Before you call that pastor…

Hebrews 13:8 and 17

I am often asked to assist local churches who are seeking pastors. I am always glad to do whatever I can for them. But there are some things a congregation should seriously consider before calling a man to be its pastor, before calling him, not after calling him.

            In gospel churches a pastorate is normally a life-long term of service. Rarely do you find gospel preachers moving from place to place. In my opinion that is as it should be. So, before calling a pastor, a local church should find out everything possible about a man, his gifts, his character, his faithfulness, and his family. You should ask yourself a few questions. Each person, most particularly every man in the congregation should ask…

            Is this a man I will be anxious to hear preach the gospel to me three times a week? A congregation should never call a pastor thinking, “This is the best we can hope for.” No matter the size of the assembly, no matter its location, no matter how poor the people are, if God has raised up a gospel church, he has a pastor for that church (Jeremiah 3:15). And the pastor God gives will be the pastor specifically gifted for that specific congregation. He will be specially gifted to minister to you, as no one else can.

            Am I willing to do what I can to support this man? When you call a man to be your pastor, in all likelihood he will quit a good job, sell his house and move his family across the country to be your pastor. If he is an older man, that will mean leaving behind his children and grandchildren. A faithful man will willingly make such sacrifices to serve the cause of Christ.

However, if you ask a man to make such sacrifices, you should be prepared to make some sacrifices yourself. You should be ready to do whatever you are able to do to provide for his needs. You should be ready and willing to follow his lead and obey him as your pastor. Without question, you will find some things about his personality, his personal habits, and/or his preaching that do not perfectly please you. But if the man faithfully preaches the gospel of Christ, it would be childish and irresponsible for you to walk away from his ministry.

            Do I highly esteem this man as God’s messenger to my soul? Every believer should esteem his pastor very highly (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13). The word “highly” is “superabundantly,” over and above the esteem given to other brothers and sisters in Christ. This is not because he possesses any personal superiority; he does not. He, like you, is “only a sinner saved by grace.” But he is to be esteemed superabundantly for his work's sake. What does this mean?

You are to entertain the highest possible opinions of your pastor at all times. Hold him up in your own mind. Highly esteem his gifts and abilities as a preacher, and his grace and faithfulness as a believer. If you have a low opinion of a man, it is not likely that he will be of much use to your soul. His words will carry no weight with you.

Always speak  honorably  of  your pastor.  Believers should always speak well of one another, but this is especially true regarding their pastor. If you do not speak well of your pastor, it is not likely that anyone who knows you will have any respect for him. At home, among the members of your family, at work, in the midst of your co-workers and in the community, always give God's servant the highest possible esteem in your speech.

Speak respectfully to your pastor as God's messenger to you. The use of titles and names of distinction to separate and elevate God’s servants above his people is to be deplored. Our Lord plainly forbids it (Matthew 23:7-9). We should address no man as “Reverend,” “Father,” or “Doctor.” But God's servants should be spoken to in respectful terms. Neither the pastor's office, nor his work, should be made the object of a joke or of ridicule. Like a father in his household, the pastor is to be treated and spoken to with the respect that becomes his high and holy office in the church.

This superabundant esteem must be the esteem of sincere love for the pastor's work’s sake. It is not a forced reverence for an office. It is to be a heartfelt esteem flowing from your realization of the burden, labour and value of the work of the gospel, to which God's servant faithfully gives himself. That man deserves your highest, most loving esteem who spends his life in ardent labour for the gospel, who has been the instrument used of God for your salvation, who ministers to the comfort of your soul and is used of God for your spiritual growth and edification in the knowledge of Christ.

Don Fortner

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