Respect and Honor For Pastors

147 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. (1 Tim 5:17) Next on Paul's list of instructions for the church is the matter of dealing with those who serve as elders. Specifically here, those elders who rule. They are the overseers of a congregation or the pastors. Let me ask you a quick question. Should this honor be on display JUST in the month of October (Clergy Appreciation Month) or year round? God bless Focus on the Family for raising awareness of Clergy Appreciation when they instituted Clergy Appreciation Month in October of 1994, but friends, this is a full time exhortation from the Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul. Honor the pastor of your congregation, especially if the pastor rules well. Oh Oh! I smell trouble here. What does it mean to “rule well? I mean what if a pastor is not ruling well? Before we get into that, let's be clear on the honor due to the office of the Word, which is the position that the pastor holds in the Kingdom of God. The word honor here has a double meaning, it means honoring with money, but also honoring with dignity. The office of the Word, (and therefore the one who holds that position) is counted as worthy of dignity. Somehow this kind of honoring of the office has waned in recent years. Maybe it's because pastors have sought to be identified as ordinary Joe's, or maybe it's because of well-publicized scandals in the church, or maybe it's because the pastor wants the sheep to know that he is not to be put on a pedestal because he is a sinner too and in need of the saving grace of Jesus. Maybe it's because robes have been cast aside for suits and sport coats or Hawaiian shirts with Levis. These kinds of things can subliminally lead to a lessening of respect for the office of the Word. But having said that, clothing does not make this office. Jesus didn't hand out robes and sport coats to His Apostles, (the only robe they were given is the robe of righteousness which He hands out to all believers!) The dignity of the office comes from the fact that God has established it! Eph 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,” let this fact be the starting point about rendering honor to elders. More on this next time.