“HOW DOES GOD WANT YOU TO RESPOND TO

YOUR LOCAL CHURCH LEADERS?”  Pt. 1

(The Church – God’s Masterpiece)

by Dennis Rokser

 

 

 

The fictitious story is told that one day the Prime Minister of Israel sat down with Yasser Arafat to begin negotiations to resolve the Middle East crisis.

 

The Israelis Prime Minister requested that he be allowed to begin with a story.  Arafat replied, “Of course.”

 

The Prime Minister began his story: “Years before the Israelites came to the Promised Land and settled here, Moses led them for 40 years through the desert.  The Israelites began complaining that they were thirsty and, and lo and behold, a miracle occurred and a stream appeared before them.  They drank their fill and then decided to take advantage of the stream to do some bathing — including Moses.  When Moses came out of the water, he found that all his clothing was missing.

 

“Who took my clothes?”  Moses asked those around him.

 

“It was the Palestinians,” replied the Israelites.

 

“Wait a minute,” objected Arafat immediately, “there were no Palestinians during the time of Moses!”

 

“All right,” replied the Prime Minister, “Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s begin our negotiations.”

 

As our avid readers know, we have spent a number of recent articles in the Grace Family Journal searching the Scriptures together regarding the pastoral responsibilities of spiritual leadership in the local church.  We observed that to “feed (shepherd) the flock of God” (1 Peter 5:2) included the following:

 

A.    Shepherding God’s flock involves PROVISION… as a pastor is to feed the flock of God the very Word of God.

 

B.     Shepherding God’s flock involves PROTECTION… as a pastor must carefully guard and watch over the flock of God for those dangerous predators that would harm them spiritually.

 

C.     Shepherding God’s flock involves PRAYER… as a pastor needs to engage in a ministry of intercessory prayer for people’s needs.

 

D.    Shepherding God’s flock involves PERSONAL EXAMPLE… as a pastor must personally model the biblical truths he publicly teaches.

 

E.      Shepherding God’s flock involves PASTORAL CARE… as a pastor must be involved in personal contact in addressing people’s needs.

 

F.      Shepherding God’s flock involves PRESIDING… as a pastor must exercise oversight and leadership as it relates to the needs, ministries, and direction of the church.

 

Having highlighted these high and holy responsibilities, we followed by underscoring some essential truths concerning the biblical manner in which shepherding God’s sheep is to be done.

 

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.  (1 Peter 5:2-3)

 

We ended our last article by considering the future reward for faithful elders in the church,

 

And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.  (1 Peter 5:4)

 

Echoing the words of the Israelites’ Prime Minister, “Now that we have got that settled, let’s begin observing…

 

 

“HOW DOES GOD WANT YOU TO RESPOND TO YOUR LOCAL CHURCH LEADERS?”

 

This question, however, assumes two important realities:

 

·         That you are a believer in Jesus Christ and have been saved by God’s grace.  These truths are only applied to Christians, not non-Christians.

 

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

 

·         That you belong to a bible-believing local church that has spiritual leaders.  I write this because there are too many “lone-ranger” believers today, who seldom participate in a local church and never submit to any local church leadership.

 

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

 

Many churches seek to keep the biblical standard high when it comes to the qualifications and responsibilities of their spiritual leaders, yet many also seem to keep the bar low when it comes to their own scriptural responses to these very same elders.  What does God via His Word declare regarding your responses to your spiritual leaders?

 

1.      God wants you to KNOW your local church leaders.

 

And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.  (1 Thess. 5:12)

 

Three primary observations are in order.  First of all, the word “brethren” identifies Paul’s readers as believers in Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and fully capable of fulfilling these instructions.  Secondly, the verb “beseech” (erotomen) sets forth an apostolic “appeal from a friend to a friend.”  These exhortations are not heavy handed pontifications, but intimate personal requests regarding a delicate matter in the family of God.  Thirdly, the word “you” is plural, referring to all believers of the Thessalonian church — no exceptions, including you.

 

The first responsibility set forth by the apostle of grace to this congregation is to “know” (oida) or to “recognize” (NKJV) their local church leaders.  Ironically, while pastors are often urged to know or recognize their church members, in this verse the opposite is urged.  Richard Mayhue writes,

 

“The basic idea is to cultivate an intimate relationship with knowledge that leads to proper recognition.”[1]

 

 But what does recognizing your leaders involve?

 

a.      This involves recognizing WHO are your local church leaders.

 

Do you know the names of your pastor and/or elders?  You should.  Ideally you should be getting to know your pastor(s) on some personal basis and not only publicly.

 

b.      This involves recognizing the worth of their FUNCTION and AUTHORITY.

 

The following phrases of verse 12 distinguish the spiritual roles and responsibilities of elders as they “labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.”  In a day in which there is little respect for authority, this exhortation is imperative.  And this appeal is especially needed when their ministry (“labor”), authority (“over you in the Lord”) or preaching (“admonish you”) personally touches you by way of biblical instruction or personal correction and you find yourself resisting.  Do you know who your spiritual leaders are and do you recognize and respect their scriptural function and authority?  God’s Word teaches that you need to do this.

