Don’t put your pastor on a pedestal where he can be knocked off.

Put your pastor on a prayer list where he can be lifted up. 

October is pastor appreciation month. And it is a wonderful reminder for us to express our gratitude to the shepherds of our congregations. But I would challenge all of us to take make it a point to pass on our thanks to the person ordained by God to lead, preach or teach the flock regularly throughout the year.

More often than not, our feedback from this side of the pulpit is on the critical side rather than complimentary. And while challenging a pastor where they may have strayed from the Word of God is necessary, I submit that doing so in the back of church while they greet fellow congregants, only moments after the sermon, is likely not the time or the place.

No. A better time and place would be somewhere less conspicuous and after you have spent some time in the Word and in prayer about the issue. A wise elder, pastor and dear friend once gave me similar counsel. Those words were indelibly left on my heart.

And then there is the other side of the coin. There are also times when we feel so incredibly blessed because of the way the Holy Spirit is working through our pastor. It is times like these when it is not uncommon to lift the pastor up on a pedestal. While our pastor may very well belong at the pulpit, a pedestal is a precarious spot to put them.

Keep your pastor or pastors in your prayers. Pray that the Holy Spirit continues to use them in ways that open up God’s word to us. That their preaching is from the Word of God and true to that Word.

Yes. Certainly encourage, lift up, and thank your pastor. But most of all pray!

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.  (1 Timothy 5:17 ESV)