How To Be a Blessing To Your Pastor

Obey those who are in authority over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. (Hebrews 13:17)

When our elders at Harvest Church were set in, two dear friends of ours, Neil Silverberg and Pete Beck were there to set them in with us. They both had weighty and wonderful things to say. One thing Neil said has lingered with me. He said, "You cannot disregard these leaders without doing damage to your own soul."

Obviously, that does not mean that Pastor Tim and our elders have a right to be authoritarian, and if you don't do exactly as they say, they will kick you to the curb. Men like that, insecure and law-oriented, are a dime a dozen, and shouldn't be made watchers-over-souls in the first place.

Neil meant that in the spirit, a pastor or elder has special authority.

There. I said it.

I know that is politically incorrect, but that is what the Bible says. I'll let you argue it out with God. You cannot act in a way that disregards authority, nor can you act in ways that bring grief or pain to the heart of those in authority, without sinning. And when you sin against a leader in these ways, you do damage to your soul.

You aren't punished for your sin...the punishment for sin was laid on Jesus Christ. You are, however, punished by your sin. Your sin will harden you, sear what soft places there may be left, and sit there accumulating and sowing to itself until it is dealt with. Gah. If that does not scare you, sin has already been hardening your heart. Your sinning against a leader does not affect your eternal destiny, but it sure will affect your days. And friend....days have a way of becoming years.

How do you bless a leader?

By not being a burden.

You thought I was going to say, "Make sure he is well taken care of." Yeah, the Bible does say that, especially those who labor in the Word, but that is a firm grasp of the obvious. You thought I might say, "Send him on a particularly wonderful vacation, all expenses paid." You thought I might say, "Take him out to dinner."

Nah. All you do to bless your pastor (or elders) is to not be a burden. Don't sin against your own soul by making his job more difficult. Rather, do everything in your power to make his job a joy. How can you do this?

Do your job. Do not do his job. Do not do the accountant's job. Do not do the elder's job. Do your job with excellence.

Stop whining. Stop questioning your pastor, coming and going. It does not validate your existence to do that. It will not create accountability between you and your pastor; rather it makes your pastor expect you to be the one to find fault. He'll overlook you for it, but is that really what you want?

Stop trying to make your hot button his hot button. His hot button has to be the gospel. Nothing but the gospel. Have I been clear enough? If your hot button is children's ministry, then get involved. If your hot button is prayer, then pray. If your hot button is missions, then give like crazy to your church's missionaries, and take a few trips yourself. If your hot button is the homeless, then go minister to them, and take a few church members with you.

Stop expecting a plug from the pulpit for your particular passion. If a pastor did that for every good thing, for every hot button, all he'd be doing is pushing buttons, regularly and randomly. That makes him the Great and Powerful Oz...but it will not make him an effective pastor. Let the man preach the gospel. Let him lead. You do whatever gift and passion and calling that blows your skirt up, without expecting the pastor to hold your hand.

I'll promise you, your pastor has a hot button. But if he is wise, he keeps it to himself, and refuses to create a "niche church" around his hot button. I know my Tim has several hot buttons, one of which is healthy marriages, home education, and yet more are hospitality and evangelism. He is strong in all those areas, and he has great passion for them, but he keeps himself to the gospel as it concerns leading Harvest Church. He sees his job as putting a foundation of grace under people, thus equipping the saints to pursue their hot buttons under the safety of oversight.

If your hot button is nursing home ministry, and you pursue that ministry with passion and purpose, then your church is a "nursing home ministry" church. If your hot button is missions, and you go on mission trips, and you support your church's missionaries, then your church is a "missions church". If your passion is worship, you can have a worship-oriented church even if you can't sing a lick. Make sure your worship leader has the best instrument he or she could use. Worship your butt off. Encourage the worship leader, and make your enjoyment of worship obvious. You'll have a "worshipping church" before you know it!

No one church can place an emphasis on everything. But you can emphasize what you are passionate about, with your life. I can't think of a more wonderful way to live.

One more thing...

Help take care of the building. Outdated fixtures and furnishings, overgrown grass, and general untidiness is one of the most off-putting things a visitor can encounter. They matter, more than most are willing to admit.

We don't think twice about making our own homes more welcoming. When our grass needs mowing, we either mow it ourselves or pay someone to do it. We don't think twice about tapping our home's equity to make improvements. We consider that a wise investment...yet we get queasy if the church sanctuary gets redecorated for the first time in ten years. We wonder where the money's coming from. Well, without good facilities, there soon won't be much money to worry about, frankly. That is just the reality of church in the 21st century. Get over it, and work with it.

Get on board with making your church building, its grounds, and its parking area to be the best, most useful it can be. Help with the grounds keeping, the care, the maintenance. Take as much pride in your church surroundings as you do your own home. It will be such a blessing to your pastor.

How to be a blessing? Just don't be a burden.