Every pastor, who is truly seeking to humbly shepherd and lead God’s people, deserves these six things:
Support as the leader of the church. Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. Hebrews 13:17
No talking behind the back. Churches, admittedly, because it’s an organization comprised of everyday people, have problems in this area. Gossip keeps the fire going, not talking too much, puts out the fire. Don’t talk about the pastor negatively. Travel down other roads – pray for the pastor, talk with the pastor, build the pastor up when you are talking to others. At the very least, don’t say anything at all! (Proverbs 26:20)
Prayer on behalf of the congregation. The congregation needs to pray for the pastor on a regular basis [4 Things to Pray For Your Pastor].
Encouragement. The pastor needs encouragement. (Heb 10:24-26)
Honest Compensation. As much as possible, the pastor needs to be free from worry financially. This is in part based on the pastor’s desire and diligence to live within his means, but it also means fairly compensating for the work. (1 Timothy 5:18)
Loving Feedback and Christian Accountability. The pastor needs someone to help sharpen the iron – loving and honest feedback on the way meetings are handled, sermons are preached and people are cared for. Any wise pastor will graciously accept this kind of response from people who are for him and even from those aren’t. (Proverbs 27:17, 1 Thes 5:12)
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this is really solid Tim! Thanks. And you are right about compensation. We do not talk about it but we must. People want a person with an M.Div or better and that means 4 years of college and 3 years of expensive grad school. Many have debt and the salaries are really bad considering the education required and the expectations of the role. Particularly pastors in and near big cities. The cost of living is so high so we have to live 30 minutes from the church and people where we minister. No real pastor is seeking to get rich. But when you cannot make ends meet where you serve, it hurts everyone. We need more than a subsistence income. We are not monks. We have kids and cars and college education to pay.
from another angle, I would say “you get what you give” – I think that pastors can expect a lot sometimes simply by virtue of the title we have or the spiritual authority we are given. While that is a reality, people are also looking for us to be “for” them, interested in mobilizing them for ministry not just building our own, and getting into their world of work as part of our sermon preparation. I am tired of hearing some popular radio guys talking about how we all need to stay in our study 30 hours to create a great message. That is neither needed nor effective. And you would be hard pressed to find such a model in the early church. And it sends to wrong message to the normal pastor who does so much more than give messages, but rather actually seeks to live it out. Get among the people; in their homes and offices – not for making a pastoral call – just engaging a few hours each week on their turf. Their respect for you will skyrocket.
And then flip the coin. Ask some of them to get into your world. Ask them to wrestle with the problems and challenges you have. They will respect the complexity of your task (most just do not know what is really required) and they will begin to appreciate what you are called to do just as you highlight their work as valid ministry in the marketplace, education, home and school.
thanks for your comment. I agree – getting out and being with folks is really a huge part of connection during worship and in ministry together! I love it.