As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
When I’m having a get-acquainted conversation with someone new, it’s common for them to ask what I do. “I’m a Baptist pastor,” I reply. They will usually ask the name and location of my church. Then comes the big one, “And how long have you been there?”
“Our members are not my sheep. They are God’s. The church is not my flock. It is God’s.” - 9 Marks
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We began this series in Hebrews 13, and we return there for this next step. Hebrews 13.17 reads,
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.
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Earlier in the same epistle that tells us to respect our pastor, Paul writes,
For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe (1Th 2.13).
“Pastors and church leaders experience anxiety for a variety of reasons. Unsurprisingly, almost two out of three pastors report stress in ministry. Usually, it is the compounding of multiple stress points rather than one singular item that creates anxiety.” - Sam Rainer
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In one of Paul’s earliest epistles the Bible gives us a second way to care for our pastor:
But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, 13 and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. (1Th 5.12-13)
Paul identifies the object of his readers’ action as doing three things:
“While feelings of loneliness and isolation have increased over the better part of a decade, pastors’ feelings of support from those around them have decreased.” - Barna
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I’m going to structure this series around several passages that tell churches how they ought to treat their pastors. I’d like to start with a passage at the end of Hebrews:
Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith (Heb 13.7).
We’re told to “remember” our pastor.
“Ron Wickard humbly pastored the same church out on the remote South Dakota prairie for 42 years, providing one beautiful model of what it means to ‘dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness’ (Psalm 37:3).” - Desiring God
Most Christians have been members of (or at least attended) a church long enough to go through a pastoral transition or to witness an ordination service. When they do, they’ll often hear a sermon on the pastor’s responsibility to the church. It might include a look at the qualifications for pastor as listed in 1Timothy 3 or Titus 1, and perhaps also a charge from 2Timothy 4.1-2:
Discussion