Living Faith Bears Evidence

Tying in with my previous thought, “Salvation Of Faith or Salvation Of Works”, I now want to look at “Living Faith Bears Evidence”.


HEBREWS 11:1
11 NOW Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

What we’re “hoping for” is that which we don’t yet have or perhaps is not yet known to our natural senses, yet it is referred to here as a substance, which is something that you can hold on to. Substance is tangible… It is real… And so the Faith which we hold right now is our substance of that which we’re hoping for and it’s the evidence of things not yet seen in the natural… There are things that we’re desiring that we cannot yet see in the natural… Yet, he says that our Faith is the evidence of those things and evidence is so powerful and convincing that you can carry it into a Court of Law and win a case with it… It’s Proof Positive!!!

And so Faith is a simple one-syllable word that can change your life and situation right now, if you can but understand that your Faith is both Evidence and Substance of that which you’ve not yet laid your eyes upon… It’s not yet a reality in the natural, but it’s as real as real can get in your spirit, because your Faith says so! To the outside world, they can’t see it, but in your spirit by Faith you just know, that you know, that you know, that God has already provided the answer. You can’t see it, taste it, touch it, hear it, or smell it in the natural, but in your spirit it’s just as real as the nose on your face because Faith is both your Substance and your Evidence! Some may even tell you that you’re crazy, but when Faith comes alive inside of you, don’t worry about what others think. It’s now a deal between your Faith and God. Hold tight to your Faith and don’t let it go, regardless of what outward circumstance says in the natural. Keep on Trusting.

 

Now looking back to a scripture that we looked at in my previous post ~

JAMES 2:17 (My Words In Parenthesis For Emphasis and Clarification)
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead, being alone. (Living Faith will always produce proper Works. If Faith doesn’t produce proper Works, then it’s declared ‘Dead’)

Again we know that Faith is the SUBSTANCE of those things that we’re hoping for and it’s also the EVIDENCE of those things that we cannot yet see. We know that Faith is so very important in each of our lives, but as important as it is, Faith without corresponding Works, is declared Dead!

Now, Faith could really be considered a verb, because Living Faith implies action. Anytime there is Real Living Faith birthed in your heart, there will also be a corresponding Action that goes along with it as proof or evidence of it’s Life.

Somebody says, “Oh, I’ve got great Faith”, but can I tell you that if you’ve truly got great Faith, the evidence or the proof of that Faith will not be found in how much you boast about it, but the evidence will be made known by the action that it produces.

For Example: When the National Hurricane Center predicts a hurricane’s landfall along the Gulf Coast, you immediately begin seeing people boarding up windows and packing up and evacuating, because even though they see no evidence in the natural as of yet, their Faith in what they’ve heard becomes their reality and their actions correspond with what they believe. Their Faith is alive and their corresponding works were the evidence of that Living Faith. By the same token, if they would have heard that same news and said with their mouth that they believed it was true, yet never did anything in response to it, then obviously they didn’t truly believe it. They professed Faith, but there was no corresponding, therefore, it’s obvious that their Faith is Dead!
And thus it is always with Faith. If you truly believe something, your actions will bear it out and if you don’t act on what you say you believe, then it will cause one to question whether or not your Faith is really Living or not. Because Dead Faith always produces nothing, but Living Faith will always bear corresponding fruit or evidence!

Now we understand that scripture clearly bears out that Salvation is not of ourselves, but it is a product solely of the Grace of God (His unearned Favor or Goodness) through Faith in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ on our behalf and that will always be followed by Good Works.

When someone says, “I’ve been saved”, yet you don’t begin to witness any type of change in their lifestyle and they don’t begin to move even slightly toward the character of Jesus Christ and they’re still cussing and shacking up and cheating and lying and loving every minute of it, with not even a desire for change… Then they’re Not Saved!!! I didn’t say “If you make a mistake, you’re not saved”. But If you’re just living and practicing and loving sin and there’s no change that begins to come into your life, then you are suffering from a condition that many religious, church folk are suffering from and that condition is simply known as – Lost! You say, “Yes, but I’ve got faith”, Well, It’s Dead Faith, because if you had real Living Faith and it was more than merely a profession with your lips, then it would begin to produce some works of change in your life.

Living Faith will always bring something out of you. It will cause you to begin to take on the nature of whatever it is that you are believing and that’s why it’s so important to know the Truth of God’s Word and believe it with all of your heart…

The Bible says to “Buy The Truth and Sell It Not!”

In other words, we need to buy into the Truth of God’s Word with all that we have and never exchange it for anything else, because anything other than the Truth is a Lie. We need to know His Word and believe it.

Now, I believe that most everyone who attends church around the world, week after week, believes in God. I don’t doubt that for a second. People who come to Abundant Grace of Petal, whether regularly or not, surely believe in God or else, they wouldn’t even come, but just as I stated in my previous post ~ You could walk into probably any Crack House and ask most anybody, “Do You Believe In God?” And most would reply, “Well, of course I do!” Many may even say, “Yes, I’m a Christian Born and raised!” They profess faith with their mouth, but there’s no evidence of that profession in their lives.

