“HOW DOES GOD WANT YOU TO RESPOND TO YOUR
(The Church — God’s Masterpiece)
by Dennis Rokser
Let me invite you to answer this short quiz from Andersen Consulting,
as it will help you understand your thinking style better. The questions are not difficult.
Questions:
OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly you
can surely answer this one.
Answers:
Question #1: Correct
Answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. This
question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated
way.
Question #2: Wrong
Answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator.
Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe,
put in the elephant and close the door.
This tests your ability to think through
the repercussions of your actions.
Question #3: Correct Answer: The Elephant. The Elephant is in the refrigerator! This tests your memory.
Question #4: Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting! This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.
According to Andersen Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals they tested got all the questions wrong. Yet many preschoolers got several correct answers. Andersen Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of four-year olds.
I am so grateful as a believer in Christ, a student of the Scriptures, and a shepherd of Christ’s flock, that God spells out in a simple and straight-forward fashion not only my pastoral responsibilities to Duluth Bible Church, but how believers who comprise our congregation are to respond to our spiritual leaders (elders). Thus far we have derived from our study of the Scriptures that…
1.
God wants you
to KNOW your local church leaders. (1 Thessalonians 5:12)
2.
God wants you
to HIGHLY VALUE your local church leaders for their work’s sake.
(1 Thessalonians 5:13)
3.
God
wants you to LISTEN to the BIBLICAL PREACHING and IMITATE THE FAITH of your
local church leaders as they point you to the Lord Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 13:7-9)
4.
God
wants you to OBEY the biblical teaching and SUBMIT to the practical decisions
of your local church leaders. (Hebrews
13:17)
In this article, let’s further address this matter by considering how…
5.
God
wants you to PRAY for and GREET your local church leaders. (Heb. 13:18, 24)
Pray for us; for we are
confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live
honorably. (Hebrews 13:18)
It is worthy to note that the specific directive of verse 18
falls on the heels of the exhortation of verse 17, which instructs believers to
“obey” the teaching and “submit” to the practical decisions of
their spiritual leaders who “watch out for your souls, as those who must
give account.” Shepherding God’s
flock is an awesome responsibility with serious account-ability to Jesus Christ
as Head of the Church. This underscores
the necessity (imperative mood) of repeated and regular prayer (present tense)
for your spiritual leaders (literally, keep praying for us!). As one of the church fathers once remarked:
“the church is a lot like Noah’s ark.
If it weren’t for the judgment on the outside, you could never stand the
smell on the inside.”
Your elder(s) need(s) your earnest and effective prayers for
a multitude of scriptural reasons.
ü
Spiritual leaders are specifically
targeted in the angelic conflict.
Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may
be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10-12)
As an early church leader, the
apostle Paul knew the truth of this firsthand while experiencing the sufficient
grace of God.
And lest
I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn
in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I
be exalted above measure. Concerning
this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from
me. And He said to me, "My
grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. (2
Corinthians 12:7-9)
Satan knows the
Old Testament axiom, “like people, like priest” (Hosea 4:9), for as the
spiritual leadership goes, so goes the church.
Thus, every Bible-teaching pastor, teacher, evangelist, or missionary
has an invisible target of bright red paint tattooed upon his back by Satan and
his demons. For if Satan can allure the
flesh of a spiritual leader to fall either doctrinally or morally, it will have
devastating and destructive effects upon the spiritual growth and service of
that local church, coupled with their loss of testimony toward the lost.
There is a fable that Satan's emissaries were trying
to tempt a holy man who lived in the Libyan desert. Try as they might, the demons could not get the man to sin. The
seductions of the flesh and the onslaught of doubts and fears left him unmoved.
Angered by their failure, Satan stepped forward. "Your methods are too
crude," he said. "Just
watch." He whispered in the holy
man's ear, "Your brother has just been made Bishop of Alexandria.” Instantly a malignant scowl clouded the holy
man's face. "Envy," Satan said to his cohorts, "is our final
weapon for those who seek holiness.”[1]
Keep
on praying for your spiritual leaders!
