Galatians 4:15
“Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.”
Paul is referring back to a time when he was in the good graces of the Galatian church. This a great description of the devotion we should have toward our leaders.
Why is that? A good pastor works hard for his people. The bible tells of the qualifications of a pastor. Philippians 2:26 speaks of an important one, love for the congregation; "because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick."
God is referred to as a shepherd. Isaiah 40:11 says, "Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes." That is the model for a pastor. That's a high bar. None can reach that, but it let's us see the heart of a shepherd.
Some churches are to large for the head pastor to have that kind of contact with the people. To remedy that there are pastoral staff. To push that care down to lower levels, many churches have small groups. This allows people to know and care for one another. People in the church should feel loved and cared for.
Another job of the pastor is to teach God's Word, the bible. Jesus commanded Peter to "feed My sheep", (John 21:17). We need God's truth and we need it often. Ephesians 2:1-3 speaks the strong influence against the Lord and His ways; they are the world, the flesh and the devil. The world is the ungodly message that can be part of many cultures that bullies faith in God. The flesh is that part of us that seeks to go against God and the devil and his demons have an evils influence against us and godly culture. God gave us the bible to inform us how to live.
The bible also is God's Word that speaks to us. Hebrews 4:12 gives us a description of how this happens. It says, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Just like when water comes in contact with a seed it comes to life, so the Lord uses the bible in us as we read and hear it.
The bible is also referred to as spiritual food. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food." While actual gives us physical health, the bible produces spiritual health.
How does that happen? Hebrews 5:14 gives us some insight. "But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." The bible does more than teach us principles of how to live, we learn how to relate to God and follow His guidance. This verse speaks our spiritual senses. Our consciences are part of this. So are our thoughts and impressions. We also learns to pay attention to circumstances. In terms of open and closed doors.
That was four paragraphs detailing the importance of bible teaching. That is a huge job of a pastor. It's quite a task to teach the bible to a church. It's made up of adults, young adults, adolescents and children. A healthy church has programs to reach all of those audiences.
That's why we are to love and support our leaders. They are pouring much effort and time into us. We should reward their efforts with appreciation. This was part of our culture. The past 50 years there has been a hostile assault against the faith community. A large percentage of the population isn't religious, so they have abandoned this attitude toward our spiritual leaders.
We can change that. We can show our support and appreciation to them. Lord, help us have this attitude towards our pastors. Let them feel our love.