TOPIC: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A LEADER AND THE LED! TEXT: Acts 6:1-4, Ps.127:1 INTRODUCTION: Not all in ministry are leaders. Ministry is not all about preaching and teaching. It is about leading in the ultimate. For instance, call to pastor does not equal leadership capability. Ministry is a call but leadership is developed. A leader offers direction, sensitizes people and mobilize them to follow. He teaches and raises others to “take his place” A leader is a duplicator and multiplier of grace. A leader is one who deliberately teaches others all he knows. He does not hide or hoard knowledge. He distributes freely from his bank of knowledge. He understands that the more He shares, the more it multiples. Sharing is developing capacity to accommodate more. While a pastor is sympathetic a leader is objective. WHAT MEMBERS EXPECT OF THEIR PASTORS 1. THEY WANT A REACHABLE PASTOR OR LEADER Leadership is all about people. A true leader must reach out to people and be reachable by the people. A leader that will succeed must never be isolated and alienated from people if he does not want to loose their followership. Real leaders seek to close up the gap between them and their followers. A leader’s value is enhanced only as he values the people that he is leading. True leaders will act to meet the aspiration and expectation of the people they represent. Think deeply about this, Are you reachable by people? Are you reaching out to people? If your answer is no then you are not a leader yet. 2. THEY WANT THEIR PASTOR TO PLACE VALUE ON THEM Value for people enhances organizational advancement. If you lack people, you’ll lack qualitative result. Value for people enhances quality of results. If you want to improve on your result seek to improve your relationship with people. If you protect people they will protect the organization. If you promote and project the people they will reciprocate accordingly. How you treat them will either motivate them or demotivate them. Value for people gives them a sense of belonging. It is value for people that turns them from been workers into stakeholders. 3. THEY WANT THEIR PASTOR TO SERVE THEM FAITHFULLY The easiest way to lead people is to serve them faithfully. If you touch their hearts they will give you their hands to lead them. Show them care in practical terms. I have not seen people who don’t respond to care show. Have compassion towards them. Show that you care and they will show to you how much they are ready and willing to follow. A servant to a people, today is their leader in waiting. Stopping to serve today is rising to lead tomorrow. It is people you serve that will offer you their hands to lead them. Serving them is attracting their votes to lead. To rise to lead, stoop to serve. 4. THEY WANT PASTOR THAT WILL FEED THEM AND PRAY FOR THEM Feeding the flocks of God is a major pastoral and leadership responsibility. If your people will live in a settled world, then settle with the settled word. Purchase the settled word to possess a settled world for them. Ps 119:89 You can make their earth become like God’s heaven by allowing on earth what exists in heaven. That is, the settled word. Settle with the word because life remain unsettled until you settle with the word. God’s word is God’s method for settling issues. If you want to help people settle their issues, lead them to the settled word. Prayer is another major duties if every pastors for their people. Open heaven is the cure to earthly dryness. You can never run dry with an open heaven. Prayer is key to open heaven. When situations around you and your people is indicating dryness, turn your heaven with the key of prayer. Prayer brings heaven to the earth. By prayer heaven comes to intervene in earthly matters. The earth will always bow to heavenly injunction. 5. THEY WANT PASTOR THAT WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON THEM. Compassions on people is the secret of impact on people. You cannot touch people if you are not thinking of people. It is as you bear their burden that God uses you to bless them. Think people and God will use you to touch the people. The more you think of people; the more God releases grace upon you to touch their lives. This is why the high priest is commanded by God to carry the names of the 12 tribes of Israel on his heart. He must think of them and unreservedly carry their thought in his heart as he approaches God in his holy of holies. Jesus our High Priest expressed compassion towards people to heal them – Matt.14:14 WHAT A CARING PASTOR EXPECT OF HIS MEMBERS If you have a shepherd over you, it is important that you understand what your pastor expect of you, based on the word of God. The real duties of a congregation toward their pastor among things is what I want to share with you. I speak these things not just concerning myself as a pastor, but to any pastor. 1. HONOUR YOUR PASTOR I Thess. 5:12-13 To know means to recognize them. Paul tells them to recognize them which labor in the word and are over them in the Lord. He is speaking of pastors. They labor in the word. Pastors are over their congregation in the Lord. A pastor is not a better person than any other. There are not 1st class Christians and 2nd class Christians, yet we should honor those that labour in the word and have the oversight over us. You should honor your pastor because of the position that God has placed him in. You are honoring him because of his position, because of the work that God has given him, because of the very valuable work that he is doing. You should honor your pastor for the work that he does. Don’t be in the business of constant criticism of the man of God. Don’t be tearing him down, but be lifting him up. You should honor him because he is called by God. I Timothy 5:17-18 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. This “double honor” speaks of respecting them because of the divine work that they do in the word and supporting them financially, as we will see in the next verse. 2. SUPORT YOUR PASTOR I Timothy 5:17-18, I Corinthians 9:7-14 Paul refers to the natural example of oxen, and how the Lord provided for the oxen that treaded the corn. He refers to the natural law of sowing and reaping – he that sows should be a partaker of the fruits. In verse 13 Paul refers to the Old Testament example of the laws for the Levites. The Levites had no tribe, no land of their own. They ministered in the temple. Their job was ministering in the things of God. They were taken care of physically by the tithes and sacrifices of the people to whom they ministered spiritually. If a man sows to you spiritually, then he should reap from you carnal things, or financially. Verse 14 says that God ordained that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Yet Paul did not enforce this right. He did appreciate those that gave to him, and told them that as they gave to him they were really giving to the Lord. He also told them that as they supplied his need God would in turn supply their needs (Phil. 4:18-19). 3. OBEY YOUR PASTOR Members of the congregation have the responsibility to obey their pastor. The pastor has the rule over you because that is the position that God has placed him in. The pastor has the oversight. You should obey your pastor, as long as he doesn’t conflict with the word of God. A pastor is going to make mistakes, he is going to misspeak from time to time. If you ever have a question, please come to them and we’ll sit down and talk about it. I don’t believe any pastor should be unapproachable. Yet God has commanded that members should obey those that have the spiritual authority over them. This is not based upon age, but rather the position God has put him in. This does not mean that you should obey your pastor only when you agree with him. You should obey him as long as he doesn’t contradict the word. You should obey because a pastor watches for your soul. It is the pastor who is the shepherd of the sheep. When everyone is obedient to the pastor, then the pastor can perform his job with joy. 4. ASSIST YOUR PASTOR By this I mean do your part in the work of the local church. For a church to be successful each member is responsible to use their spiritual gifts and talents to edify the church. It is going to take everyone doing their part for our church to rebuild. I expect our members to be faithful in attendance. Support the church with your presence. I expect our members to support the church with your giving. Everyone has a job to do, and a pastor should expect his members to be faithful to assist in carrying out the different functions of the local church. 5. PRAY FOR YOUR PASTOR Perhaps the most important thing that you can do for your pastor is to pray for him. I earnestly desire your prayers. Satan hates the church, and he focuses his attacks on the pastor. If you can’t do anything else, you can pray for me. Pray for our protection. Pray for our family life. Pray for our marriage. Pray for our wisdom. Pray for our spiritual walk. Pray that We will have insight into the word of God. Pray that God will use us, that he will guide us, that he will help us be the pastor that We should be.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 22:21:49 +0000
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