The Purpose for Spiritual Leaders

The Purpose for Spiritual Leaders Uncommon Sense: Week 4 Tuesday, October 23, 2018 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 On January 4, 2018 Forbes Magazine released a list of America’s Most and Least Trusted Professions. According to the article, Nurses are the professionals most trusted by Americans—82% of adults polled said they believe nurses are very honest and ethical. Lobbyists scored the lowest—only 8% of Americans believe lobbyists are trustworthy and ethical (those must have been the mothers of lobbyists). If you are a Teacher, a Pharmacist, or a Police Officer—the majority of Americans believe you are honest. But, if you are Business Executive (CEO, CFO, VP, etc.) only 16% of Americans trust you (which, by-the-way, is the second lowest profession). The thing that caught my attention was how American’s view pastors—only 42% of those polled believe members of the Clergy are trustworthy and ethical. When I saw that my heart became sad because, if any group of people in our country should have a reputation for being honest and ethical, it should be pastors. Because the majority of Americans do not believe pastors are very trustworthy or ethical, we can see something that has unfortunately become common sense: pastors are not worthy of a high level of trust. I suppose there are many reasons the majority of people don’t have a lot of confidence in pastors. Far too often we hear of moral failures. Then we turn on the news and see that a pastor wants his followers to give generously so he can buy a fifty-four-million-dollar private jet. Or we hear of a mega-church pastor being fired because of addiction. Let’s face it, if you’re on the outside of the church looking in through the window of today’s media, it would seem crazy to believe pastors are trustworthy and ethical. Now, let me make something clear—no pastor anywhere is perfect. I’m not making excuses for pastors who fall, but I am saying that no pastor should be put on a pedestal by the people he leads. Pastors battle against their own sin and they desperately need the grace of God. No pastor has ever or will ever stand before you as a sinless man. Every pastor is more than capable of destroying his life and ministry—and they pray they will never fall. Starting well in ministry is easy but finishing well is only possible by God’s grace. But these things force us to ask the question, why do pastors get off track and lose credibility in the eyes of church members and the eyes of the world? I believe many of the issues we see with pastors today stem from the fact that it is easy for pastors to forget what they are called to do. Simply put, pastors get distracted and begin to put their time and effort into things that are not their primary task. Additionally, I think one of the reasons church members get frustrated with their pastors is that they have forgotten what their pastors are called to do. That bring us to today’s uncommon sense—God gives spiritual leaders to the church to grow believers. If I were to create a job description for pastors based off Scripture alone the first line of the document would read: The first and most important job of a pastor is to grow believers by preaching the gospel, providing a faithful example and provoking believers to live as followers of Jesus. This job description is not my opinion but was modeled by Paul and his church-planting team in Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians 2:9–12 9 For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; 11 as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. When we began chapter two we learned, through the first eight verses, that life is about reaching others. Paul and his team went to Thessalonica and began to boldly and selflessly preach the gospel even though they suffered for their effort. The verse we are studying today provide the purpose for pastors and other spiritual leaders—God gives spiritual leaders to the church to grow believers. Paul described the purpose for spiritual leaders in Ephesians… Ephesians 4:11–12 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: The question we must answer this week is how does God use spiritual leaders to grow believers? I think we have to begin by seeing that… Spiritual leaders proclaim the gospel. Verse eight tells us why Paul’s team had a strong desire to impart the gospel and even their own lives to the people of Thessalonica—they loved them and had a great desire for them to know and follow Jesus. When we get to verse nine we are told how Paul’s team shared the gospel and their own lives with the people of Thessalonica. They preached or proclaimed the gospel of God to them. They told them about the God who created all things. They told them how humans sinned and rebelled against God and, as a result, are separated from God. They told them that humans are hopeless because they could never be good enough to make themselves acceptable to a holy God. They told them that God loved them despite their sin and sent His Son, Jesus. They told them that Jesus lived a perfect life and was crucified for their sin. The told them that Jesus died, but He rose from the dead and He is willing and able to rescue everyone who believes in Him alone for salvation. Many of the people who heard that message believed and turned to Jesus for salvation. But Paul and his team kept preaching the gospel. This means they dedicated