As many of you know, I have the joy and privilege of pastoring Bellevue Baptist Church in Gadsden, Alabama. I love being a local church pastor and am so thankful when I see the local church fulfill her calling in the Lord. Just recently, we ordained our student pastor and I preached what is known as the Charge to the Church. Traditionally, the Charge to the Church is a sermon challenging the church to relate to the ordained pastor in a Biblical way. My charge in this service was titled, “How Can the Church Honor Her Elders?” I believe this is something that all church members in all churches could benefit from. Thus, I have decided to share it in written form.
How can Churches Honor their Elders?
The Book of Hebrews seems to answer this question well in Hebrews 13:7-18. The text says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.”
From this text we can see 6 specific ways that the church can honor their elders:
#1: IMITATE THE GOOD ONES.
In verse 7, the author of Hebrews has the reader to consider their leaders and the outcome of their life. The author further encourages the reader to imitate the faith of those elders/pastors/shepherds/overseers that had lived faithful lives and borne fruit for the Gospel of Christ. For the modern church, we are called to examine the leaders of the church and, if they are faithful, imitate their faith and faithfulness. For the church member, this not only includes remembering past leaders, but also current ones. This involves following the lead of the church elder or pastor in faith. If the pastor of the church is leading the church into a challenging emphasis or initiative such as church planting, increased mission giving, or deep doctrinal teaching, the church should respond by careful attention and faith rather than knee-jerk reactions and fear. In short, where there are faithful leaders, there should be faithful followers. If your pastor is preaching the truth, imitate him and his teaching as he imitates Christ.
#2:DO NOT BE LED ASTRAY.
As a pastor, the scariest Bible verse in Scripture to me is that of James 3:1, which says “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” This is sobering and it reminds the elder of the church to be faithful and watchful in relation to their congregation. However, not all pastors do this. There is a growing group of false teachers. With the rise of social media and the ability for anyone, anywhere, to get any message out at any time, comes a plethora of new ways for false teaching to spread like a wildfire. Whether it is a few seconds of bad teaching on TikTok or a hour of heresy from a televangelist, false teaching is abundant and available any time of day. The faithful local church pastor, unlike the TV preacher, has prayed over his congregation and is faithfully preparing each week to preach the truth of which he is convicted to his people. If you want to bless and honor your church Pastor, do not be led astray. The author of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thus, we should not be carried away with various or strange doctrines. Your hearts should be established in grace rather than the things of the world. Sit under the teaching of your pastor with open hearts, eyes, and ears. Of course, you must filter every teacher through the Word of God, even your pastor. But if your pastor is preaching the truth do not depart to the entertainers and ear-ticklers. This is especially important as false teaching leads to false worship. Hold fast to the doctrine of Christ and continually offer the sacrifice of His praise rather than the doctrines and praise of men.
#3: DO NOT NEGLECT TO DO GOOD.
This deals with the doctrine of sin. Sin is not only doing that which we know to be wrong, but it is also not doing what we know to be right. You can bless your pastor by doing good. The Bible tells us that God is well-pleased with sacrifices of doing good and sharing. Just as a parent is so proud when they hear of their children doing good things, so too is a pastor proud when he hears of his church members doing good things. So don’t forget to do them! God is pleased when we work together to do good. The Bible also says that pastors are worthy of double honor. So when you get the chance, remember that small pieces of encouragement do the pastor a world of good. A simple hand-written note with a few encouraging words does more good than you know.
#4: OBEY AND SUBMIT.
Verse 17 clearly says to obey and submit. This might seem self-serving for a pastor to write that the church can best honor their pastor by obeying and submitting. However, remember that these are God’s words, not my own. Notice though the reason why. The author says that people should obey and submit because the church leaders are those who watch over their souls as people giving an account. This goes back to the earlier point about being led astray. Your pastor will give an account for their faithfulness regarding their shepherding of you. The TV pastor will not. The Instagram quote will not. But your pastor will. So trust that if your pastor will give an account for how they shepherd you that it makes sense for your pastor to shepherd you to the best of his ability based on his Biblical convictions. Thus, if he asks you to do something, it likely comes as a result of his pouring over the Scriptures and bathing the situation in prayer. This means that when the faithful pastor tells you something, you should obey trusting that he is mindful of the gravity of the situation and is following his convictions to the best of his ability. Speaking as a pastor, it is my great joy to see a baptism, seeing people profess their faith. On the other hand, there is no greater pain than seeing church members live their lives in a manner that is contrary to Biblical truth. I love seeing Biblical teaching and doctrine click for people. I hate seeing it when people ignore it. This is because any faithful pastor loves his congregation and wants the best for them. Thus, the church is called to obey and willfully submit to the leadership.
#5: DON’T MAKE IT HARDER THAN IT HAS TO BE.
The fact of ministry is that it is hard. Ministry is a people-centric vocation and dealing with people is not always easy. The author Hebrews shows in verse 17 that pastors should lead with joy and not with grief because it is unprofitable for anyone if they lead with grief. As I shared earlier, there is no greater joy than the joys of ministry and faithfully serving the Lord. Ministers have a responsibility to love their church and serve it with joy. However, the church is equally called to serve with joy and submit with joy. Your pastor is likely working as hard as they can and still struggling to get everything done. Especially if your pastor is bivocational, in which case it is almost guaranteed that he is overworked and underpaid. One of the most painful statements for your pastor to hear is “People are saying.” As much as you can, make it easy for your pastor to serve you with joy by being a joy to serve. I am thankful that everywhere I have served, it has been a joy to serve the vast majority of every one of those congregations. When church leadership and membership serve each other with joy and keep the focus of glorifying God and leading others to do the same, something beautiful occurs and much fruit will result.
#6: PRAY FOR YOUR LEADERS.
This should be a no-brainer. Verse 18 calls for prayer. The author says, “Pray for us;” why does he say this? Because the leaders desired to live honorably in all things. Pray for your church leadership as they seek to live out their Biblical convictions honorably. Pray for them because spiritual warfare is real and they face tremendous pressure. Pray for them that The Lord would use them mightily to reach the community with the Gospel and lead their congregations to do the same. My grandmother used to always say that prayer is one of the only things you can do for someone that costs you nothing. As such, it costs you nothing more than a few moments of time to pray for your church and its leadership, but the rewards are massive.
In conclusion, remember that faithful elders are worthy of double-honor. This article assumes that elders are faithful to the Word and their church and provides practical Biblical ways to honor these faithful church leaders.
Colt Hudson 