Pastor, Be Nice!

Pastor, consider who you berate for being too tired to attend all church services; for those members choosing to rest instead of attend every function; for those not being able to be fully involved in ministry, or for not being able to attend every time the doors of the church building are open. 

You Forget

You forget your blessings—your vocation is one totally devoted to the ministry—to spiritual matters. 

You have the blessing of being cared for while leading the church, but others do not have such a blessing. They do not receive payment or privilege for exercising themselves in the things of the Lord. So they must work in their own vocations to provide for their families and or their own personal needs. 

They have graduations to go to, family gatherings, holidays with family members, business meetings, school activities, classes to attend, and any number of other activities weighing on them. 

Of course they would like to be in church. What Spirit-filled believer wouldn't? 

Of course they need to be in church, but they are unable to. 

Are they putting mammon before church meetings? That's what thoughtful biblical counseling may reveal. 

Be Gentle

Your forget that your role is to feed the flock of God under your charge (John 21:17, 1 Peter 5:2); feed them with the word of God (Jeremiah 3:15), not attack them. 

And in case you have forgotten, you are to be gentle with the flock (Isaiah 40:11) in fulfilling your role as the Lord's under-shepherd, not overbearing, hard, or selfish (Ezekiel 34:1-6) . 

The members of your church are out in the world 24-7, working, living, breathing, moving, and enduring while you remain within the confines of the sanctuary, where you are able to spend time focusing on spiritual matters. 

Be reminded that members sometimes struggle to be in church on Sundays or on Wednesday evenings because they are simply exhausted. 

You might want to try and show compassion (Mark 6:34)—which is part of being a shepherd—instead of judgment and disdain for weaker brethren because God will bring you under greater condemnation (James 3:1). 

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Written by Jerry Smith

Feature image source: istockphoto.com lisafx

Nice preacher image source: istockphoto.com FatCamera