themselves to sharing the good news about the incredible blessings they received when they became the children of God. You see, the gospel does not only bring people to the door of salvation, the gospel is the good news about the life we have in God when we believe in Jesus. The gospel doesn’t assure a perfect life or an easy life—but the gospel does promise that our life will have purpose and meaning, and the gospel assures us that we have life without end. This was the message Paul proclaimed to anyone and everyone who would listen, and it was the message he continued to preach to those who believed. You see, the gospel was the message everyone needed to hear—and the last thing Paul wanted was for anything to distract or discourage anyone from listening to the message. Do you see what they did? Paul and his team went to Thessalonica and they found jobs that provided enough income to support them while they were trying to plant the church. This means they worked hard from dawn to dusk to make a living, so they would not put any financial stress on the people they were trying to reach with the gospel. Listen to how Paul described this in 2 Thessalonians: 2 Thessalonians 3:7–9 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. Now, I hate to do it, but I have to address a question that at least some of you are asking after hearing that Paul and his team were not paid to pastor that church—does this mean that pastors should not receive a salary? It’s a legitimate question and the answer depends on the context. Paul was a pioneer—he was taking the gospel to new frontiers where it had never been heard. He was dealing with non-believers in a pagan society where it was all-too-common for false preachers and teachers to scam people for as much money as they could get and then leave town. Paul did not want anything to distract anyone from hearing the message—so preaching without asking for any compensation would have set him apart from every other stranger who came into town preaching a new message. However, as people were saved and began to grow in the faith, Paul taught them the importance of supporting their pastors financially. 1 Corinthians 9:7, 10b-11, 13-14 7 Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock…Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. 11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 13 Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? 14 So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel. 1 Timothy 5:17–18 17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor (financial remuneration), especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” So, in the infancy of a church it is important that there are no distractions. But as the church matures, believers need to realize that it is a blessing to support those who preach and teach for their spiritual growth and development. We have this same approach when we plant churches today. Typically, a church planter will go to an area fully supported by other believers, so he can focus on reaching the unsaved without distraction. As people trust Christ and grow in their new faith, they are taught to give and that a portion of their giving should support the pastor and his family for his labor in proclaiming the Word. So, it is not only acceptable to be a financial blessing to those who preach the gospel, it is both right and good to do so. But Paul’s point was not to say if he or any other preacher should or should not have made a living from preaching and teaching the gospel. The point is, Paul wanted those people to hear the gospel and believe the gospel without distraction or being put-off by the needs of the preachers. Why? Because the priority for Paul was proclaiming the gospel—this should be the priority of every pastor. But Paul also shows us that… Spiritual leaders provide an example. I love how Paul’s conscience was so free that he could point out the fact that he did not say one thing and do another while he was leading them. I love that Paul knew he needed to be a good and example and he was so confident that he provided the right kind of example that he directed them to remember the life he lived in front of them. You see, they witnessed Paul’s life—but more important, God saw what they could not see—God knew why Paul did what he did. God looked beyond the actions and saw the heart. In these words, we see the kind of example pastors should provide the people entrusted to their care. Spiritual leaders live holy or devout lives. This doesn’t mean they live perfectly, but they do strive to be holy. Spiritual leaders live justly—they live upright lives, they consistently display the right character, the right thoughts and the right behavior. Spiritual leaders live blamelessly—they are free of guilt and cannot be accused. Pastors live this way, not to be exalted by others, but for the glory of God and for your good. And, when they mess up—how do they respond? Do they repent, confess, and continue on for Christ? If so, they provide the right kind of example for believers to follow. And… Spiritual leaders provoke a response. Once again Paul is asking them to think back and to reflect on something that they experienced in the past—this time he wanted them to remember something Paul and his team did—they treated them like a father treats his children. Now, there is an interesting contrast between the first two sections of chapter two. In the first section, Paul’s