So, pastors, start acting like sheep and if you have been
called to be a shepherd, then act like a shepherd.  Jesus, the
Great Shepherd, left the 99 sheep and went out after the one who
had lost his way.  When, pastor, was the last time you went after
one of your sheep who isn't coming to church any more?  When,
pastor, is the last time you went, taking your wife, and went to
visit a woman who lives alone with children who won't obey her and
do nothing but make her life hell on earth?  When, pastor, was the
last time you cried yourself to sleep at night because one of your
members is living in sin and doesn't seem to be reachable?

     If you are wondering what I really think about pastors, let
me tell you a story.

     A few years ago, I was in my office running my high speed
cassette duplicator making copies for a church with whom I had a
contract.  The Lord said, "Call Rayburn."  I explained to the Lord
that His timing was all off because it was the middle of the day.
You see, back then, long distance rates during the day, in state,
were like 25 cents a minute.  Nobody called anybody in their own
state during the day time back then.  The Lord said, "Call
Rayburn."  I suggested I call him later that evening when the
rates would be affordable.  The Lord said, "Call Rayburn."  I
asked why I should be calling Rayburn in the middle of the most
expensive call time of the day.  The Lord said, "Because he is
financially broke and needs some encouragement.  Get on the phone
now."  I stopped what I was doing and walked to the phone and
dialed Rayburn's number.  He answered.  We talked for a good 45
minutes about little things.

     finally Rayburn said, "Phil, why are you calling me just to
visit in the middle of the day when it cost so much?"

     I himmed and hawed around but he was still suspicious and
pressed me for a more definite answer.  So I finally suggested I
might be calling because he was discouraged.  He admitted he was.
Then I suggested he might be broke and in financial need, which I
could not do anything about, and he said, he was, in fact, flat
busted broke.  He told me he was two months behind in his house
payment and he didn't know what they were going to do.  I said,
"Rayburn, have you told any of the men on your board about this?"
He said he hadn't.  You see, Rayburn wasn't really a sheep as much
as he was a chicken but I digress.  I suggested that perhaps the
men of his church might like to know that their pastor was going
under.  He said he could never talk to them about such matters.
Pride is a terrible thing and it looks worst when a pastor wears
it, too.

     By the way, Rayburn is one of the finest soul winners I have
ever known in my life.  I've been with him as he shared the Gospel
with people.  He is a master at winning people to the Lord because
he has the gift of evangelism.  He loves people, too, before and
after they get saved.  I know that is rare but it is true with
this man.  We talked awhile longer, until my bill was 25 dollars,
and hung up.

     I had preached in Rayburn's church a few times and I also got
to know some of the men he pastored.  Furthermore, this church was
running about 100 members, at the time, and later it reached 150
and they had to go to two services.  The town had 1500 people in
it and the church building was small.  Rayburn had led nearly
every church member he had to the Lord personally.  Like I said,
he was one of the greatest soul winners I ever knew.  So, since I
knew some of the men in his church, I called one of them.

     "Hello, Ray, this is Phil Scovell."

     "Well, hello, Phil.  How are you doing?"

     "Mighty fine, Ray."

     "Well, it is sure good to hear your voice, Phil.  What brings
you to these parts?  Are you here to preach?"

     "Naw, Ray.  I'm in Denver at home."

     "Oh, I see.  Well, how's come it is you are calling me?"

     "Well, Ray, have you talked to your pastor lately?"

     "Sure," ray said, "I talk to him most every day.  Why?"

     I said, "Well, how does he seem to you?"

     "Now there's an odd question," Ray replied.  "He sounds just
like his old self.  Why?" he wanted to know with some suspicion to
his voice.

     "Because," I replied, "Rayburn is flat busted broke.  He's
two months behind on his house payment and Lord only knows what
else he is behind on."

     "My, I surely didn't know that, Phil.  How'd you find out all
this and when?"

     I said, "I found out today when I called him on the phone and
asked him."

     "Boy," Ray said, "I surely didn't know this and nobody else
in the church knows it either."

     "Well, Ray," I said, "I have no idea of the financial
condition of the church.  I don't know if you boys can help your
pastor or not but if you can, I am asking you to do whatever you
can for him and his family."

     Ray said, "Phil, the church is in fine financial shape.  Why,
this is no problem at all.  We can fix him right up so don't you
worry none about that.  I sure wish he would have told us though.
Why do you reckon he didn't mention this to one of us, Brother
Phil?"

     I said, "He's proud.  He didn't want anybody to know how
broke he was and that he was going to lose his house.  He probably
feels as if he is a lousy financial steward."

     "Well, shoot," Ray said, "if a man needs help, he needs help
and he should be asking for it.  I'll tell you one thing, Brother
Phil, we sure will take care of this.  I'll get some of the men
together, we'll fix up his bills and get him caught up, and make
sure his family has all the food they need, too.  So I don't want
you to worry about this any more because it is a done deal.
Thanks for calling to tell me, too, because otherwise, we never
would have known about it."

