Caring Well for Your Pastor—Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the responsibilities and duties of pastors, as well as biblical responsibilities church members have toward their pastors. Here is Part 2:

How Churches and Members Can Care for Their Pastors

They can follow their leadership as they follow Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). There is much about their lives that is imitable—follow their example as much as you are able. Two ways to do that are to receive the teaching of the Word for what it is—the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13), loving the Word they faithfully work to impart to you, and then grow in Christlikeness —when you are growing, it will be your pastor’s greatest joy (3 John 4).

Secondly, have reasonable expectations for their care of you. Yes, they should be unique in their calling (desires), gifting, and character (1 Timothy 3:1ff), but remember that they are under-shepherds; they are not the great Shepherd and Guardian (1 Peter 2:25). So don’t ask of your pastor what only the Guardian of our souls can do. They will sin, they will fail, they will be inadequate, they will forget, they will be unknowing. And they can still be used by God for you.

And care for their spiritual needs. J. I. Packer wisely noted:

The church, however, is a hospital in which nobody is completely well, and anyone can relapse at any time. Pastors no less than others are weakened by pressure from the world, the flesh, and the devil, with their lures of profit, pleasure, and pride, and, as we shall see more fully in a moment, pastors must acknowledge that they the healers remain sick and wounded and therefore need to apply the medicines of Scripture to themselves as well as to the sheep whom they tend in Christ’s name. [A Quest for God]

In caring for them spiritually, practice the “one anothers” with and toward them; they are also sheep that need care. So love them (19 times in the NT); live peaceably with them (Mark 9:50; Romans 14:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:13); participate in the membership of the body with them (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:25; Ephesians 4:25); be devoted to them (Romans 12:1—as brothers, not just as shepherd and sheep); honor them (Philippians 2:3; Romans 12:10); accept them (Romans 15:7—make sure there is no divisiveness, bitterness, or unresolved conflict with them); when appropriate, admonish and encourage them (Romans 1:12; 15:14; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 4:18; 5:11; Hebrews 3:13; 10:24–25); forgive them when they sin and repent (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13; James 5:16); serve them (John 13:14; 1 Corinthians 11:33; Galatians 5:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; 1 Peter 4:9–10; 5:5); and bear their burdens (Galatians 6:2—you do know your pastor has burdens, don’t you?).

Other spiritual care will involve loving them enough to graciously address their spiritual inadequacies—where are they weak and how can they grow in those areas and experience God’s adequacy (2 Corinthians 3:5–6)? And even loving them enough to graciously address their spiritual failures and sin (Galatians 2:14). As an aside, when correcting or admonishing, be aware of timing—do not attempt to do that immediately after worship or on Friday/Saturday when he’s trying to prepare for preaching on Sunday. Be gracious in your words and in the timing as well.

Fourthly, care for their physical needs (1 Timothy 5:17–18). That includes providing financially for them as generously as you are able. Give them a livable salary (that includes opportunities for savings) and base raises or bonuses on faithfulness to task and spiritual character more than numerical data (i.e., “more people = more money”). And be aware of the real costs of things like health and life insurance, retirement and long-term savings. Give them access to “professional expenses” (provide him a work phone and funds to take others to lunch and give away books, etc.), and a generous book and conference allowance so he can build his own library and care for his own soul.

You will also want to have a liberal vacation policy for him. Time away is a blessing to his family, to him (because he needs rest), and to the church body as others exercise their spiritual gifts in his absence. Communicate gratitude for the pastor being able to get away and make sure they have the resources they need for time away. Along with vacation, you might consider providing a sabbatical on a regular basis, both for study and rest.

Finally, encourage them to maintain their primary responsibilities, those of studying, teaching, preaching, and praying (Acts 6:2). So as the church is able, hire support staff to alleviate them of administrative responsibilities. Volunteer to fill ministry roles so they don’t have to do everything. Let unpaid elders monitor their schedules—both macro (annually) and micro (weekly/daily). And in guarding their time, interact with the family asking good questions—is the family getting the time and attention they need? When he is home, is he truly home and engaged?

In summary, Christopher Ash asks an appropriate question as we consider caring for our shepherds:

What will motivate a pastor not only to begin this work but to persevere in it with patient endurance, never turning his hand from the plough?

Answer: unless there is at least some whisper of joy in their hearts as they do their work, some spring of gladness in their step, they will never persevere to the end. And—and this is the point—it is we who will suffer. Instead of being well taught—faithfully preached to with insight and depth—instead of being patiently prayed for, instead of having our souls guarded from evil, instead of being lovingly equipped, instead of being well led in our churches, we will be harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, at the mercy of all kinds of destructive evil. And our churches will be places of shallow immaturity and instability, at the mercy of every whim of cultural pressure or theological oddity. [The Book Your Pastor Wishes You Would Read.]