Pray For Your Pastor

We often decide whether we will fellowship in a particular church depending on our final evaluation of the pastor. We ask ourselves, ‘Does he preach the word?’ ‘Does he truly care about the people of God?’ and ‘Does he recognize God’s calling upon his life for this work?’. These are all necessary and legitimate questions when considering whether to fellowship in a particular church. If you do not trust the pastor to instruct you in God’s word, it’s best not to join that church.

According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary, a pastor is defined as the following:

1. A shepherd; is one that has the care of flocks and herds.

2. A minister of the gospel who has the charge of a church and congregation, whose duty is to watch over the people of his charge and instruct them in the sacred doctrines of the Christian religion.

But today, it is getting to the point where many Christians spend a lot of time criticizing pastors they disagree with. This criticism many times does not exclude their pastors. The criticism varies from minor criticism like ‘I wish my pastor were more apologetic in nature’ or ‘my pastor doesn’t even seem to care about praise and worship in the church, it’s so boring’, to very intense criticism like ‘my pastor doesn’t know how to preach’, ‘my pastor isn’t a prayerful man, he spends all his time teaching and never leads the congregation into prayer’. On the surface, these criticisms seem legitimate, and most of us would have criticized our pastor for things like this at one stage in our journey. But it is, unfortunately, getting to the point where Christians spend all their time criticizing (usually behind the pastor’s back) and never take time to pray for their pastor. Of course, if you attend a church where your pastor preaches heretical doctrines, that’s an entirely different situation. In that case, I do not encourage you to stay. According to scripture, anyone who preaches a different type of gospel (heresy) is accursed.

Galatians 1:8-9, ESV But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one, we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

I am not trying to encourage you to stay in a church where you are not growing and where the word is not taught. Pastors are commanded to teach the word of God.

2 Timothy 4:2, ESV Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Furthermore, if the pastor is unfamiliar with God’s word, how can he teach it and stop people from going down the wrong path?

Titus 1:9, ESV He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

Nonetheless, I would like us to focus on our preferences in what we would like our pastor to do. The truth is there is no ‘perfect’ pastor. You have probably heard the saying, ‘Don’t look for a perfect church because there isn’t one. But if you find a perfect church, do not join it because you will probably mess it up with your imperfection’. In one sense, you can take the same attitude towards your pastor. The Scriptures explicitly describe the attitude we are to have towards our pastors.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, ESV We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

If you notice, there are no exemptions in this text like ‘unless your pastor doesn’t do enough biblical exposition’ or ‘unless your pastor doesn’t spend five hours in the church in prayer’. Christians are called to focus on our attitude towards our pastors. God is the ultimate judge, and He will judge the quality of the work of our pastors. Pastors are called to ‘divide the word’, ‘lead the flock’, ‘teach sound doctrine’, and they will give an account to God. But so will we as Christians! God is looking at your attitude towards your pastor. Are you respectful towards them? Not only when you see them, but how do you speak about them in their absence? The only reason the Lord admonishes us to have this attitude is ‘because of their work’. Their calling demands this type of attitude from us and no less.

Most pastors I have spoken to did not necessarily plan to become pastors. It was not something they had always wanted to be. They describe it as ‘labour’ and a role where you must always sacrifice for others. It takes work. As Voddie Baucham would say, ‘Sheep have teeth, and they bite!.’ I am sure every pastor can recall a story of where a church member hurt them and disrupted the peace. Furthermore, pastors will be judged with greater strictness and are accountable for a lot.

James 3:1, ESV Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

So, instead of playing the role of the critical judge, why not pray for your pastor? Pray for their growth in the Lord. Pray for God to strengthen them. Pray for God to keep them and that they will continue to serve God even in the face of discouragement. A lot of the criticism would decrease if you just prayed. So next time you feel the need to criticize your pastor, why not take a minute and pray instead?

May the Lord help us all.