ARE YOU MISSING THE

FRIDAY FIVE

Encourge Your Pastor

I apologize to my readers for not being able to post a Friday Five this week due to a family matter.   I flew to the east coast to spend time with my mother.  Lord willing Friday Five should return next Friday.   Meanwhile, while I was away I got the better part of a blog post completed on how Christians can thrive in a hostile environment.  I hope to put the finishing touches on that and post it over the week-end or by Monday at the latest.
Tomorrow morning Wendy and I will be leaving for Fair Haven's Conference And Retreat Centre1 in Beaverton, Ontario where I will be the Camp Pastor for the next week.   No, I'm not the Conference Speaker, that honour belongs to my good friend Kevin Mahon who is the Lead Pastor of the People's Church2 in Wyoming, Ontario.   I'm looking forward to having my own spiritual batteries charged through his solid ministry of Bible teaching.

My responsibility is to Pastor the several hundred people that will be spending the week at the Bible Conference Centre.   I've been a Camp Pastor before but never been the Camp Pastor at Fair Haven's and I'm actually excited about it.   Being a Pastor and caring for the sheep is what God has called me to be.   Sometimes that involves admonishment and sometimes it involves encouragement.   Though some of us are called to be Pastors full time and are paid for it, everyone in the body of Christ are to be involved in shepherding the flock of God.   The Bible is full of "one another" 3 statements calling on us to minister to one another and care for one another.

I have been a Pastor for 37 years and though I wouldn't change it for the world, let me tell you it is not an easy ride.   I don't think there is any job that has higher expectations (sometime from the Pastor himself) and fraught with more challenges than being a Pastor in the 21st century.   I don't mean to suggest that there are not other equally difficult and challenging endeavours but I have talked to corporate executives who will tell you that leading a volunteer organization and a church in particular is an extremely difficult assignment.   In fact, 95-98% of those who start out in Pastoral ministry do not finish.   The drop out rate is exceedingly high, the challenges are may, and the task is tough. Most Pastors feel over worked, under paid, under appreciated and woefully inadequate.   To top it all off, the world and ministry is changing so fast that they can hardly keep up.

I have had to privilege for the past 11 years to Pastor the Parkway Bible Church 4 in Toronto.   They are a wonderful and gracious people who continue to support and encourage me. I have a terrific staff to work with and we enjoy each others company.   We have no major conflicts and as far as I know, no one is out to get me.   I'm in a good situation. I love the people of my church and I believe they love me.   I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have the congregation that I do.   I know countless other Pastors who's congregations aren't, shall we say, as encouraging and supportive.

Being a Pastor can be exceedingly discouraging.   Week after week your Pastor has a 1,000 demands on his time.   He likely only gets half the time he needs to prepare for the Sunday sermon yet people in the congregation will compare him to John MacArthur or Charles Stanely or some other favourite big name preacher.   He'll preach his heart out and may weeks people will tune him out and go home the same as they came.   He may talk with members of a dysfunctional family that is falling apart knowing that they will not follow his counsel.   He'll cry with the broken hearted and give himself away in faithful sacrificial service knowing that at any moment any one of the sheep he is seeking to help could turn on him.  

It's a difficult assignment being a Pastor so let me encourage you to encourage your Pastor. Every pastor is different so there are different ways to encourage but let me make a few suggestions that you might try.   It's late as I write and I'm getting tired so let's just list 5 ways to encourage your Pastor and then I guess we will have a Friday Five this week.

1. Tell Your Pastor That You Love Him And Thank God For Him
It might feel a little awkward at first but tell him up front that you appreciate him as a godly man (his hearts desire is to be a godly man and he hopes it shows) and the hard work that he puts in.   You don't have to agree with him on everything in order to appreciate him as the man God has sent to shepherd the flock at your church.

2. Send Him A Note Or Card Of Encouragement From Time To Time
You never know when his heart may be heavy with discouragement and that card or letter of appreciation and encouragement might just carry the day.   Believe me, he doesn't get enough of this and it won't go to his head.   There are plenty of people sending him letters and e-mails telling him his faults etc and he is plenty aware of his own faults as well.   You need to counter that with encouragement.

3. Include Him And His Family In Your Social Network
Pastor's and their families are often lonely.   They are like the pretty girl who never gets a date because all the guys think she's already got all the dates she can handle.   Sure the Pastor's schedule may not always make it possible for him and his family to join you in some social occasion but invite him anyway.   Don't stop asking him over for a BBQ just because he couldn't make it the last time you invited him.

4. Brag On Your Pastor To Others
The story is told of a lady in our church who was in conversation with another lady from a different church.   The other lady said, "My Pastor is so good he can preach on any subject for an hour."   The lady from my church not wanting to be out done said, " Well, my Pastor is so good he can preach for an hour without a subject."

Okay, so he's not perfect but brag on him anyway.   Highlight the good things about your Pastor.   Focus on the good.   Tell people outside the church how much you appreciate your Pastor.   Let it be known that he is your Pastor.   I have one man in my church who is a very prominent person in the community, every time he introduces me and says, "And this is my Pastor" as if he was proud.   It makes me feel like a million bucks and I it inspires me to seek to be the kind of Pastor he can be proud of.   Also, talk well of him to other members of the congregation.   Every Pastor has his strengths and weaknesses so don't highlight the weaknesses when you talk with others in the congregation.   Highlight to positives.   You'll be surprised how the positive atmosphere in the congregation is contagious.

5. Pray For Your Pastor
There is nothing you can do better for your Pastor than to pray for him.   When you pray for him you align yourself with God who has called him to be your Pastor and you please the Father in heaven.   Your Pastor is a special target of the Evil one and so he and his family need your constant prayers.   He is totally inadequate for the job God has called him to do and he knows it.   Hold him up in prayer and let him know you are doing so.   When you stand with your Pastor in prayer you will grow in your love and appreciation for him and you will bring down the blessing of heaven on him and your church.
Oh, and by the way.  Tell him often that you are praying for hiim and his family.

God Bless You As You Bless Your Pastor

1 http://www.fairhavens.org/

2 http://www.peopleslambton.com/

3  John 13:34;  Romans 12:10, 12:16, 14:13;  Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2, 32;  Colossians 3:13;  1 Thessalonians 4:18   to mention but a few.

4  www.parkwaybiblechurch.ca