Happy churches make happy pastors.
Gift cards, personal notes, public expressions of appreciation, and thank you cards pour into pastors during Pastor Appreciation Month each October. The gestures are wonderful and encourage us as pastors in the work of the ministry. We are grateful to people for their gratefulness.
I recently retired from the church I had pastored for the last 28 years. Many spoke words of appreciation at the celebration, moving me to tears with their love. Gifts and cards made me feel very much appreciated. It is important for churches to set aside October to appreciate their pastors each year, but it is even more important to encourage and support their pastors all year long. Disciple-making is hard work and pastors grow discouraged. How can believers move beyond the gift cards to strengthen the hearts of their pastors in the ministry?
Follow their leadership
The Bible teaches us to respectfully follow church leaders so they can give an account of their ministry to the Lord with joy and not grief (I Thess. 5:12; Heb. 13:17). Pastors don’t often preach on these verses because it seems self-serving, yet the churches that are most effective at disciple-making carry out the spirit of these verses in practical ways. You don’t follow your pastor because he is perfect. You follow your pastor because it is the most effective way to reach your community for Christ. If a pastor must spend his time wrangling with people to get them to serve in the church, then he has little energy left over to reach people with the gospel. Your pastor will be encouraged when you focus on making disciples and reaching your community for Christ with a spirit of openness to fresh ideas. One of the best ways you can encourage your pastor is by showing a willingness to serve in church ministry! Surprise him with a willing heart!
Get along with one another
Do you want to make your pastor happy? Get along with each other, even in disagreement. Learn to disagree agreeably. Happy churches make happy pastors. Paul told believers to “live in peace with one another” as the way to show appreciation to their pastor (I Thess. 5:13). “Make my joy complete,” Paul wrote to the Philippians, “by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose” (Phil. 2:2). Nothing drains a pastor quicker than church fights. The big battles are not as draining as the petty squabbles which are why Paul exhorted Euodia and Syntyche (nicknamed Odious and Soon Touchy) to live in harmony with each other (Phil. 4:2). Work out your differences quickly and lovingly. Stay focused on the goal of making disciples, and you will encourage and energize your pastor in boundless ways.
Stick up for them in hard times
One of the saddest verses in the New Testament is II Timothy 4:16. Paul is in a Roman prison cell awaiting trial when he writes, “at my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them.” It comes at the end of a list of those who had left him, some for good reasons but some abandoned and even hurt him deeply (II Tim. 4:9-14). He was alone. Paul had faced an imprisonment earlier where some selfish preachers were seeking to cause him distress (Phil. 1:15-18). Paul faced intense criticism and conflict in Corinth from church leaders regarding his style and philosophy of ministry (II Cor. 11-13). Ministry can be messy. Conflicts erupt. Many pastors grow lonely. Criticism stings.
Your pastor needs encouragement the most when his spirit shrinks and he feels abandoned. God will hold him up, but how encouraging it can be to have a friend come alongside in support. Will you have his back when the critics attack? Would you speak up for him when others criticize him? Loyalty to your pastor is a huge encouragement. Stop by and offer to take his children to the beach or out for a burger. Investing spiritually in his children is a huge encouragement to pastors. A phone call asking how you can pray for him will boost his spirits. Be a friend to him and his wife. Give him the benefit of your trust in those times of doubt and conflict. The great Baptist pastor C.H. Spurgeon once wrote to a friend who had encouraged him during a difficult time in ministry, “Friends firm. Enemies alarmed. Devil angry. Sinners saved. Christ exalted. Self not well.”
Understand their humanness
Your pastor struggles with the same kinds of issues that you face, trying, and sometimes failing but striving to do the best he can. Pastors are sinners too. Give your pastor the gift of wobble room. There was a time when Paul was burdened beyond his strength, in despair, but the prayers of believers helped him through his depression (I Cor. 1:8-11). Yes. Pastors suffer depression too. Another time, Paul said he had no rest for his spirit so much so that when God opened the door to new ministry, he couldn’t do it (II Cor. 2:12-13). Pastors can become so discouraged that they struggle to fulfill their ministries! What brought Paul out of his despair was the comfort and love of the Christians in the church (II Cor. 7:6-7). Pray for your pastor in his struggles. Better yet, pray with him over a cup of coffee. He will appreciate your prayer support more than you can imagine.
I was down and nearly out, ready to quit. Personal and family stresses threatened to derail my ministry. The church elders gave me a three-month sabbatical and came alongside us to hold us up during some very hard times. A woman in our church gave me a small lapel pin. It was a gold yoke. Her late father, whom I knew well, had worn it on his lapel since her childhood. She wrote me a note reminding me that I was yoked with the Lord. That little yoke was a powerful encouragement. I wore it every Sunday for years, and every time I pinned it on, God reminded me that I was yoked to Him who would give me the strength to carry on in ministry.
David Christensen (Th.M., D.Min.) retired as Senior Pastor at Galilee Baptist Church, Gorham, ME in the fall of 2018 to devote his time as founder and president of The Rephidim Project, a ministry committed to encouraging church leaders and teaching the methods of expository preaching to the next generation of pastors. www.rephidimproject.org