The month of October is considered Pastors Appreciation Month. It started in the early ‘90s as Clergy Appreciation Day and then evolved into a month. It was considered a time to encourage pastors with a demanding job that often caused stress and burnout. You’ve probably heard of the job description that a search committee put together when their church was looking for a new pastor…
The perfect pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes.
He condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone's feelings.
He works from 8 AM until midnight and is also the church janitor.
The perfect pastor makes $40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, buys good books, and donates $30 a week to the church.
He is 29 years old and has 40 years of experience.
Above all, he is handsome.
The perfect pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers, and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens.
He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his church.
He makes 15 home visits a day and is always in his office to be handy when needed.
The perfect pastor always has time for church council and all its committees. He never misses the meeting of any church organization and is always busy evangelizing the unchurched.
Of course, this is satirical…but maybe not so far off? Being a pastor myself, coming on close to 40 years, this article may come off as self-serving, but really, I would just like to advocate for my fellow colleagues in ministry, especially after having a meal with a pastor friend of mine many years ago and him describing it as Pastor “Depreciation” month. He didn’t stay long in his church after that.
What’s good for you and your pastor… Hebrews 13:17 (NLT) — 17 “Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.” When a pastor has the opportunity to serve with joy it is like fuel to the flame of passion filled service. But when a pastor serves under the critical and cynical disapproval of others it is like fuel to the flame of burn out.
When it says “obey your spiritual leaders” it is never talking about subjecting yourself to spiritual manipulation or being compelled to respond out of guilt. A good Pastor/Shepherd will apply the principles of the Jesus kind of leadership when He said, the greatest among you must be a servant. Let your pastor serve you with the gifts and talents the Lord has blessed him or her with, but don’t let their service become slavery. Find out what their love language is (gifts, being served, words that affirm them), and be intentional about blessing your pastor(s) this month.