 

There are 3 types of Faith that we need to acknowledge and I’ve heard my wonderful Pastor, Bishop Charles Hanchey teach in great depth on these 3 before, but I want to just briefly touch on them here.

1 – DEMONIC FAITH
James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God, you do well. The demons also believe and tremble.”

Satan himself, is a believer in God and he too is a believer in Christ Jesus and he even has a fearful emotional response in accordance to his belief which causes him to tremble. And so you can have Demonic Faith and respond with great emotion, yet it still not be Saving Faith or Living Faith. That’s the kind of Faith that many folks in the world have and said to say, even some in church. They simply believe that God exists, but they don’t truly believe what the Gospel says and how it pertains to them.

2 - DEAD FAITH
Again in James, the Bible says that Faith without Works is DEAD and so there’s DEAD FAITH and sad to say, but that’s where many, many Church folks live today…

It’s a Faith that says, “I go to church… I give my tithe… Perhaps, I sing and play music and even function in leadership…” But that’s all there is to their Faith. They’re just religious. They’re basically good people, yet there’s never any growth or progress made spiritually. There’s never any change taking place in their life. They’re unmoved by the anointing of Holy Spirit in a service. They have a form of Godliness, but deny the power thereof to have any effect on their life or in their heart. The only difference between them now and prior to their ‘profession’ is that now they do some religious stuff, yet they have no real relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore the Holy Spirit has no way of working in their life. They’re full of Dead Faith.

3 - LIVING FAITH
Galatians 3:11 "For no man is justified by the law in the sight of God it is evident: for The Just shall live by Faith!"

Living Faith is a Faith that births new life in your inward man and begins bringing forth change in the way that you live your life. It doesn’t just say the right things, but it produces action. It produces fruit. Living Faith produces Evidence and it literally draws from the Character of Jesus Christ Himself.

Just Thinkin’ Out Loud
Pastor Robbie

Salvation of Faith or Salvation of Works...

This comes from the first part of a 3 night study that I did several months ago during our Mid-Week Service.  I’ve just noted some of my thoughts from that first part of the study.  I may share more on this a little later… 

The dynamics of Salvation… The workings of Salvation…  The plan of Salvation…  It’s so very important to understand and comprehend to the best of our ability as believers.  There has been a debate ongoing for some 2,000 years as to how we are saved, by Faith or by Works.  I believe the scripture is clear on this topic and in this brief overview, I would like to clarify.

There are some folks who believe that your Works are the most important part of your life as a child of God, yet there’s another group who believes that Faith is the most important part of your life…

Let’s look to the Word of God to find the basis of the controversy and then attempt gain proper perspective and clarification on the matters.

Saved By Faith

Romans 3:21-28 (My Words in Parenthesis for Emphasis and Clarification)

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, (Referring to the Righteousness of God being imputed to us by faith in the Finished Work of Christ Jesus) to all and on all who believe. (Believing is the requirement)  For there is no difference;

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,he's saying

25 whom God set forth as a propitiation (An atonement or a Substitute) by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

27 Where is boasting then? (A legalistic doctrine of works will always produce boasting) It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.

28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. (We are justified ONLY by faith in the Substitutionary Finished Work for us by Christ Jesus and NEVER through the works that we commit or omit).

A brief Definition of Justified ~ “No Prosecution Pending”.

So the Apostle Paul clearly states here that we are not justified by our works, but we’re justified freely and completely simply by Faith.  And that wonderful news!

Now, let’s look at the other side of the coin…

Saved By Works

James 2:14 (My Words in Parenthesis for emphasis and clarification)

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?   Can faith save him?  (Keep this in context. Remember what type of faith James is speaking of here).

15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?  (Speaking of ‘Lip Service’ Faith which helps no one.)

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead, being alone. (Again, Living Faith will produce proper Works. If Faith doesn’t produce proper Works, then it’s declared ‘Dead’)

18 But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble! (Simply believing in God is not Living Faith or rather Saving Faith. Hundreds of Millions believe in God, just as the demons do, but their Faith does not have the Finished Work of Christ Jesus as the object of their Faith for Salvation)

20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? (Again, Faith that does not produce proper Works is declared ‘Dead Faith’)

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? (This scripture has been taken out of context and often times used as a standalone scripture to build a Legalistic Works Based Salvation. That is False! It must be kept in it’s proper context with verse 22)

22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? (He’s clearly stating that his works were simply the Proof of his Faith. The focus is not on the works, but on Faith producing Works)

23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.

24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. (This is another passage that has been misused and taken out of context many times. It must be kept in the proper context and flow of the entire passage. James is simply clarifying what he’s already stated in the text which is that Living Faith in the Finished Work of Christ Jesus is what Justifies an individual and that Justification will be proven by proper Works. If a person has a Faith which produces nothing, they are deceiving themselves)

25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? (One more beautiful picture of Faith that produced proper Works)

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (Remember, Dynamic, Living, Saving Faith in the Finished Work of Christ Jesus will always produce proper works and victory in a life. However, simply having a lip service faith or a confession which produces no life or good works according to the Word of God, will condemn you.)

