A Pastor of Pastors Remembers His Pastors
October is Pastor appreciation month, when we make a special effort to thank our pastors for their ministry to us as undershepherds of Jesus Christ.
“Every Christian’s life is meant to be a parable of Jesus. However, pastors are particularly suited to this because so much of our lives are spent doing what Jesus did in His life. An adequate definition of pastoral ministry emphasizes following Jesus as the act of ministry and particularly following Jesus on the way of the cross.” David Hansen, The Art of Pastoring
Notice that we do not call it “Leader Appreciation Month” but “Pastor Appreciation Month.” Many are the leaders in our lives, but a “pastor” serves a unique role in our discipleship. Adapting the words of the Apostle Paul, “Though we have many leaders, we have few pastors (I Cor.4.15).”
And it’s all the more true today when CEO-type leading is exalted above pastoring in the Church (For proof, look at the worlds of publishing and conferences).
Adapting the words of Solomon, “He who finds a pastor finds a good thing and enters favor from the Lord (Prov.18.22).” Yes, Paul writes that we are to honor them highly In love because of their work (I Thess.5.13), but even more, it is a joy to bless our pastors for their personal qualities as they give service to God by pastoring us.
Years ago, while serving as campus pastor at the national Bible College of my denomination, I led monthly small group gatherings where ministry students could meet with leading pastors from across the nation. These were opportunities for future pastors to sit across the table with shepherds and engage in conversations about pastoring God’s people. We called these gatherings “The Pastors Study.” In the first TPS of the new school year, our guest pastor set the tone for the entire year with his first words: “Principle number one: strive to be a pastor who leads rather than a leader who pastors.”
Following this simple principle makes all the difference in the world. Not just for us as we strive to pastor God’s people, but for those whom we shepherd, those whom God created with a built-in strength need for the unique ministry a pastor brings.
The Bible makes it clear that God has given the office of pastor to the people of God and has ordained the ministry of the pastor as unique. He has formed the body of Christ with a built-in need of the person and ministry of the pastor. Just as there are things only a father can give us, and there are things only a mother can give us, there are things only a pastor can give us. This is how God has built us as human beings and as Christians. Deny this truth and pay the price. Live in this truth and reap the reward.
One proof is seen in Matthew 9.36. During the first half of Jesus’ public ministry, he traveled to cities and villages of Israel, primarily Galilee, preaching and teaching in the synagogues and gathering places of the people of God. As he ministered to the crowds who came, Matthew writes that Jesus was moved with compassion for them because they were weak and helpless – “like sheep without a shepherd.”
They were God’s people without pastors.
Without pastors, they were paying a great price: weakness and helplessness. We’ve all witnessed churches in the months following a pastoral departure. Despite the sincere efforts of church leaders, if a pastor is not in place, the people demonstrate what Matthew 9.36 describes: weakness and helplessness. These leaders, well-intended as they are and gifted though they may be, are not pastors. Without a shepherd, the sheep struggle. The reason? Again, God built His people and His Church with a need for a pastor; there are things only a pastor can give them.
Thank God for the gift of a pastor. Thank God for those shepherds who faithfully and lovingly live their lives on their faces before God so they might then lead us in the ways of God – to green pastures, still waters, and even through the valley of the shadow of death to the tables of the abundant life God has prepared for us. Thank God for our pastors.
MY THREE PASTORS
As a young man, before I became a pastor, I was privileged to have three pastors in my life. In the spirit of Pastor Appreciation Month, I want to give honor to whom honor is due; I want to honor these men by briefly stating how God uniquely used each one of them to form me in Christ.
HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE: PASTOR JOHNSON
My first pastor was the pastor of my birth in Christ and the first leg of my journey in Christ. He preached the Gospel I heard Sunday by Sunday, the Gospel that showed me my need for the Savior and the way that the Savior had prepared to receive me to Himself. Week by week, Pastor Johnson opened the character and actions of God by preaching through the Scriptures in an expository fashion, carefully working through the Word of God so that we might know the God of the Word.
And it wasn’t just on Sunday in the morning worship service. As pastor, he walked with the church leaders – boards, men, women, youth, Sunday School – to ensure that the knowledge of the Word of God in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ was the heartbeat of our church. It was all about knowing the living Word of God, Jesus, through the written Word of God and prayer. My first pastor taught me – gave me the gift, really – of the eternal and infinite value of the Gospel and my need for Jesus Christ in my life each day. He brought heaven and earth, eternity and time, together in one unified way of life.
