Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

~ Luke 11:46

I need a rest…

Too often we hear of Christians attending church being burnt out, tired, and needing a break. Many times, such people are not in leadership positions. They just feel burnt out from the demands of church: Sunday Service, Sunday School, Bible Study, Prayer Meetings, and another ministry meeting each week. On top of all these demands from church, there are family responsibilities, work deadlines and maybe some leftover time for friends. The church, whether explicitly or implicitly, puts the expectation that in order to grow as a mature Christian, you have to serve.

But are serving in church and attending meetings really the fuel for spiritual growth? When pastors, make these a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for our spiritual journey we have lost sight of what the gospel is. When pastors are busy cracking the whip or dangling carrots for greater commitment from their congregation, it gets tiring for both the pastor and his congregation. Service becomes drudgery.  Joy quickly become burden and soon a sense of burnt out begins to set in. We hear the words; “I need to rest from church.”

How does God grow his church?

Peter writes: 

“Like newborn babes long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

~ 1 Peter 2:2-3

Our responsibility as pastors is to facilitate the growth process and to present everyone mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28). How do we do that?  This passage says that like newborn babes they will long for spiritual milk.  As they come to the fountain of nourishment and drink, they taste and know that the Lord is good.  They then desire more and more.  

God does something in the heart of the Christian who is in Christ and through the Holy Spirit brings about a desire and a longing for God. He does this through his ordinary means of grace. The means of grace are God’s appointed instruments by which the Holy Spirit enables believers to receive Christ and the benefits of redemption: the preached Word of God, the sacraments and prayer. These are the means by which we grow in grace and experience God’s transforming power in our lives so that we can “grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).

Question 91 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism states regarding the Sacraments:

The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that does administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them.

It is a mystery of the Christian faith and a miracle that happens every Sunday in churches across the world when they meet to partake in this means of grace which God has given us. 

Every time we hear the gospel preached, we taste God’s goodness and are reminded of the salvation to has brought us. In our prayers we experience deep intimacy with our Father with whom we have been reconciled through Jesus Christ. “The love of Christ controls us” (2 Corinthians 5:14) and transforms our hearts. The work of transformation may not happen overnight, but I have clearly seen in our church the faithful and consistent tasting, hearing, and seeing the goodness of God week in and week out makes for a mature believer growing in the grace of God. 

How should Pastor’s shepherd God’s people?

With this truth pastors, how then are we to shepherd?  

• With a sense of hope

We can Pastor in hope that not one of us whom God has called and justified will be lost. Paul writes:

That He who began this good work of salvation will indeed bring it to completion on the day of our Lord Jesus.

~ Phil 1:6

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also ⁿjustified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.  What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?

~ Romans 8:30-31

If God began a work of true repentance in our heart, then it is he who will sustain us till the end through his grace. It is with this hope that we shepherd and walk people through their most difficult trials. We point them constantly to Christ, love them and pray for them. At times we may need to warn those who are in danger of shipwrecking their faith. But we do so with confidence and love, knowing that it is God who will convict through the Holy Spirit. After all, the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God (James 1:21). 

• Resting in God’s sovereignty

As we remember that the work of transformation and growth is the work of the Holy Spirit through the means of grace, we are spared from anxiously fretting and worrying over God’s elect.  We won’t use guilt trips or motivational speeches or harsh words to make our members more zealous. Our role becomes one of faithfully teaching God’s word, trusting in the Holy Spirit to be at work in growing them in understanding the gospel of grace. We can trust that as the person grasps the holiness of God more and more in his word, he will begin to see his sin and depravity more clearly. From that place, Christ and his mercy will become more precious. As Thomas Watson once said; “Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” 

I have often said that the privilege of a Pastor is to have a front row seat in watching the Holy Spirit transform the heart of a believer over time.  We have this confidence that He who began this good work in the Christian will bring it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.  

• Embracing my weakness

One thing I have learnt over the years as a pastor, is that I am pretty messed up.  If I was to teach and admonish and shepherd my flock from my position of an under-shepherd, I can easily become toxic and self-absorbed in the power and authority of my office. We begin demand compliance, respect, attention and affirmation. We know that these are land mines for any under shepherd of Jesus Christ.

We need to understand, like Paul, that it is okay to lead from our weakness, for Christ is glorified in weakness. If we must boast, we ought to boast of the things that show our weakness (2 Corinthians 11:30; 12:10). For it is when I am weak, that I acknowledge my need for God’s grace and strength.

I do not need to speak proudly berate the congregation because I know that I myself am weak and broken and deserving of judgment, if not for the grace of God. 

Conclusion: How do we motivate Church members to serve?

To be blunt, you don’t!  I have heard many pastors say that for the Christian to grow, they must serve. 

But the main purpose of the church is not to provide a place for Christians to serve. The main purpose for our gospel-community is to worship Jesus together. We meet to receive the ordinary means of grace: the preaching of the God’s word, prayer, sacraments, and fellowship. God serves us in this way so that we can enjoy him and go out to serve.

As we feed on Christ through the means of grace, God’s Spirit grows us in understanding the gospel and his love for us. The assurance of his love then compels us to love others and serve others inside and outside the church. We facilitate this process by pointing people to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Any other requirements we put forward to motivate church members to serve or to study the word will begin to heap on people the kind of burdens Jesus spoke of (Luke 11:46) 

Pastors, we must heed Jesus’ words and not load people with burdens they’re not intended to carry.  We must rest in our calling as under-shepherds of the great Shepherd, Jesus Christ Himself.  Likewise, those we shepherd must also rest in God’s love, knowing that there is absolutely nothing that they have to achieve to earn God’s favor and love for them. 

Pastors, this takes courage because it means more time in prayer for the saints and less prodding and pushing.  It means more vulnerability and less productivity. It means more being and less doing.