{"id":225,"date":"2005-06-17T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2005-06-17T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2005-06-28T14:14:39","modified_gmt":"2005-06-28T18:14:39","slug":"russ-on-encouraging-pastors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/russ-on-encouraging-pastors\/","title":{"rendered":"Russ on Encouraging Pastors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rey pointed me to a post at The Happy Husband<\/a> that is rather
\ninteresting. How to minister to your minister….that’s actually a harder
\nquestion than many may think. First, and probably foremost, because most of the
\npastors that I’m acquainted with would have a hard time telling people what
\nwould be encouraging to them. Its not that we don’t need encouragement nor that
\nit doesn’t feel good to us to be lifted up, but I think that many of us are
\nsensitive to the fact that we don’t want to manipulate the feelings of those
\nthat God has given us in order to bring glory to us. It’s a fine line that a
\npastor walks – being human and needing support and yet wanting all the glory to
\ngo to God. So, if you go to your pastor to ask him (I’m going to use the
\nmasculine throughout this whole post since something like over 90% of pastors
\nare men…realizing that some of the readers may have women pastors – its more
\nbecause I have a terrible habit of not matching up my pronouns and plurality
\n:)…if you go to your pastor and ask him how you can encourage him, don’t expect
\na very detailed listing – he’ll probably never tell you what would really water
\nhis heart.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Which means you will actually need to get to know him. This
\nis difficult because the best way to get to know him would be to spend time
\nwith him. However, time is something that is at a premium for most pastors. I
\nhave worked in a family business and in a corporate environment – the time
\ngiven to ministry far outpaces them all. The reason for this with pastors is
\nthat most of the time we have a very American view of pastoring. He is the one
\ngetting paid, so he ought to be the one doing it. Unfortunately, this is wrong
\non so many levels (we can start in 1 Corinthians 12…) that I won’t even go into
\nit. If you want to encourage your pastor, find an area of ministry that he is
\ndoing that you can either come alongside him to help him with or actually take on
\ncompletely so that he can focus his efforts elsewhere. Not sure how you can
\nhelp – tell him you’re willing to help him out in any ministry in any way that
\nhe sees fit – and then keep letting him know that over the next several months!
\nThat will be an encouragement.<\/p>\n

Then, out of that last paragraph all sorts of ideas come….A
\npastor lives in a fish bowl. Everyone is watching him everywhere all the time
\n(its amazing that more of us don’t completely succumb to paranoia….but, then,
\nreading that last sentence, maybe I already have…). Though this is something
\nthat the pastor (and his spouse, if he is married) needs to have dealt with
\nwhen they made the decision to go into ministry, if they have children, the
\nchildren have been thrown into this fish bowl by no choice of their own. <\/p>\n

Pastor’s kids are normal kids. They will get in trouble.
\nThey will hit other children. They will say nasty things. They will do
\neverything that your child did and, probably because of the fish bowl effect,
\nmore. Don’t hold a pastor’s children to a higher standard than you would hold
\nto any child, including your own. Though I’m only 5 years into the
\nfathering\/pastoring mode, my guess is that most pastors would find great
\nencouragement by knowing that they can be regular fathers while they pastor
\ntheir congregations.<\/p>\n

And, since we’ve already mentioned the preciousness of time
\nand while we’re on the topic of family, please respect family time. If your
\npastor does not have two days off during the week to spend with his family,
\nwork to get it for him. Don’t worry….he’ll probably end up working at least
\nsome time during those two days, but knowing that he has time that he can spend
\nwith his family and not be doing ministry is very encouraging. If he already
\nhas those days, don’t call him unless it’s truly an emergency (any type of
\nactual or potential death or injury, a personal or relational dispute that MUST
\nbe dealt with immediately, or any type of abuse – physical, narcotic, etc.). If
\nit’s not in a league similar to the items listed, then before calling him on
\nhis day off, ask yourself, “Will my entire world fall apart if I don’t call him
\ntill Xday?” If not, then don’t call. This time off and the respect of it is
\nimportant. It does your ministry no good to have a pastor capable of running a
\nvibrant ministry whose family is falling apart. If his family disintegrates,
\nhis ministry eventually will also. Build up and strengthen his family (which
\nwill be an encouragement to him) and you will build up and strengthen his
\nministry.<\/p>\n

In addition, learn how to complement him based upon his
\ngifting. What I mean by this is that different pastors have different
\nstrengths. They also have different passions in ministry. As you listen to your
\npastor teach, preach, pray and speak to people, you will begin to get a sense
\nof what passions and giftings drive him. Encourage him in these areas but don’t
\njust do it flippantly. Here’s what I mean by this. I have had people come up to
\nme a year after giving a sermon with an illustration or point from that sermon
\nthat, quite honestly, I may have forgotten. That is a huge encouragement to me
\nas a teacher – it lets me know that God really is using me to impact the lives
\nof others through the things that I say (which, for me, is the intersection of
\nmy passions and giftings). So, when complementing your pastor, its good to say,
\n‘Great job today!’ but if you can begin to hear his passion and gifting and begin
\nto understand the things that he hopes to accomplish through the use of them,
\nyou will have a better idea of how to complement him in a way that is truly
\nencouraging.<\/p>\n

Sooner or later, if you want your pastor to lead, he will
\nneed to make decisions that you think are either wrong or misdirected. However,
\nto be a leader, he must press onward down the path that he feels that God is
\nleading him and the church. Every pastor should allow open conversation about
\nthe decisions that are being made (I’m NOT suggesting a totalitarian,
\nauthoritarian or cultish manipulation). However, when the final decision needs
\nto be made and you are unhappy with it, learn to trust the shepherd that God
\nhas given you. Most pastors really do have you and your spiritual best interests
\nat heart.<\/p>\n

Pray! Let your pastor know your praying. Ask for prayer
\nrequests from him. And whether he gives you any or not, keep praying and keep
\nletting him know you are praying for him (and his family).<\/p>\n

Finally, take Hebrews 13:17
\nseriously. Though I’m sure there are some out there, I have not met a pastor
\nwho does not take seriously the fact that they will stand before God to give an
\naccounting for how they have shepherded you. In the midst of the solemnity of
\nthat calling, make his work a joy. Let him laugh and laugh with him.<\/p>\n

And now, on a completely lighter note, try to avoid saying
\nthese things (all of which have been said to me or other pastors I know): “You
\nare not worth the pay that you receive”, “What’s it like working one day a
\nweek?”, “I know it’s your day off, but…”, “You are doing the work of Satan.”
\n(that last one isn’t so bad when you consider the company of others that have
\nbeen told the same thing – most notably, Jesus). If you have any questions
\nwhether any of these statements (even if its ‘truth told in love’) are
\nencouraging or not, you probably need to get someone else to communicate your
\nconcerns to your pastor.<\/p>\n

Your pastor loves you. He cares about you. He prays for you.
\nHe works hard for you. Reciprocate those things and you will find that even as
\nhe ministers to you, that you are ministering to him.    <\/p>\n

 -Pastor Russ-<\/em> 
\n
\nOther responses at Curt’s site.<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rey pointed me to a post at The Happy Husband that is rather interesting. How to minister to your minister….that’s actually a harder question than many may think. First, and probably foremost, because most of the pastors that I’m acquainted with would have a hard time telling people what would be encouraging to them. Its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-study"],"yoast_head":"\nRuss on Encouraging Pastors - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/russ-on-encouraging-pastors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russ on Encouraging Pastors - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rey pointed me to a post at The Happy Husband that is rather interesting. 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