyone wanting to be a pastor if he had to keep himself distant from everyone. Jesus told His disciples, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). God-incarnate called men His friends!
The modern world has an anemic view of friendship anyway. The Apostle Paul told Timothy, “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity” (1 Tim. 5:1). We in the church should be closer than friends, because we are siblings in the family of God.
The pastor is not the CEO of a corporation, nor a hired servant, but a brother in Christ. “And this commandment we have from [God]: whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21). All the “one another” commands of Scripture apply just as much to our spiritual siblings who are pastors as to anyone else. We are to love them, honor them, pray for them, encourage them, live in harmony with them, be kind to them, forgive them, serve them, show hospitality to them, and spur them on to love and good deeds.
Let’s not wait for Pastor Appreciation month to do so!
“For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you” (Philemon 1:7).
© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.