     A couple of weeks later, I called
Rayburn to see how things were.  He told me they caught up his
house payments, paid off his other bills, got food for his family,
and gave him a raise.  He thanked me but said I shouldn't have
done it.  Pride again.  I'll tell you, pastors are riddled with
it.  I reminded my knuckle head pastor friend that shepherd's are
sheep, too.  I told him, "You've taught them well and you
continually feed your sheep.  So, it is payback time.  Let them
feed you and care for you and meet your needs because shepherds
are sheep, too."  He admitted that was true and that he had never
thought of it that way before but it made sense.

     does it make sense to you?  Are you a pastor or pastor's
wife?  Have you forgotten you aren't number one?  Have you
forgotten Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone and everybody else
comes last?  Have you forgotten shepherds are sheep, too?  Sure,
it's humbling but if the shoe fits, well, you know the rest.  If
you want your ministry to glorify God, you better kick the pride
right in the head and while you are doing that, tell the devil
where to go, too.

     My personal opinion about a pastor's job is pretty simple.
Sure, you, as a pastor teacher, need to do both but you aren't
even commanded to do either well with precise execution or flowing
allocution.  You need to win people to Christ.  When you get
someone in the church who has the gift of evangelism, you won't
have to do this all alone.  Until then, win souls and disciple
them even if you have to do it on a one-to-one bases.  Later you
can teach others how to win souls and disciple people and this
becomes something you won't be singularly responsible for as a
pastor.

     While you are at this, figure out through prayer and
observation, what gifts of the Spirit each of your people have.
They all have at least one, you know?  Well, if you don't know,
it's true.  I say, pray about it, because observation alone often
will not yield an idea of their gifting in the Body of Christ.
So praying for them individually is going to be your only true
method of discovering their gifts.  Then, once you know their
gift, you need to allow them to use that gift in some way in the
Body.  If they don't know how, you will have to teach them.  This
does not mean, as the pastor, that you have to have the gift
yourself but you should know, from your Biblical training and
study, how that gift works in the church.

     Finally, pray more than you do anything else as far as church
work is concerned.  If you spend more time hanging dry wall,
painting, sweeping the carpets, and hanging toilet paper, then you
are too busy at the wrong things.  Get back to praying and from
your times of prayer the Holy Spirit will show you what to preach
and teach and whom to minister to at the right time.  Get these
four basic elements out of order, or wrong all together, and your
ministry won't be worth spit to anybody including you.  What were
those four things?  Pray, preach, win souls, and determine the
personal gifts of your people.  when you have done all this, keep
repeating it all until you get it right.

     One more thing.  You are a sheep, too.  If you do not allow
your people to minister back to you as you minister to them, hang
it up now and resign.  They need to minister to you.  How is this
done?

     When you are discourage with ministry work and pressures,
tell them and request they pray for you.  No, not when they go
home after church but right now.  Invite them all, every single
one of them, to the front, have them lay hands upon you, and pray
their hearts out for their discouraged pastor.  The same goes for
your wife.  You forget her, and the trouble is about to begin.
You think the enemy is after you and the church?  You bet he is
but if he can, he will target your wife first and most often.  She
is a sheep, too, so don't forget to minister to her and don't
forget to allow your people to minister to her.  If you need
money, say so.  If you are sick, say so and ask for your people to
anoint you with oil and to pray for you.  If your kids are causing
you some problems, tell your people and get them to pray over your
children.  I don't care what age the children are just do it.  If
the church needs an increase in offerings, tell them.  Pastors
simply often get weary of ministry work.  That's normal.  what is
abnormal is not remembering who you are and forsaking the
ministry of your own people for and to you.

     Let me finish with this story.  I was visiting a pastor and
his church here in the Denver area many years ago.  The church ran
about 150 people.  That Sunday morning, during his sermon, the
pastor said he had been mowing the grass of the church property
Saturday morning and complaining about it the whole time.  He kept
telling the Lord, "Why don't one of my church members offer to do
this job so I could be doing more important things like praying
and reading the Bible and studying for my sermon."  He kept this
diatribe up for quite awhile as he angrily shoved the growling
lawn      mower around the church lot during the heat of the day.

     Finally, he said, the Lord answered his prayer.  That is, the
Lord responded to what he was saying.  The pastor told his people,
the Lord said, "Son, who gave you this church to pastor?"

     The pastor quickly said, "Why, you did Lord."

     He said, the Lord replied by saying, "Then I can take it away
from you if you feel you are being mistreated and overworked."

     The pastor said his whole attitude suddenly changed.  He
praised the Lord for giving him such a wonderful church and he
thanked him for allowing him, of all people, the ability and
privilege of mowing the church grass.  He sang hymns and whistled
and glorified God the whole rest of the time.  Plus, he said, he
now loves mowing that church grass and wouldn't have it any other
way.

     I don't think there is any interpretation required of this
true story.  God is good and so are his sheep of which pastors are
one.  They just have the extra privilege of being a shepherd, too.

     Now, go back and read the first paragraph of this article.

Phil.

I Flew Kites With Jesus
www.SafePlaceFellowship.com