ü
Spiritual leaders must guard against bitterness when unjustly
criticized.
Looking
carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of
bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled. (Hebrews 12:15)
While this can be a serious problem for any
believer, this is magnified when an elder allows a “root of bitterness”
to spring up. It might be due to the
agonies of an unappreciative and even abusive congregation; or the latest rumor
about him which is circulating through the church’s “grace-vine;” or the unjust
criticisms and slander by a person who failed to respond to biblical
correction. Unless this bitterness is
confessed and forsaken (Proverbs 28:13), the pastor’s position and/or tongue
can become an instrument of the sin nature (Romans 6:12-13a) in which his
personal bitterness not only causes him “trouble,” but also many others
“become defiled.” You need to
pray for your spiritual leaders!
ü
Spiritual leaders are responsible
for feeding God’s flock sound doctrine.
Preach
the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince,
rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching
ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned
aside to fables. (2 Timothy
4:2-4)
Some wise sage once remarked, “unhealthy sheep don’t
reproduce well.” The primary
responsibility of the pastor is to “preach the Word” in such a way that
spiritual health and growth result from God’s people hearing what they need,
not necessarily what they want.
However, expository preaching that is clear, accurate, and practical
involves Spirit-led study and preparation.
And whether it’s carefully studying the Scriptures, agonizing over
appropriate applications, or dealing with distractions for message preparation,
your spiritual leaders need your prayers.
ü
Spiritual leaders need divine
wisdom in the decisions and trials they face.
If any
of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who
gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no
doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the
wind. (James 1:5-6a)
The context of
James 1:1-12 involves responding correctly to trials, and every pastor is
weekly acquainted with many of them.
These trials may take the shape of a couple seeking an unbiblical
divorce, the crunch of financial budget demands, ministry to parents who are
experiencing heartache over a prodigal son, a family who is dealing with the
death of a loved one, a disagreeable board member, a man plagued by the problem
of pornography, etc. How your leaders
need divine direction and wisdom in knowing God’s will in the myriad of matters
they confront! They also need wise and
skillful application of biblical precepts or principles in the decisions they
must make. In fact, sometimes a string
of “small” decisions may actually have greater ramifications than a “big”
decision that is made. Are you getting
the picture yet? You need to regularly
pray for your spiritual leaders.
ü
Spiritual leaders need doctrinal
discernment to protect God’s flock from false teachers and spiritual predators.
Therefore
take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His
own blood. For I know this, that after
my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the
flock. Also from among yourselves men
will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after
themselves. Therefore watch,
and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night
and day with tears. (Acts 20:28-31)
Too many Christians are like
spiritual tumbleweed, blown “to and fro by every wind of doctrine.” Others cannot discern the difference between
green grass and Astroturf. And whatever
is on the top 10 best-selling book list in the local Christian bookstore that
is “purpose-driven” is certainly true to the Word of God. Right?
Wrong! Thus, spiritual leaders
need vigilance and discernment in order to “watch” and “warn” God’s flock of doctrinal steak laced with
arsenic. This obviously would be
spiritually harmful if swallowed and digested.
So you need to pray for your spiritual leaders.
ü
Spiritual leaders need God’s
grace, coupled with humility and insight, in addressing “problem people” and/or
ensnared believers in the church.
Consider the range of “problem people” the first church
leaders had to address.
It is actually reported that there
is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named
among the Gentiles – that a man has his father's wife!
(1 Corinthians 5:1)
Therefore
when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper
ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and
drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing?
What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. (1 Corinthians 11:20-22)
For we
hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working
at all, but are busybodies. (2 Thessalonians 3:11)
Now
Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take
with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone
with them to the work. (Acts
15:37-38)
For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica. (2 Timothy 4:10a)
Alexander
the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his
works. (2 Timothy 4:14)
But shun
profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer.
Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth,
saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of
some. (2 Timothy
2:16-18)
ü
Spiritual leaders need Spirit-prompted
courage, along with personal encouragement, to stay the course in being
faithful to God’s Word in a day of tremendous pressure to compromise for the
sake of ecumenical acceptance, worldly prestige, and pseudo-church growth.
Therefore,
since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of
shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but
by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God. (2
Corinthians 4:1-2)
Pastor Steven J. Lawson writes,
As the Church advances into the
twenty-first century, the stress to produce booming ministries has never been
greater. Influenced by corporate mergers, towering skyscrapers, and expanding
economies, bigger is perceived as better, and nowhere is this "Wall
Street" mentality more evident than in the church. Sad to say, pressure to
produce bottomline results has led many ministries to sacrifice the centrality
of biblical preaching on the altar of man-centered pragmatism.
A new way of "doing"
church is emerging. In this radical paradigm shift, exposition is being
replaced with entertainment, preaching with performances, doctrine with drama,
and theology with theatrics. The pulpit, once the focal point of the church, is
now being overshadowed by a variety of church-growth techniques, everything
from trendy worship styles to glitzy presentations to vaudeville-like
pageantries. In seeking to capture the upperhand in church growth, a new wave
of pastors is reinventing church and repackaging the gospel into a product to
be sold to "consumers."
Whatever reportedly works in one
church is being franchised out to various "markets" abroad. As when
gold was discovered in the foothills of California, so ministers are beating a
path to the doorsteps of exploding churches and super-hyped conferences where
the latest "strike" has been reported. Unfortunately the newly panned
gold often turns out to be "fool's gold." Not all that glitters is
actually gold.[2]
Believers, keep on
praying for your spiritual leaders!
ü
Spiritual leaders need balance in
addressing the various demands upon their life regarding their marriage, their
family, their church, etc.
The author of Hebrews 13:18 humbly assessed that he not only
needed the prayers of the saints but was worthy of them due to his pastoral
faithfulness by God’s grace. He was
persuaded of this conviction (along with his fellow-leaders)…
For we are confident that we have
a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.
(Hebrews 13:18)
It is
marvelous to have a good guilt-free conscience before God and toward men. Too many pastors have sacrificed their
families on the altar of church service or have been lazy in pastoral ministry
as they tune their golf game and forget that they are to serve…
Not with eyeservice, as
men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the
heart. (Ephesians 6:6)
Their personal confidence was rooted in their God-given
desire and objective that “in all things desiring to live honorably.”
By God’s grace this Spirit-wrought character reality had been true of these leaders in the past, and it was their request that others would pray for them that this would continue in the future.
The author thus wanted his readers
to pray that he would maintain these qualities of spiritual integrity and
leadership.[3]
Dear readers, don’t stop praying for your local church
leaders!
One pastor who knows first hand the demands and difficulties
of a shepherding ministry has written,
The
writer of Hebrews apparently was a leader in the church, or churches, to whom
he was writing, and here asks for the prayer support of those among whom he had
ministered. Every servant of Christ
needs the prayers of the believers he is called to work with. Church leaders are made of the same stuff as
those they serve. They have sins,
weaknesses, limitations, blind spots, and needs of all sorts, just as everyone else. They both need and deserve the prayers of
God's people, without which they cannot be the most effective in His work (cf.
James 3:1).
God's leaders face temptations that most
other believers do not face to the same degree, because Satan knows that, if he
can undermine the leaders, many others will go down with them. If he can get them to compromise, to weaken
their stand, to lessen their efforts, to become dejected and hopeless, he has
caused the work of Christ great damage.