 

 

2.      God wants you to HIGHLY VALUE your local church leaders for their work’s sake.

 

And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.  (1 Thessalonians 5:13)

 

The infinitive “to esteem” (hegeomai — to hold in high regard) coupled with the adverbial phrase “very highly” (huperekperissou — abundant to the point of being excessive) communicates the degree in which your elders are to be appreciated by you.  They are to be greatly valued and highly prized.  Warren Wiersbe writes,

 

“There is nothing wrong with honoring faithful servants of God, so long as God gets the glory.  Spiritual leadership is a great responsibility and a difficult task…. The battles and burdens are many, and sometimes the encouragements are few.”[2]

 

This honor towards your pastor is appropriate and scriptural.  Yet let me remind my fellow-pastors that Proverbs 27:2 warns us…

 

Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. (Proverbs 27:2)

 

 

HOW IS THIS TO BE DONE?

 

Yet how are your church elders to be regarded with great appreciation by you?  The answer is “in love.”  You are to love them and desire what’s best for them.  If you treasure and highly appreciate your leaders in love, will you gossip about them or malign them to others?  W.E. Vine writes,

 

“However much it may be needed, admonition (from the elders) will provoke resentment and rebellion where the heart is not submissive to the word of the Lord.  Believers, therefore, are to put themselves in thought in the place of the elders, and to think and act in the spirit of Matthew 7:12…”[3]

 

Frankly, too often spiritual leaders receive negative criticisms but seldom do they hear positive appreciation.  If you were to survey evangelical or fundamental pastors, few would feel very highly esteemed by the majority of their churches.

 

When is the last time that you wrote, called, e-mailed, or personally told your pastor(s) how you appreciate his/their ministry to you?  The longer your pastor is at your local church, the easier it is to take him for granted.  Pastoring can be a thankless job.  And though elders must do their ministry as unto the Lord, they are not bionic believers.  Being human, they appreciate hearing how God is using them in your life.  Thus, “esteem them very highly in love” mentally, and then proceed to share this with them verbally.  Don’t be like the husband who announced to his wife, “I told you I loved you when we were married, and if I change my mind, I will let you know.”

 

WHY IS THIS TO BE DONE?

 

Why should you “esteem them highly in love?”  Verse 13 answers — “for their work’s sake.”  It is not your pastor’s dynamic personality or good looks (or lack of them) that you are to highly esteem, but “for their work’s sake.”  Dear readers, faithful, day-in-and-day-out ministry for Jesus Christ to others involves Spirit–enabled “work.”  You are the beneficiary of their laboring in the Word of God; their providing administrative oversight; and their giving personal admonition (feeding and leading).  Leon Morris writes,

 

The church cannot be expected to do its work effectively if the leaders are not being loyally supported by their fellows.  It is a matter of fact that to this day we are often slow to realize that effective leadership in the church of Christ demands effective following.  If we are continually critical of those who are set over us in the Lord, small wonder that they are unable to perform the miracles that we demand of them.  If we bear in mind “because of their work,” we may be more inclined to esteem them very highly in love.[4]

 

It was personally encouraging to me for a new and growing believer to remark, “I thank God every day for you and the teaching of the Word of God here.”  These kind comments help balance the days in which your pastor thinks that a surgical lobotomy must have preceded his entering into pastoral ministry.  Hiebert adds,

 

Their attitude towards their leaders is not to be governed by personal partiality or prejudice but rather an objective evaluation of the intrinsic worth of what they are doing.[5]

 

SOME CONCLUDING ENCOURAGEMENTS

 

Dear fellow-believers, this passage is directly addressed to you!  To recognize and highly value your local church leadership in love for their work’s sake is God’s will for you.  Perhaps it is time for you to take the self–righteous beam out of your own eye before criticizing your elders for their faults and weaknesses.  And as you do, you may recognize on occasion that the perceived mote in their eyes was just the reflection of the beam in yours!  Are you allowing the Lord to fulfill in you these responses toward your spiritual leaders?  This is the place for you to start.

 

Dear fellow–pastors, if your labor of love is done for peoples’ appreciation, you may be sadly disappointed.  May the love of Christ (2 Cor. 5:14-15) and the fear of the Lord (2 Cor. 5:9-11) motivate you to shepherd God’s sheep with a great sense of privilege and responsibility before God.  Remember that your “labor is not in vain in the Lord!” (1 Cor. 15:58).

 

Dear friends, as pastors fulfill their responsibilities of faithfully feeding and leading God’s flock and as congregations recognize, respect, and hold in high regard their spiritual leaders as unto the Lord, the end of verse 13 will be the result:

 

“And be at peace among yourselves.” g