Appreciate Your Pastor

I. The blessing of a pastor 1. A pastor is a gift to the church from Jesus Christ (Eph 4:8,11). 2. As God sets members in the church as it pleases Him (1Co 12:18), so he gives ministers to the church (1Co 3:5). 3. God gives pastors after His own heart to feed His churches with knowledge and understanding (Jer 3:15). 4. God gives the church a pastor for several reasons: A. For the perfecting of the saints (Eph 4:12). i. Perfect v. - 1. a. trans. To bring to completion; to complete, finish, consummate; to carry through, accomplish. ii. This is a process which God uses ministers to accomplish (Phi 1:4-7). B. For the work of the ministry (Eph 4:12). This would include: i. Preaching the gospel. ii. Evangelism. iii. Adding people to the church by baptism. iv. Serving the ordinances. C. For the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph 4:12). i. Edify v. - 3. trans. In religious use: To build up (the church, the soul) in faith and holiness; to benefit spiritually; to strengthen, support. ii. Ministers are masterbuilders of God's house, the church (1Co 3:9-11). D. To bring the church into the unity of the faith (Eph 4:13). i. Unity n. - II. 3. The quality or condition of being one in mind, feeling, opinion, purpose, or action; harmonious combination together of the various parties or sections (of the Church, a state, etc.) into one body; concord or harmony amongst several persons or between two or more. ii. The pastor facilitates unity in the church by preaching the truth uncompromisingly and exhorting the brethren to all be of the same mind (1Co 1:10). E. To bring the members to full maturity, to the measure of the stature of Christ (Eph 4:13). i. The job and ultimate goal of a pastor is to bring the members of the body of Christ to the maturity of Christ in every way (Eph 4:15). ii. This will never be fully realized in any child of God in this life. iii. Different members will mature at different rates and some will stay stagnant, which is burden on a pastor's heart. F. To keep the church from being deceived by false teachers and doctrine (Eph 4:14). G. To keep the church tightly joined together so all the member of the body function optimally together (Eph 4:16). II. The need to love and respect your pastor 1. Your pastor has been given the rule over you by God (Heb 13:7). A. You should therefore follow his faith (Heb 13:7). B. You should submit yourselves to him Heb 13:17). C. He watches for your souls and gives an account of you to God. D. Make his job easier by behaving yourselves so that he can do it with joy and not with grief. E. He rules well and labors in the word and doctrine and should therefore receive double honour (1Ti 5:17). i. He is worthy of his reward (1Ti 5:18). ii. Are you muzzling your ox? 2. You should know your pastor (1Th 5:12). A. If you don't know your pastor, you're wrong. B. Get to know him. 3. He ought to be esteemed very highly in love for his works' sake (1Th 5:13). A. Esteem v. - 1. trans. To estimate the value of, assign (a value) to; to value, assess, appraise. Const. at. In later use only fig., to assign the degree of merit of B. Very adv. - In a high degree or measure; to a great extent; exceedingly, extremely, greatly. C. Highly adv. - 3. a. In or to a high degree, amount, extent, or condition; greatly, intensely, extremely, very, much. With such verbs as commend, esteem, extol, honour, praise, value, the sense is coloured so as to run into 3b or 4b. 3b. At a high rate or price. 4b. With honour, honourably; with high approval, appreciation, or praise: now chiefly with think, speak, or the like. D. Do you esteem your pastor very highly? III. A window into your pastor's life 1. Your pastor is a member of your church (1Co 12:27). A. Therefore he is one with you in the body of Christ in faith and in the hope of your calling (Eph 4:4-6). B. He is of like precious faith with you (2Pe 1:1). C. He glorifies God with you with one mind and one mouth (Rom 15:5-6). D. He is in the trenches with you striving together for the faith of the gospel (Phi 1:27). 2. Though he is one with you in the body of Christ, he is also separated from you unto the gospel of God (Rom 1:1). A. Separated ppl. - 1. Set apart or asunder, disjoined, withdrawn, etc. B. Disjoined ppl. - Disunited, separated, parted, etc. C. Withdrawn ppl. - In various senses of the vb.; sometimes in a purely static sense, secluded; also of mental state, detached. D. Separate v. - 1. a. To put apart, set asunder (two or more persons or things, or one from another); to disunite, disconnect, make a division between. E. Withdraw v. - 1. To take back or away (something that has been given, granted, allowed, possessed, enjoyed, or experienced). 3. This separation of your pastor began many years ago before he was ordained when he through desire for God and His word separated himself to intermeddle with all wisdom (Pro 18:1). 4. Eventually the Holy Ghost separated him from the brethren for the work of the ministry to which he was called (Act 13:2). A. The Holy Ghost made him an overseer of the church (Act 20:28). B. At that time he was separated from the brethren of the church. C. Whereas before he was added to the church (Act 2:41-42), now he is withdrawn from it. D. Whereas before he had been joined unto the church when he was first converted (Act 5:13), now he is disjoined from the brethren. E. Whereas his entrance into the church was an experience of uniting and connection, his entrance into the ministry is in many ways an experience of disuniting, disconnection, and division from the brethren. F. Instead of being taught with the rest, he now teaches them. G. Instead of sitting next to the brethren and being overseen by the pastor, he now stands in front of them and oversees them (1Pe 5:2; Act 20:28). H. Instead of following the faith of the pastor (Heb 13:7) along with the brethren, he now becomes the example that the believers are supposed to follow (1Ti 4:12; 1Pe 5:3; Tit 2:7). 5. He is held to a higher standard than you are. A. He has increased sorrow and grief because of his increased knowledge and wisdom (Ecc 1:18). B. More is required of him because more is given unto him (Luk 12:48). C. He will therefore receive the greater condemnation (Jam 3:1). D. It takes but a little folly to destroy him (Ecc 10:1; 1Ti 3:2). E. He is that watchman on the wall who must always be vigilant (1Ti 3:2). F. He is ever watching (Heb 13:17), which renders church and church get-togethers different for him than they are for you. 6. There is a subtle, but very real, separation between a pastor and his church. He longs to once again be just one of the guys, but he knows to do so would be his demise. A. "The king who is not a lonely man is a fool." - Pastor Conrad Jarrell B. His job is very lonely, even if he has a lot of interaction with people. C. It's lonely at the top. IV. What should you do for your pastor? 1. Pray for him (1Th 5:25; 2Th 3:1). A. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (Jam 5:16). B. Your prayer can turn to his salvation (Phi 1:19). 2. Study your Bible in order to live a better Christian life which will make his job easier. 3. Don't make stupid decisions so that he has to go to God for you with grief (Heb 13:17). 4. Encourage and support him. 5. Love him in deed not just in word (1Jo 3:18).