TAKING CARE OF MAN OF GOD

Taking Care Of The Man Of God' by Harley Howard
For many years I have sat with extreme disappointment and anguish over the way in which genuine, hard working, men of God have been mistreated by their alleged churches.

I do not need to read or hear about these things because I have seen them and have experienced
them as well. Taking care of the man of God is not one of the top priorities of the church, nor of
many individuals. The prevailing attitude seems to be this: "He, or they, had to take care of
themselves".

The church that mistreats God's men in any age does not have the blessing of God upon them. That is clear in Scripture in both testaments. Yet because people do not have a "clue" biblically speaking as to the importance of the work of men of God they simply refuse to do what a Christian is obligated to do-that is, take care of the man of God. We want to offer up many useless and vain excuses, and in some cases, exercise a selective spiritual memory loss. The reality of this truth certainly is not an issue of a lack of information, but a lack of spiritual maturity and love, both towards God and His men. It I as simple as that. When I think about that faithful pastor in Florida, which church refuses to pay him a salary, or another Pastor, which church removed him because he taught "too much Bible", I shudder in silent anger within.

But these are a fraction of men I have known and know throughout the years that have and are
suffering at the hands of churches. I have made my views very public about this matter, having
experienced the same horrific treatment at the hands of so-called Christians. I believe that a church, so called, that refuses to provide for God's man or men, his or their physical needs without hesitation and without excuse does not deserve to exist. A church body is responsible from its conception to meet the needs of the man of God. If a church want to form a living body it should automatically start the process.

How To Treat The Pastor
I got to know a great old time Pastor for a few years before he went home to be with the Lord. His
name was Sam Weller. He preached for about 50 years. He went to a town that never had a
fundamental church with nothing but a Bible in his hand. No support, no people waiting for him.

They tried several times to run him out of town, but he stayed and built a church. He won literally
thousands to the Lord over those 50 years. For many years he pastored two churches at once. He would preach Sunday school and preach in one, then get in the car drive to the next town and
preach again. Then before he would preach again that night he would go door knocking. Trying to build two churches and work a job. He said some door-knocking on Sunday afternoon was a must. I used to love to go over to his house and listen to him talk about what he went through.

One time he told me how much he regretted not teaching his people how to take care of the
Pastor. His church didn't take very good care of him. He had to go out and work a job on top of being a pastor. When he was getting up in years and his body could no longer handle the strain. He realized that he had to find a replacement. At that moment it hit him, how is the new pastor going to make it.

He didn't want him to go through what he had. After all it is biblical for God's people to take care of God's man. So Sam said he determined to try to teach his people on How to Treat the Pastor.
And he did. Then Sam mentioned how he realized that in a way he had cheated his people of
something all those years. After he taught them this subject he saw them grow. He saw God do a
work in their hearts. He said he wished he would have taught them this subject long ago. Not for his sake, but for theirs. It is a spiritual thing to put someone else's needs above your own. It is spiritual to care about, in a real practical way for someone else. It is spiritual to do what the Bible says. It is a spiritual thing to treat the man of God the way the bible says.

Is it God's plan to have pastors?
Is it God's way to call out certain men to be pastors?
Is it God's plan to have people for that pastor to lead? Does God have the ability to put his man
where He wants him to be with the people that He wants him to lead?
Does God care how the pastor leads? Sure.
Do you think God cares how the people of God treat the man of God?

Yes, it does matter to God how you treat His called out man. And that is what we are going to take a look at from the Bible.

FIRST WE ARE TO LOVE HIM
Paul is writing to this church and at the end of the letter he writes 1Th 5:27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. Paul was saying, this is serious; believers need to be informed about these things. There are many topics covered in this letter and they are all important, but today we are going to look at verses 12 and 13. 1Th 5:12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;

Paul is imploring them with urgency on this matter. It is extremely important and he wants them to respond right away, those that labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you. Who is that talking about? The Pastor. You are to know him – that implies that you have a Pastor.

God does have an authority structure. He is a God of authority and of order. He calls a man and puts him over you in the Lord. And this man it says here admonishes you. To admonish is to teach, to warn, to notify of a fault. 1Th 5:13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. [And] be at peace among yourselves. We are beseeched to esteem the Pastor very highly in Love. So let's look at what the Bible calls love. To define love, let's first consider the greatest verse in the Bible. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. First Love is a choice. Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We are to love our Pastor. So you need to decide I am going to do what the Bible says and I am going to love my Pastor. It is a choice. Some might say, well when he starts paying special attention to me, then I might think about loving him. He has to earn the right for me to love him.

Do you see that attitude in John 3:16? No. Biblical love does not require the object of the love to
earn it. Love does not require that the one loved be worthy, or even loveable. And praise the Lord
for that or we would all be on our way to hell. Love starts with a choice. God choose to love us
regardless of whom we were. After the choice to love comes action. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, Biblical love demands action. Love that never acts is not real love at all. We are to love our Pastor. A Pastor is a man just like you or me. Yes he has a special calling upon his life, but he is still a man. He still has needs like all the rest of us. For one thing he needs encouragement from time to time just like you do. When is the last time that you wrote him a note of encouragement or told him that you appreciated all his efforts?

