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…

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!