Leaders in the Church

Introduction

After spending a significant portion of his letter to the Thessalonian church dealing with Christ’s return, Paul now shifts to another important topic.

In these two verses Paul makes the case to the congregation that they should hold those whom God has placed over them in high esteem. However, he also makes mention of the responsibilities that are inherent in being a leader in the church.

We will first look at the responsibilities of those who are in positions of authority in the church and then we will see how God expects you to respond to their authority.

The Responsibilities of Church Leaders

It is obvious that Paul has the church leaders in Thessalonica in mind when he writes this portion of the letter. He is primarily giving instruction to the church as to the value that they should place upon these God ordained authority figures.

In this passage we can also glean the responsibilities of the leaders in Thessalonica based upon the statement that Paul makes concerning them.

The apostle uses three statements to describe the church leaders that he is referring to which speak to three distinct responsibilities that every church leader has.

Labour- “which labour among you”

Anyone in a position of leadership in the church should be working to serve the church. This comes directly from the instruction of our Lord.

which labour among you

- chief among you servant

Everyone in authority in the church should be faithfully serving and ministering in the church. Leaders are not merely to hold a title but are to fill a needful role in the church.

There should never be anyone in a position of authority who is not actively involved in the work of the ministry of the church.

Lead- “are over you in the Lord”

are over you in the Lord

Church leaders are to guide and direct the ministry of the church. The leaders in the church are responsible for determining direction and providing guidance to the church as it seeks to impact its community.

Church leaders will have to make many decisions that will influence the direction of the church and must seek to be spirit-led in making each decision.

The leadership in the church must make sure that we are doing all that we can to be effective in ministering to our community while maintaining a good testimony in the community.

Warn- “admonish you”

The word admonish literally means to warn of the negative consequences of a wrong action.

Those in positions of authority in the church have a responsibility to warn you when you are making wrong decisions or engaging in ungodly behavior.

Those who are leaders in the church, especially the pastor, have responsibility to warn those who are headed in the wrong direction.

Those in authority can never look over sin and immorality, but must be willing to address in in love and compassion

The Response of the Congregation

Now we come to Paul’s primary purpose in writing these verses to the church at Thessalonica. His concern was that the people in the church at Thessalonica would behave properly towards those whom God had ordained as leaders.

He asked them to:

Acknowledge their leadership- “know them”

Paul encouraged the church at Thessalonica to recognize and honor those who were in positions of leadership and authority in the church.

We should treat leaders in the church with great respect and recognize them.

Church leaders can often be mistreated and disrespected but this is the opposite of what Paul expected from the church at Thessalonica.

His

Ministry leaders often have great challenges and may face serious opposition but it should never be from those within the congregation of the church.

- watch for your souls

Acknowledging their leadership also means that you are willing to submit yourself to their authority as they submit to the Lord.

Appreciate them- “esteem them very highly”

We ought always to value those whom God has placed in positions of spiritual authority in our lives.

esteem them very highly

We should show our appreciation for their sacrifice and for their investments into our lives.

Ministry leaders often battle discouragement and depression as they face spiritual warfare, often with little recognition and little acclaim.

If a ministry leader has been a help or a blessing to us, we should be willing to communicate this to them and to show them our appreciation.

Love them- “in love”

Everyone, including ministry leaders, wants to be loved and accepted.

We ought to communicate to those who lead our love for them. They will not be perfect and they will most certainly make mistakes, yet if God has placed them in a position of authority we should show our love for them.

As Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, he challenged them to consider the work that these leaders were doing as motivation for their love.

We may not always agree with those who are in positions of authority, but we should still love them as they labor in service to the Lord!