So it has occurred to me that there are a few different ways that we view pastors and Church leadership as a whole. While this is not an exhaustive list, in my opinion seem to the the obvious ones. I would like to outline a few of these and point out that if we could get ourselves viewing pastors as we view each other than the Church as a whole could be on a much healthier course. What also walks hand in hand with this is getting a healthy view of ourselves and not projecting our short comings onto others which seems to be human nature. We think everyone else is doing wrong what we ourselves do. So here we go...
First, we see the pastor as having attained something we ourselves cannot. The pastor is NOT the perfect husband, father, friend, communicator, etc. He's not perfect at ANYTHING, only God is perfect. Many of you need to get this! Even if your thinking right now, DUH I know this. Do you? What if your pastor's mistake affected you? Would your knee jerk response be "I cannot believe the pastor would do that!". If so your view is not healthy. He needs forgiveness like everyone else. Try not running to another Church next time and give him some grace and talk with him. Rest assured he will make mistakes. He will put his foot in his mouth sometimes and say things he wished he hadn't. He may struggle with depressing thoughts at times and CAN be hurt with words, even yours. Hold onto your seat because some of you aren't prepared to hear that your pastor even sins. Yes, he has to repent on a regular basis of things in his life that aren't aligned perfectly with God's word and God is still working on his heart as God is everyone elses.
Second, your calling is not to be his judge. When it comes to those in leadership, especially the lead pastor some people tend to skip over Romans 3:23 "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Once again we ALL sin even your pastor. He is not in need of your expertise in how he is supposed to live and lead. Remember Jesus said to "take the plank out of your own eye before you try to help your brother try to remove the speck in his". Care about him yes, speak into his life yes, beat him up because of his short comings NO! Of course this is not speaking to a pastor who has obvious destructive behavior/sin in his life. But then care about him as a person enough to address is as Jesus commands. Talk to him one on one first. Unfortunately those of us this applies to skip Romans and go right to James 3:1 that says "Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly." and feel it is our job to be the judge mentioned in the verse. We then stop reading right there and don't read James 3:2 that says, "Indeed,
we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we
would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way." Trust me, your pastor is well aware of James 3:1 and lives his calling with fear and trembling.
Third, your pastor is your best friend and should be available to you as any of your friends are. I am sorry to say but if this was the case for everyone in Church then the pastor would be stretched too thin. Speaking for myself I wish this could be true. But remember, your pastor has family or even his own family. So while his Church family is incredibly important to him, he also has a wife and kids that need him as your family needs you. Most pastors try to keep a balance and order of priorities that look the way yours should. 1. God, 2. Family, 3. Ministry, your number 3 would be your job. He made a promise to his wife for forever and his children need him, they didn't choose him. And for a pastor if number 1 and 2 fall apart then he has no business doing number 3 nor will he be able to. When you need your pastor he is definitely there for you. But don't put the expectation on him to be at every event that is important to you. If you do you will be either let down that he is not, or he will be neglecting his family to do so.
Last, your pastor does care deeply about you otherwise he wouldn't be doing what he does. This is the truth! Ministry is not easy. People want their pastor to please them but they don't want him to be a people pleaser. There are many things pastors do right and wrong in the eyes of everyone. Remember this: like you he needs to please one person at the end of the day, God. God alone is his judge as is yours. Support him in going after this and chances are he will support you in doing the same.
Finally, God put this in his word knowing those called to pastor aren't perfect.
Hebrews 13:17
"Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit."
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