And third love sacrifices.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, God out of love gave his only begotton Son. Any sacrifice that we make is insignificant compared to John 3:16. But we are to love our pastor. One way to love him is to sacrifice and give financially so that he can have a paycheck. Starving a pastor is not love. But some people have this rotten idea that we need to keep our pastor poor to keep him humble. That is not love. We are to love our pastor.

We have looked at the greatest verse in the Bible and seen that the love that the bible talks about is a choice it gives and it sacrifices. We are to love our pastor. That means that we are to have patience with him. Charity suffereth long. If he has a bad message or two, give the man a break. Love him anyway. It also says, and is kind. We should be kind to our Pastor. If you want to be kind to the pastor, then be kind to his family. Every now and then Roy will try to get us to give so that we can do something special for the pastor. Give them something extra for Christmas. Maybe send his family away for a few days to get out of the heat. The Bible tells us to love the pastor. And again biblical love is not just emotion. Love is kind.

Love says and does nice things. I love verse 5. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. Some people get mad at the pastor because they wanted the walls to be a different color, or the chairs are wrong, or, or, or. What they are doing is seeking their own will. The Bible says love does not do that. Love the Pastor. Verse 5 says is not easily provoked. Don't yell at the Pastor. Don't get angry with him. Love the Pastor. That means let little decisions that you don't agree with go. I am not talking about major doctrinal issues. I am talking about all the hundreds of decisions that the pastor has to make all the time. If he has to make a change in the Sunday school for example, then support him. If he changes what's planted outside the church or the landscaping. Support him. Don't be easily provoked. Love the Pastor.

Verse 5 says thinketh no evil; Some wicked people love to tell rumors and stretch the truth. If you
ever hear something bad about the pastor, your first reactions should be to thinketh no evil. Don't jump to conclusions. Don't race to think something bad about the man. Love the pastor. 1Co 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; never listen to gossip about the pastor. 1Co 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
No man can be perfect. That means no pastor can be perfect. So to love your pastor, and that is
what the bible tells us to do. To love your pastor you have to bear some things, you have to believe some things, you have to endure some things. Love the pastor.

Filled with anger and resentment, the principal of the school called a prayer meeting, including some of the ladies she knew at the church. Sensing the trouble, someone told Dr. Malone about it. He recalls: "Since I'm the pastor, if it's a prayer meeting in the church, I really ought to go." When I arrived, my presence brought a chill on the whole meeting. There was just room enough between the principal of the school and another lady, so I got down on my knees beside her. She was smart, well-groomed, a good speaker and well-educated. She was not a novice in the work of the Lord, but she had organized the "Let's-Get-Rid-of -Tom-Malone Club" and was trying to get others to join. She began to pray, "God, I want you to kill this preacher, Tom Malone."

It was shocking to me to hear someone pray such a prayer! Usually, when I am kneeling with others in prayer, I join in! I help them lay hold of the throne of grace. As they pray, I say, Amen! Do it, Lord! Or, Praise the Lord! Thank God! But I didn't say any of that this time! Rather, I prayed silently, "O God, I believe You answer prayer, but please, dear Lord, don't answer that prayer!" She prayed, "I want this preacher killed. He's a devil and a liar. He has got to be removed. Kill that preacher!"

I thought to myself, this is no place for me! So I got up from my knees and walked out with a broken heart and with fear and trembling! I was trying to walk in the will of God, but now some were praying for Him to kill me! That lady never learned the biblical principle of loving the pastor. So what happened? The prayer meeting ended. The opposition kept stirring against the preacher. It was soon to backfire on each one of the troublemakers. In six weeks, one lady who had no history of marital problems was thrust into a major family crisis, which ended in divorce.
Another lady from the meeting lost her mind and was institutionalized. The principal and her
husband both suffered ill health. He was confined to a wheelchair and died prematurely. After
praying for Dr. Malone's death, the principal herself died in middle age. Dr. Malone, of course, has enjoyed several decades of fruitful service since that time! He preached into his 90's. The evidence was clear to observe: opposing God's word and those who do it is a dangerous thing to do.

I am not saying that God will do that to everyone who attacks a pastor. But God can, and He has in the past. What I am saying is that the bible tells us to love our pastor. We should love the man that God put over us with a godly, giving, caring, kind, working, biblical kind of love. We are to Love the Pastor. We are to Respect the Pastor. 1Th 5:13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. [And] be at peace among yourselves. We are to esteem them very highly. Men of God should be held in high esteem. To esteem is to put a high value on, to regard with reverence, respect. Respect the pastor. Have a high regard of him. Speaking against him to others is not pleasing to God. We should treat him with respect in the church house and in the drive home in the car. The man of God should be treated as such. Gal 4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. Gal 4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, [even] as Christ Jesus.

This church had received Paul as an angel of God. Gal 4:15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if [it had been] possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. They had respect for the preacher and would have done anything for him. The people of God are to receive and respect the man of God. Phi 2:28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Phi 2:29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:

Paul was sending them a man of God and they were to receive him and respect him I believe that a church that loves their pastor will have a pastor that works harder. I believe that a church that really loves their pastor with a real working biblical love, will have God's blessings upon it. I believe that God is pleased when we love the man that He gave us.

And finally in verse 13 we see the results. And be at peace among yourselves. I am not saying that if everyone in the church loves the pastor correctly that there will not still be issues. God will allow some tares to be sown among the wheat.

Put everyone loving the pastor with biblical love, sure goes a long long way toward a church having peace among the members.

Compiled By Siyanbola Oladapo