[15] Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. [16] Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
[17] Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
[18] Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. | Hebrews 13:15–18
Monday, I wrote on the stress associated with pastoral ministry and how it is changing as our culture does. After fielding some texts and e-mails, I realized that I needed to write to the church about their role in helping their pastors navigate this. In the same way that pastors need to do a better job embracing the Biblical limits and call, the members of the church have a specific role to play. I am going to point to 5 things that every member of the church can do to help their pastors bear the burden of ministry.
1. Show up.
The modern pushback of: ‘the church is not a place it is a people,’ or ‘don’t go to church, be the church’ has its place. We should not be different people inside the four walls of a church than we are the rest of the week. Unfortunately, what this way of thinking about the church has done is taken away, rather than add to, the act of being Christian. Making church attendance a ‘don’t have to’ has contributed to the consumeristic view of church. If the church is just an event, than we can dismiss it if we feel like it isn’t contributing to our lives in a positive way. This gives us permission to not continue to meet together.
When you don’t show up to church (or Bible study, or community group), you are robbing the church of your presence. A part of the body is missing. You are also missing out on all of the ways that others are meant to organically shape you. Showing up is about much more than attendance. It is about practicing the community of sanctification that God has given. When you don’t show up, the work of community falls back on the pastors. Rather than every person doing their part, it becomes about what the church (usually the pastors and staff) can do for you.
2. Graciously serve one another.
Showing up is not just about being there, but understanding your role in the community. If you are part of the church, you are there to serve and be served. You should be looking for every opportunity to use the gifts given to you to help care for the others that God has placed you into community with. As you do, others will be serving you. This is the picture of the body given to us in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, and described to us Ephesians 4. It is this picture of an other-focused community where everyone’s needs are taken care of through service. I believe that this is what heaven will be: each person working to serve others and receiving what they need through others serving them.
On this side of heaven, we have to account for sin; this perfection will not be fully realized. We should begin the practice. The way that this helps your pastors is that through the members serving the members, focus is shifted from criticism to thanksgiving. In a loving community, there are problems, but these issues are dwarfed by the joy that comes from receiving grace. When people ask me what they can do for me, I often say: find a person in our church who has a need and fill it. While this doesn’t seem to answer the question, it does. The greatest joy for a pastor of God is in seeing the church function without him. There are very few things that can relieve the burden of ministry like that.
3. Submit to your leaders.
The author of Hebrews tells the church to obey their leaders, and then doubles down with the S-word: submit. To submit to your leaders does not mean that you follow them into heresy or do everything that they say. It does mean that you hear their words with the authority that God has given them. People called to be pastors have been charged with leading the people God puts under their care. People who do not follow are not a joy to lead. People who fight every decision and refuse to take admonishment are like stubborn sheep (to use a Biblical analogy). They make the difficult burden of caring for souls more difficult.
When I posted my previous article, a friend of mine added a additional point that fits well here: there’s less implicit trust and much more of a “prove yourself today” mentality that adds exponentially to the list of daily duties one in authority has to carry out. If the pastor has to exert additional energy keeping you convinced that they have the authority that God has given them, it is going to cut into the work that they are called to OR just add to what they have to accomplish.
We would be wise to hear the words of Hebrews here: let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. It isn’t just for the pastor’s sanity that you should work with them, but for your own. God has placed you under the care of pastors for your good; to continually refuse to follow their lead is to reject a means of grace God has given you. He creates the role and calls people to it, while some have abused this role, this is not a reason to be a miserable member of the church. It is to your benefit to make leading you (and giving account for you to God) a joy.
4. Work on your sanctification.
Speaking of means of grace: God has told us how to grow in our Christian maturity. Be in Christian community (see point 1), read your Bible, pray. While the church helps to provide some of the structure for this, YOU are responsible for your sanctification. God will do the work in you, but you have to make the effort to actually use the means He has given.
I said earlier that the most encouraging thing for a pastor is to see people serving one another without the pastor being involved. There is one thing that is better: seeing the people of the church grow in their knowledge and love of Jesus. This is a great reminder to your pastors that it is God who is at work in the lives of His people. The thing about people being the mission is that the work is NEVER done. If a pastor can see progress, and a passion to take a step in the right direction, it gives them the encouragement to keep going.
5. PRAY.
In the sermon Sunday, Andrew read Philippians 4:4–7, which says:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
We worship the God who can create peace in a situation that has no rational peace. He does this by connecting us to Himself. He calls us to petition Him for this peace. While there are certainly healthy and unhealthy rhythms to pastoral stress, the solution is not to set up boundaries and take vacations. The only hope pastors have to take on the burden of leading God’s people through a sinful world is to be connected to Him. When you think of your pastors, do not pray that God would lessen the weight, but that He would strengthen the spine. Pray that God would provide the ability that no person possesses on their own. Pray that your pastors are led into a deep reliance on the grace of God, because without it, they will fade. Take time to pray for your pastors as they pray for you, that all of us will be guarded by Christ Jesus.