“The most faithful and effective pastors are those who are driven by deep and energizing convictions.” Albert Mohler, The Conviction to Lead
HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE: PASTOR KEN
My second pastor was the pastor of my coming-of-age. Under his discipleship, I matured into a young man in the faith. Like my first pastor, he was an expositor of God’s Word. He carefully taught me what the Word of God says, but just as carefully, he taught me how to study the Word for myself and teach it to others. He opened the precious gift of walking in the Holy Spirit. In his teaching, in times of worship, in the altars, and in one-on-one conversations, he helped make the Holy Spirit come alive in my life.
I remember one evening after a church Bible study on the Holy Spirit. I was frustrated because the commentator’s notes in my Bible contradicted my pastor’s teaching. I wondered what I should believe and, more importantly, how I could know the truth of God’s Word rather than the teaching of people about it. I asked my pastor’s counsel. Rather than tell me what to believe, he counseled me to put aside his teaching and the commentary for the next few weeks. Instead, I should read a Bible without notes of commentary. I should ask the Holy Spirit to lead me in my study, revealing the truth to me by the Scriptures themselves: let the Word interpret the Word under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That simple counsel has served me for many years. And yes, it led me into the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
I also received my calling into vocational ministry under Pastor Ken’s ministry. God used him in a great way to help me “know that I know” God’s call. I was studying economics in university when the Holy Spirit began leading me in a way I had not anticipated: I sensed God’s call to preach the Gospel and pastor God’s people. I met with my pastor in his home, asking him to tell me whether I was hearing God. My pastor smiled but refused to answer my question. Instead, he told me to pray, “Heavenly Father, if this is not your will for my life, take it away: let me think of it no more; let it cease to beat in my heart as my desire. But if this is your will for my life, let it become my controlling thought and passion; lead me to think of it during the day and even to dream about it at night.” Before I left his house, my pastor told me, “Alan, if you would be happy doing anything else with your life, do it. If you’re not called to the ministry but choose to do it anyway, you won’t last, and you’ll never be content. But if you are called to the ministry, don’t dare do anything else with your life because you will never be fulfilled doing it.” In his wise counsel, my pastor taught me not to settle for merely seeking God for an answer to my question but to seek God Himself. Knowing God, I would trust Him; I would know His will for my life. I would own my decisions as my own rather than the directions of others, however godly and well-intentioned they were.
Pastor Ken gave me the gift of discipleship and life in the Spirit.
Decades later, these gifts continue in my life, evidenced by a conversation I will always treasure. I was talking with a member of our coaching ministry, someone I’ve walked with closely for a long time. His strong faith in and obedience to God, a “lay it all down” discipleship has always impressed me. I verbally noted his remarkable sensitivity to and freedom in the Holy Spirit as he humbly described leading his people in worship. Intrigued, I asked him where he had learned such sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading and his evident comfort in leading God’s people. I heard him chuckle. And then a statement that took my breath away: “Pastor,” he said in a surprised manner, “I learned it from you. In our chapel services at college, I watched you and learned from you as you led us.” I was grateful beyond measure for his kind words, but my mind went immediately to my pastor, who had led me in these things. Indirectly, this man who calls me “Pastor” had learned these things because of my pastor.
“All the minister’s efforts will be vanity if he have not unction. Unction must come down from heaven and spread a savor and feeling and relish over his ministry; and among the other means of qualifying himself for his office, the Bible must hold the first place, and the last place also must be given to the Bible and prayer.” Richard Cecil
HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE: PASTOR DAVE
It was initially devastating when God led Pastor Ken to another church. His life and ministry had forever changed my life. He had taught me and given me so much. I could not imagine how things could ever be the same again. Such was my love for Pastor Ken.
But in leading my pastor elsewhere, God had not forgotten my church or me. In directing Pastor Ken to go, God also called a pastor after His own heart to come: Pastor Dave. He was a man God would use to form me in new and needed ways. Pastor Dave treated me as a younger brother – in the best of ways: genuine affection, respect, confidence, time together, and investment in my life. Yes, he was a true pastor to me – and I loved and respected him completely as my pastor. But at the same time, he seemed to want to walk with me as my older brother, one who genuinely wanted to join my journey, helping me in any way he could to follow and be formed in God’s call on my life. At each step of my journey, Pastor Dave was able to help me recognize Jesus in that step, whether His leading was evident or not.
I’ve since realized that Pastor Dave was my first pastoral coach: always encouraging, challenging, examining, comforting, calling me forward, and inviting me to discover and know God for myself. He taught me to trust my walk with God, even as I trusted others to give me good and godly counsel. He embodied the shepherd of John 10, exemplifying what it is to have a pastor’s heart.