Paul did not hesitate to ask for prayer. ‘Pray on my behalf, that utterance may be
given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery
of the gospel’ (Eph. 6:19). How much more do God's ordinary ministers need the
prayer of their people.[4]
Your spiritual leaders need specific prayer support as “who
is sufficient for these things?” (2
Cor. 2:16b)
Not that
we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being
from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient
as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for
the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)
As a pastor, I am so very grateful to God for His sufficient
grace and for so many believers who regularly bring me and the needs of our
ministry before the throne of grace in prayer.
Are you convinced about the importance of prayer generally, and the need
to pray for your pastor/elders specifically?
Consider the following encouragements about prayer.
E. M. Bounds writes:
What the
church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations, or
more novel methods; but men whom the Holy Spirit can use – men of prayer, men
mighty in prayer.
Phillips
Brooks writes:
Prayer
is not conquering God's reluctance, but taking hold of God's willingness.
J. Vernon McGee writes:
According to my humble judgment,
the greatest need of the present-day church is prayer. Prayer should be the
vital breath of the church, but right now it is gasping for air. One of the
great Bible teachers of the past said that the church goes forward on its
knees. Maybe one of the reasons the church is not going forward today is
because it's not in a position to go forward – we are not on our knees in
prayer.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon writes:
So the
preacher of the gospel asks your prayers: and it is a part of the duties
arising out of the relationship between Christian men that those who are taught
should pray for those who teach God's Word.
In addition to this, before the epistle to the Hebrews ends,
there is an almost inconspicuous directive that demands our attention.
Greet all those who rule over you, and all the saints. Those from
Italy greet you. (Hebrews 13:24)
The writer of Hebrews wanted a personal greeting communicated to the spiritual leaders (“those who rule over you”), as well as to “all the saints.” While this must be interpreted in light of its specific historical context, there definitely appears to be a biblical principle worth highlighting by this imperative to “greet.”
Commenting on this verse, Dr. Warren Wiersbe writes…
Of course, the writer of this
Hebrew epistle was sending his personal greetings to the leaders of the church;
but this is a good example for all of us to follow. Every Christian should be on speaking terms with their pastor.[5]
Are you on speaking terms with your pastor(s)? Are you afraid to have eye contact with him? Do you seek to avoid the door where he is greeting people after the church service? Do you have resentment and bitterness in your heart toward him? If this is true of you, you need to get this resolved with the Lord and your pastor, as God wants a harmonious and holy relationship between His shepherds and sheep.
Dear readers, God wants you to keep on regularly praying for your local church leaders and to be on speaking terms with them. Perhaps you are thinking, “But I want God to replace our current pastor with another man who is…” Richard DeHaan remarks (tongue-in-cheek) that this is all the more reason to pray for your pastor.
Here are some rather interesting and creative ways a church could get rid of their pastor. First, you could look him straight in the eye while he's preaching and say "Amen” once in a while and he would preach himself to death in a few weeks. Or you could build him up and encourage him on his good points and he would probably work himself to death by the end of the year. Another way to do it would be to dedicate your life to Christ and ask the preacher to give you a job to do, preferably some lost person you could win to Christ, and the pastor would die immediately of heart failure. Or, you could get the church to unite in prayer for the pastor... he'll soon become so effective some larger church will come and take him off your hands and you won't have to worry about it.[6]
How appropriate that the book of Hebrews ends with,
Grace
be with you all. Amen. (Hebrews 13:25) g
[1] Erwin
Lutzer, Pastor to Pastor, (Moody Press, Chicago, IL), pg. 61.
[2] Steven J.
Lawson, The Priority of Biblical Preaching: An Expository Study of Acts
2:42-47, (Bib. Sac. 158:630, April 2001), p. 199.
[3] Robert
Gromacki, Stand Bold In Grace, (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI), pg.
224.
[4] John
MacArthur, Hebrews, (Moody Press, Chicago, IL), pg. 386-387.
[5] Dr. Warren Wiersbe, Be Confident, (Victor
Books, Wheaton, IL, 1982), pg. 152.
[6] Chuck Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, (W. Publishing Group), pg. 420.