Most pastors, church elders and churches as a whole would say that we need to exhort our congregants to be sober minded, full of charity and attend church each Sunday.

The church needs to remember that every worker is commanded by our Lord to be the best in their field and to accomplish his work as unto the Lord. The plumber in the pew (no pun intended ;-) is to be the best pipe fitter there is…When we do this, we glorify God by enjoying Him. We ought to be serving our Creator through our professions not leaving our faith at home.

The Apostles complained about having to serve tables because it took them from their vocation of preaching the Word. Might I suggest that the chef or cook may have an equal right to complain if asked to leave their vocational service at the table to preach the word?
We should not leave our vocation in order to do ecclesiastical work. In reality, doing so could be against God’s will.

We are all called to preach the Word in season and out of season, to be hospitable, and so on. However, we need not change professions to do so. The contemporary church wastes time and energy, and moreover, commits sacrilege as they demand that secular workers should neglect their given vocation in order to do Christian work.

Christian work is work done well; work done to the glory of the Father. How many of us, if honest, can say we go to work each day to show a lost world the Savior, simply by the way, we do our job. The way we speak to those around us, and especially the ethics with which we handle all of our affairs.

What a marvelous task the preacher of the Word has, he gets to show us all how to do such things. That’s him: just doing his job…

Harvard

Last week, I stole away for an afternoon to see what the Lord is doing at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. I enjoyed an afternoon of history and Christ, with Chaplain Jeremy from RUF. (Reformed University Fellowship: http://www.ruf.org/.) If you get a chance, check out their website, and if you are a student, look for a RUF group on your campus.

Jeremy and I had lunch at John Harvard's. Has some great food and really cool website http://www.johnharvards.com/ (The virtual tour is exceptional:)

...And the back wall is the exposed field stone foundation. Cool huh?!Notice the books on the Harvard Seal. The three books on the seal represent the Old and New testaments and the Book of Nature (information from this article by Michael Welker.) The founders had the book of nature face-down in the original seal (pictured above) because they believed that no one had discovered all there was to know about God's creation. However, Harvard's seal now has all three books facing upwards.

The Massachusetts' Bay colony's reason for founding Harvard University.The Chapel is a memorial to all the graduates of Harvard that have died in the wars of the past centuries, except the Confederate soldiers of the Civil War. (Side Note: There are Nazi soldiers memorialized here, but not our Southern brothers... Think about that for a minute.)

While quartered in Cambridge, George Washington's troops stayed in this building. After the War, many repairs needed to be done to the building. As a result, Harvard sued the Continental Congress for damages.

How to care for your pastor/elder

Churches must give their leaders the opportunity to fail. The Holy Spirit often inspires spontaneous ministry and opens unique doors of outreach. These may look risky, probably are, but giving pastors freedom to step out into unknown areas of Christ-centered projects is essential. If failure comes, evaluation is fine, but not recriminations.

The deadly threesome of “woulda, coulda, shoulda” must be avoided at all costs.

BURN-OUT – Perhaps ‘stress’ is a better word. A sense of being driven by deadlines, events and expectations of others, or the animal type of survival instinct – these express the elusive nature of burn-out. That pastors can come to the end of themselves emotionally, spiritually and physically is all too obvious. Let them talk about it without close scrutiny and then love them through it.

Give them rest!