Wednesday, October 15, 2003
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Wednesday, October 15, 2003 |
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Appreciating your pastor By JOHN HATCHER It’s considered a crude offense not to leave a tip (gratuity) upon paying the server in most restaurants. If you experienced below par service, you usually tip five percent rather than the customary 10 to 15 percent of the dining check. But, in almost all cases, you always leave something. The history of the word “tip” has various explanations. But the one most plausible to me is the following: the tip began as a verb in the 17th century, used in the language of thieves, meaning “to give.” By the early 18th century, the meaning included to give a gratuity to a servant or employee. The point made here is that we give a tip — a monetary way of saying thanks for good service — to those who wait tables in restaurants, but rarely do pastors hear a word of encouragement, receive a “tip” over and above normal salary, or even get a compliment about the message he prepared all week for his congregation. Far too many congregations look at their pastors and even priests as hired hands. They say, “We hired you to serve us as pastor; you listen to what we say; you do what we tell you to do; we tell you when it’s time for you to go.” One minister described it to me that it was like the congregation had a chain around his neck and if he gets a little off course, the chain get a yank and he feels it around his neck. The point of course continues to be: many church members treat those who wait on their tables at restaurants far better than they treat their own pastors. I believe it comes from a failure to understand the nature and position of pastor. Pastors enter their line of work because of a distinct, historical call of God. Most pastors can tell you the time and place where they experienced the call of God to become a pastor. In a survey conducted for the book, Pastors at Greater Risk by H. B. London, Jr. and Neil B. Wiseman, 86 percent of pastors said they would choose ministry as a career if they had it to do all over again. Why, you ask? Because God put his hand of “call” on their lives. Pastors are not hired; they are called of God. For the life of me I don’t know from where this concept that a pastor is a hired hand and should act like a hired dirt digger came. Some say it came about the time when America entered the Industrial Revolution and companies were governed by a board of directors. What the “board” said became law. The presidents and superintendents took orders from the “board.” So the church, which mimics culture all too well, decided it needed its own set of directors. Some called them elders; others presbyters; and others called them deacons. Whatever they were called, they all perceived their job as running the church. And of course the one they ran and still run in all too many churches is the pastor. Not only should you honor and encourage your pastor because of his calling from God, but also because he’s the one you call for the crucial intersections of life. When your loved one dies, whom do you call? Who is the one who must stand at the coffin and say words of comfort and strength? When your children marry, whom do you call? Who is the one who says, “By the power invested in me by God and this state, I pronounce you husband and wife?” And yet, far too many church members quickly exit the church building Sunday after Sunday even when the pastor’s words healed a hurt, instilled hope, and answered a difficult question — failing to wait to say a word of appreciation to the pastors who have served up their very best for those whom he loves so dearly. As you read this column, you will be observing that I am biased because I, too, am a pastor. But I am a pastor who listens to other pastors and hears their disappointment that member after member, board member after board member consistently treats them as a hired hands. Not so. The pastor, called of God, has been sent to your church to lead your church in every aspect of the church’s work. The Bible refers to him as the overseer. On a construction site, an overseer knows everything that is going on and has decisive authority over the whole process. The Bible commands you treat him with great respect, constantly giving him reasons to have joy about you and your walk with the Lord. Read the following from Hebrews 13:17: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” Since October is Clergy Appreciation Month, wouldn’t this be a great time to change your attitude and behavior toward your pastor? Perhaps you need to repent of some ways you have treated him and begin esteeming him highly in the Lord as one who does keep watch over your soul.
John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive Fayetteville, Georgia 30215 770-719-0303 |
