Until Jesus Returns....

Many people enjoy the challenge of putting puzzles together. And, for those who want a more advanced challenge, they purchase and assemble massive 1,000 piece puzzles. This, of course, is a huge undertaking; but with time, diligence and many people helping, all of the pieces are properly fit together and the puzzle is finally completed in the way the designer intended.  In a way, completing a puzzle represents the Christian life with each puzzle piece representing a voice or person that God uses to complete the beautiful and finished picture of the growing and maturing believer. In Today’s passage from 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28, Paul highlights three of these voices. The first voice is….

God will use your pastors to grow you

Notice the plural for pastors is used: those, them, their (not his or him). Here, Paul highlights that a healthy church body is led by a plurality of godly men consisting of both staff pastors and lay pastors (those serving in this role voluntarily who earn their living from a secular vocation). In verses 12-13, you will see three of a pastor’s (elder, overseer) primary tasks; a pastor works (labors), leads and warns.  Pastors labor: For those who desire the office of an undershepherd (pastor), it is not just a job that requires a few hours of work each Sunday; rather, It is a call to spend and be spent emotionally, relationally and spiritually on a continuous basis. Because sheep (church members) bite, it is a call to be bitten relationally. It is a call to die to one’s own desires in order to serve Christ and His body. Pastors lead: Leading a building program is challenging, but fun. However, leading in church discipline and through relational conflict, cultural decay and doctrinal compromise is difficult and emotionally exhausting.  Pastoral leadership is not for the faint of heart. Finally, Pastors warn: There are many different ways a Pastor may warn their sheep. Below are five examples:

1. Brother, We have missed you. You need to be consistent in worship.
2. Sister, do not participate in or listen to gossip. It will hurt your soul.
3. Bro, are you leading your girlfriend or family spiritually? Sister, are you following your spouse’s leadership?
4. Single adult, are you keeping your mind and body pure? Is the person you are dating a believer?
5. Teenager, is Jesus king in your life? Will you give your parents your heart?

Christian, God urges you to respond in three ways to your pastors: to respect (appreciate and value them), to esteem them and to be at peace with one another.  Now, these verses are not intended for pastors to use as spiritual weapons to coerce; instead, pastors should request this respect and esteem by faithfully (while imperfectly) fulfilling the office God has called them too. This is why Hebrews 13:17 states the following: "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." Brothers and sisters, following these commands produces the positive outcome of being at peace among yourselves. Are you allowing God to use your pastors to grow you by receiving both their warnings and  ministry of the Word….

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