love for the people in Thessalonica was compared to a mother’s love. Paul was kind and gentle—like a nursing mother cares for her child. In this section Paul speaks of his care for them like a father cares for his own children. Now, we all know that a mother and a father can both love and care for their child—but that love, and care expresses itself differently, doesn’t it? My mom and dad both helped me learn how to ride a bike—but dad was the one who was helping me the day I finally got it. I remember I was trying to ride while dad was running alongside balancing the bike and mom was watching from the front porch. Eventually, dad let go and I was on my way. I was so excited because I was finally riding a bike by myself. I remember I turned and looked back at my dad and when I turned to look forward again I ran head-first into our van that was parked in the street. Now, you have to remember this happened before kids had to dress like football players to ride a bike. We didn’t wear helmets and knee pads and elbow pads and shoulder pads. I was wearing shorts and a tank top—and I was laying on the ground with a pretty bad headache. I think Mom ran as fast as she could to get to me, she knelt beside me and checked me over to make sure I was okay. Dad, on the other hand, walked up, made sure I was ok and told me I had to get up and walk it off. When I got up he told me to get back on the bike—even though I didn’t want to ride and risk getting hurt again. Mom was tender and compassionate toward me. Dad encouraged me, directed me, instructed me, and urged me to get back on the bike. Both loved me, both cared for me, but they each had different roles in that situation. As a spiritual leader, Paul needed to provide a different expression of love, so those believers would continue to grow as followers of Christ. This means that he came alongside them and supported them as new believers. He assisted them and instructed them as a good father assists and instructs his children. Paul encouraged and comforted them when they were worn down and discouraged. Listen, every believer knows what it’s like to face obstacles and every believer has experienced failure and frustration as we follow Jesus. In those times we need someone to uplift us, someone to help us, someone to redirect our eyes back to our Savior and the hope we have in Him. Paul also charged them—he urged them to continue following Christ. I’m sure there were times when they didn’t feel like continuing—but, as my pastor used to say, they had to keep on keeping on. Why? Because they needed to walk worthy of the God who called them into His own kingdom and glory. Let me explain what this means—Like a father cares for his children, Paul exhorted, comforted and charged them—he provoked them to live in such a way that was befitting their status as the children of God. Every spiritual leader is tasked with encouraging the believers under his care to live a life that is befitting of their standing as children of God and they do this, not for their own glory and purpose, but for the glory of the God who saved them. Pastors do this most effectively by opening God’s Word and walking their people through the glorious and hard truths of Scripture. This means that there will be times when a pastor says things that you don’t want to hear. This means that there will be times when a pastor will try to lead you where you don’t want to go. This means that there will be times when a pastor comes alongside you to provoke you—to encourage you—to try to keep you from quitting. When this happens, don’t be upset because of his effort—he’s only doing his job. You see, pastors have a unique responsibility and they understand that they will give an account of their ministry to God. Hebrews 13:17 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. How do we respond to this message? (they remembered…) 1. Thank God for the faithful pastors God has given to you. Pastors are not given to be a burden to you but a blessing for your growth and joy in the gospel. 2. Pray for your pastors. Pray that they will continue to proclaim the gospel, provide the right kind of example, and provoke a godly response from you. 3. Work to support your pastors. Because pastors stand before the people and because they typically have to make difficult decisions, pastors are easy targets of criticism and frustration. Pastors need the support of those they are called to love and lead. Be the kind of people who encourage and appreciate the work pastors do for your spiritual growth. Be like Aaron and Hur were to Moses. Let me explain—in Exodus 17 the children of Israel were fighting against the Amalekites and Moses, their leader, was watching the battle. When Moses held up his hand, the children of Israel advanced—but when Moses’ hand went down, the Amalekites advanced. Now, have you ever tried to hold your hand above your head for hours on end? It’s a pretty impossible task. Moses was doing the best he could, but he was not strong enough by himself to do what needed to be done. But Aaron and Hur came to his side and they held up his hands all day—until Israel won the battle. Every pastor needs people to hold up his hands—to support him—not only for his own good, but for the good of the church, our community and for the kingdom of God. You see, God gives spiritual leaders to the church to grow believers. For this we remember their labor and we give thanks for their ministry.