Pastor Dave taught me to live in and love the church, with her beauties and strengths – and her less than beauties and strengths. He showed me that the church is a family of families, joined by God to do life together as His people. He opened up to me what I call “The Circle”: coming together in small groups to talk and walk the faith together as a real missional faith community. And while this in itself was wonderful to Pastor Dave, it wasn’t enough for him. People were outside the church because they were outside of a relationship with God. As the people of God, it fell to us to go to those separated from God – yes, out of duty, but more out of desire and opportunity! To us was given the privilege of going into all the world to seek and save the lost that they might know Jesus and so, know the life and love He intends for them, just as He does for us.
God used Pastor Dave to give me a pastor’s heart, to show me that the church is a family of families and that ours is the privilege of carrying the Gospel to all the world, beginning where we are right now. And yes, he embodied the pastoral coach, the pastor who comes alongside the disciple personally and helps him or her discover and grow. What a gift.
“Simply put, pastoring is bringing God to people. A pastor is one who brings God to people by imparting the Word of God (formally and informally) out of the reality of his or her life, which is undergoing authentic and continuous Christlike transformation. Just as in Jesus, the Word must become flesh in the pastor so that the transmission of truth is both exegetically sound and experientially real.” John W Frye, Jesus the Pastor
A FINAL WORD ON PASTOR APPRECIATION
Before I began pastoring pastors, missionaries, and ministers ten years ago, I pastored churches: adults of all ages; youth; and children. What a joy it was to walk with them. Yes, some were more challenging than others, but that’s to be expected when people are involved. Beyond all doubt, if given a choice to go back and do it again, I would definitely say “yes” to serving God as a pastor to his people.
Over our years of pastoral ministry, Pastor Appreciation Month in some churches meant a dinner or “afterglow” to thank our family for our ministry. Sometimes, boards wrote a check and made a special presentation in the Sunday morning service. The women’s ministry of one church gave my wife and me the wonderful gift of a weekend away at a B&B. There were those people who gave us cards and notes, all handwritten, to thank us for our ministry. And yes, as a “heads-up” to young ministers and a “really?” to churches everywhere, there were those times when Pastor Appreciation Month came and went in silence – no thank you. We experienced it all.
THREE WISHES FOR PASTORS
I’ve concluded that if I could have three wishes for Pastor Appreciation Month, these are the three wishes I would make. And I know a lot of pastors would agree.
1. MAKE IT PERSONAL. No check from the board, but instead, an opportunity for God’s people to give a personal gift, card, or note of appreciation. A check says, “Six board members are doing something,” whereas personal expressions say, “Pastor, I – me, this person – loves you and thanks God for you.” I’ll take personal expressions of love over a church check any day. I’ll let you in on a secret: I still have every card, note, and crayon-drawn picture ever given to me. It’s my privilege as a pastor.
2. MAKE IT SPECIAL FOR MY WIFE. Honor her. Not because she’s the woman who wears my ring but because she is who she is and is as much a part of this pastoral ministry as I am. She’s just not as visible as I am. No, she doesn’t preach to the entire church on Sunday morning (or, in your case, she may), but she does a lot of one-on-ones throughout the week. She’s the nuclear core of a pastor’s home, keeping us strong through her prayer, love, and support. Pull her out of the picture, and, well, I don’t even want to think about it.
3. MAKE IT ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP. I would wish that, along with a “thank you” for my ministry, people would tell me that I have been a true pastor to them, a living parable of Jesus that God is using to help them develop as disciples. My wish is that they would be able to tell me how their lives are more like Jesus because of my ministry, that they have come to know their giftings and their place in the body of Christ as a minister in their own right.
If I could have seen these three wishes fulfilled for Pastor Appreciation, a blessed man would I be.
And if I may, there is a fourth wish I would offer, a fourth wish that is, in fact, the first: the sense in my heart of the Heavenly Father speaking to me, “You’re doing well, good and faithful servant.”
Happy Pastor Appreciation Month to all who have answered Jesus’ call to serve as undershepherds of His people. Honor to whom honor is due.
Special Note: Journey is pleased to offer you a gift idea for your pastor, “Pensées: A 40-Day Devotional for Pastor.” Written by a pastor of pastors, it is filled with Scripture, real life stories, and the wisdom of church leaders from throughout history – all designed to encourage, build faith, and yes, challenge.
“Pensées” is the French word for thoughts. It can also be translated reflections or meditations – poetry for the soul that not only informs, but forms.
Every day at Journey we post a devotion for our member-ministers, an inspiring “pensée” to begin their day, an encouraging or even challenging thought on which they can meditate as they go about their lives and ministries.
We hope this collection of forty member-favorites bring inspiration and encouragement to you. May these thoughts be poetry for your soul.
You can read a sample devotional from the book by clicking here or you can purchase your copy by clicking here.
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