How to Pastor Your Pastor

A Message from 1 Thessalonians 5.12-15

Thank you for having me here this morning. I’m in a great position right now. I get to preach from a text that encourages the congregation to respect and care for their preacher. Now I can get away with that since I am only a pulpit supply; a hired gun, if you will. And no, your pastor did not pay me to preach this message. I picked the passage myself. You can read along in your bibles, 1 Thessalonians 5.12-15.

“Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.”

So the Apostle Paul writes to the church.

• The challenge is that one can always find fault with a pastor.
• If the pastor is young, he lacks experience; if his hair is gray, he’s too old to relate to the young people.
• If she has five or six children, she must be too busy to pastor; if she has none, you wonder if she’s a feminist.
• If he preaches from a manuscript, he has canned sermons and is dry; if his messages are extemporaneous, he isn’t deep enough.
• If she uses too many illustrations, she’s neglecting the bible; if she doesn’t include stories, she’s too erudite.
• If he preaches the truth and condemns wrong, he’s cranky; if he doesn’t preach against sin, he’s a compromiser.
• If she preaches all the time, the congregation gets tired of hearing her voice; if she invites guest ministers, she’s shirking responsibility.
• If he can’t please the majority, he’s hurting the church and should leave; if he tries to make everyone happy, he has no convictions.
• If she drives an old car, she shames her congregation; if she buys a new one, she’s setting her affection on earthly things.
• If he receives a large salary, he’s mercenary; if he gets a small one, they say it proves he isn’t worth much anyway.

Quite a dilemma, don’t you think? It’s tough being in ministry today given the many and varied expectations prevalent in a typical congregation. One especially has to be a bold preacher to tackle texts like these. Or a guest preacher. Even then it’s a bit risky – you might never invite me back. Yet despite the dilemma, I want to do just that. And I’m going to apply the umpire’s axiom. I’m simply going to call it as I see it.

Pentecost

There's a rumor afloat.

A strange new group in town is attracting members left and right. Every day people are joining this group and forming what can only be described as a spiritual movement. When I first heard about it all I knew was that it had something to do with a prophecy being fulfilled…

The rumor is that the "Last Day" is upon us. This group is convinced that a prophecy written hundreds of years ago has finally come true. It's a prophecy about everyone being filled up with God. And like I said, this movement is growing.

Why are so many people flocking to this strange new group? Well, just a few weeks ago a crowd of over hundred people took to the streets speaking all sorts of different languages. These men and women were shouting out in tongues not their own. A friend of mine saw it happen and heard the words. He told me he thought they were drunk.

But then this man named Peter took center stage and quoted the prophecy which they claimed had come true. And the people – over 3,000 people! – who heard him speak believed what he had to say. A new spiritual movement was under way and more are joining every day.

I'm the kind of person who gets excited about things like this, but I'm also a bit skeptical when so many people get interested in something so quickly. So I decided to do a little investigation of my own. Here's what I found out.