1 Thessalonians 5:12–13 (ESV) — 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor
among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at
peace among yourselves.
NOTE: I do think we
esteem our leaders very highly, but I am not sure we do it for the right
reasons or with the right motives. Throughout history, people have wanted to be
associated with a Pastor, and to be considered a close friend of the Pastor, as
if by some proximity, we too might be seen as spiritual. And then, we don't
seem to realize the Pastor walks with God like any ordinary person. He
struggles with sin, he struggles with anger, anxiety, and a whole host of
issues -- just like us (to a degree -- everyone's struggles are different). It
is possibly true that the Pastor may have a deeper walk with God, but that is
the product of a "forced" intake of the word of God. If we showed the
same discipline in quiet time, bible study, and prayer, we could have a similar
close walk with God. Our jobs do not keep us from those disciplines. Our jobs
give us greater opportunity to reach those who will never set foot in a church.
And technically, the Pastor's job according to Eph 3 is NOT to do the ministry
for us, but to train us up to do the ministry.
We are to esteem our
Pastors because their work is very hard. People with spiritual problems are the
most difficult and painful job to tackle in the world. We are so selfish. We
believe the Pastor is there for us, for when we have struggles, and that he is
at our beck and call. That is not true. Jesus is there for us. He is the one we
are to call upon.
PRAYER: Father,
forgive us for how we abuse the Pastor and misuse the Pastor. Forgive us for
not listening to the Pastor, and for expecting that he must listen to us. We
are a sorry lot. We are dirty smelly sheep and we don't even realize it. Open
our eyes. Help us to esteem and love our leaders because of their hard work,
not because we want to use them.
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