“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
There is a religious practice in Taiwan where great people are defied when they die. In the most traditional practices patriarchs of the family are worshipped when they pass on. When I moved back to America from Taiwan I thought that I had left that sort of thing behind, but I was wrong. No we don’t make offerings to our leaders, or fathers, but in our hearts we do deify them don’t we?
How easy is it to deify our leaders. But how easy it becomes to demonize them as well.
Have you ever had these range of emotions? One day you meet with a leader you respect, they encourage you, they inspire you, and you leave feeling that you could “follow them wherever they go”. Now change scenes, to a time this certain leader sits you down, and begine to lovingly rebuke you. How do you feel now? As hard as you try to agree, and receive their rebuke, a small feeling of disrespect and criticism creeps in. Follow this story even further and you begin to over criticize them and under appreciate them!
This range of emotions usually stems from a disorder in our hearts. If we constantly feel this love/hate relationship with our leaders it is most likely because they hold too high of a place in our hearts. We place unrealistic expectations over them.
Throughout the NT there is a precedent set of our need to pray for our leaders(Acts 14:23, Eph 6:18-19, Heb 13:7, etc.). Jesus himself prays for his disciples, and includes all the church, leaders and lay alike, that we would be united as one(John 17).
Stems from Dis-belief:
-I don’t believe that Jesus is truly sufficient enough for my needs. Pastors or leaders become a sort of “golden calf” where I can point myself and others to and say “here is your god” who preaches to you, who comforts you, and who leads you. This is idolatry of the worst kind.
The shepherd is a vessel through whom the grace of God pours into my life and the life of the community. Their leadership is to be a reflection of Christ, and one of the most important things to remember is that, when that leadership fails, or the pastor makes mistakes, we truly need to understand this truth of the pastor’s humanity and Christ’s divinity. This will enable us to be gracious and loving towards our pastors , because we know our hope and our trust is in a divine Christ, who is the real divine Shepherd(1 Pet 5).
-I believe that if the leader/pastor was more like me, things would be better: We want to make leaders into our image rather than giving them grace, and praying that they be conformed and made into the image of Christ(Rom 8). It’s a pure desire for control. We want to lead, and we think we would do a better job. This is where it would be good to remember the divinity and power of Christ, because we must remember that He is actually the head of the church, He is the actualy Great Shepherd. Our needs don’t dictate the church, but His desire and will do.
The Corinthian Issue
You know Paul dealt with this same issue. In the Corinthian church the community was divided( greek word is actually “schism”), over their own leaders. They were “one upping” each other on who baptized them, or who brought them to faith. Some were saying I follow Appollos, I follow Cephas(Peter), I follow Paul, and so on. What this did was create a loyalty to men at the expense of loyalty to Christ. Paul rebukes them and makes this bold statement, “ Was Paul crucified for you??” That is such a strong but true statement that we need to hold in our minds as we think about our leaders. How many times have we placed our identity in the “circles we run with, or read” rather than in the perfect circle of the Trinity? Our Pastors can’t save you. They can’t be your Messiah. Stop idolizing your pastor and start believe and trusting in your Savior.
Practical Ways to Bless Your Leaders:
Althought a good foot washing, like our Mennonite brothers, might be in order, there are other ways to serve and bless our leaders.
-Throw a party for your leaders.
-Pray for them. Encourage them. They are your brother in Christ first, your Pastor second. So all the “one anothers” in Scripture apply to your Pastor just like your friend. Meditate on the Scriptures above, about the call from the New Testament to pray for our leaders/pastors.
-If you are mature in Christ, be a listening, non condemning ear, to their reflections and their struggles.
-Be their friend. So many pastor’s talk of loniless. Just be a friend. Don’t try to impress, or be super spiritual. Be yourself, and this will free up others to do the same.
I hope to encourage myself and others to have a spirit of grace for our leaders. This is a counter-cultural, and missional practice. Most of our culture blames the other. We display the truth of the Gospel when we don’t do this.
Questions: What are some other ways to bless our leaders?
Where do you struggle most with your leaders/pastors?