Now, the bottom line is that you either believe that you are saved by the Grace of God through Faith in the Finished Work of Christ Jesus on your behalf or you’re saved based upon your own works and performance.  There’s no alternative.  You’ll either believe one or the other, but not both. 

There are many who claim to believe in Salvation by Grace through Faith, yet they also attach some form of Works, Rules, Law, Etc. to it, thereby making it a doctrine of Salvation by Works which is Faith in us and not in Christ.

It is in our human nature to believe that we must do something in order to be saved.  We have trouble accepting the fact that there is absolutely nothing that we can do to save ourselves.  For if we could, then Christ died in vain.  The truth is, He died for us and completed the work in our behalf that we could never complete ourselves.  Our works are all in vain and useless when it comes to Salvation.

Still, most of us have heard since we were toddlers things like, “If you’ll be a good boy, you’ll go to heaven” or “If you want Jesus to love you, you’re gonna have to be good”.  And from a very early age, we build a perception that somehow our goodness plays a role in our acceptance with God.  Therefore, it makes perfect since from that viewpoint that we can only be saved if we’re good enough.

But then there’s the other side who says, “Wait a minute now!  You’re not saved based upon your works and your performance, but you’re saved by faith apart from your works!” But, here’s what it all boils down too; Either we’re gonna believe God’s Word as it stands or not! As for me, I’m gonna believe His Word!

Now some would say, “Yes, but James and Paul are contradicting one another”.  Hear me, there are no contradictions in God’s Word, whatsoever! If you find something in the Bible that appears to be a contradiction, trust me, His Word isn’t wrong, it’s just that you’re understanding isn’t clear.  And so, we need to seek clarification and revelation of His Word.

One thing that we must understand is that you cannot build an entire doctrinal stance based upon just one scripture.  There are some denominations and ministries which do that, but remember scripture always interprets scripture.

2 Corinthians 13:1 says, “By the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established.”

And so if there’s a major doctrinal text in the Bible, it’s not something that God’s going to say just once, but His Word will continually bear that Truth out.  When you take something out of context, it can seem one way, but in reality it was meant an entirely different way.

Also remember that not everything in the Bible was written to you.  It’s all meant for your edification and the building of your faith, but it’s not written directly to, nor about you.  There are some things which were written directly to the Jewish people and not to us and just like reading someone else’s mail, you can read something in the Bible written strictly concerning the Jewish people and try to apply it to you and come away completely confused. So recognize that it’s not all concerning you directly.

So when we view these 2 passages of scripture, written by two great men of God, one being the Apostle Paul who is the writer of the majority of our New Testament and the other being James, a Pastor in Jerusalem, we must understand that they are writing from 2 entirely different perspectives.

Paul is writing a Doctrinal Epistle or A Doctrinal Truth and he proclaims this exact same truth several times over throughout his other Epistles.

James, on the other hand, is a Pastor who is writing concerning practical Christianity for people who are Saved.

Paul tells us plainly, that we are justified completely by Faith and Faith alone and of course, we realize that the faith of which he is speaking is a Dynamic Faith or a Living Faith in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.  He’s telling us in essence, that we are saved based upon the Finished Work of Jesus and not our own Works, regardless of how wonderful they may be.  In God’s sight, they are as filthy rags!

It is impossible to do anything to earn or merit your own salvation. You can’t cry hard enough. You can’t tithe long enough. You can’t be baptized by a certain formula. You can’t think pure enough. You can’t walk straight enough. You can’t dress modest enough.  It is impossible to DO anything to obtain your own salvation. PERIOD!

However, If truly are saved, the Fruit or the Evidence of your salvation is that works will follow.  Salvation produces Works, but Works do Not produce Salvation!

We don’t know that people in the church have been saved because they’re doing good works.  However, we do know that if they really are saved good works will begin to follow…

Now there are some folks who believe that just because they’re saved, they now don’t have to do one blessed thing, and the truth of it is, you don’t HAVE to, but AFTER you’re saved, you should WANT to.  And honestly, if after you’re born again, your desires don’t begin to change and you don’t have a desire to live righteously and to do good works, then that causes me to question your new birth!

One problem within the ‘Church-World’ today, is that it has been propagated by many ministries and across many pulpits for far too long that if someone repeats a sinner’s prayer, that they suddenly got saved.  They’ve been told, that if they’ll just repeat some words that a preacher or someone else tells them to say, that they’re saved.

That is NOT Scriptural and it’s caused many to believe that they’re saved when in actuality not one thing genuinely happened in their life.

Romans 10:9&10 says, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Now, it did not say “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”

It didn’t say that at all!

It said, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus AND believe in YOUR HEART that God raise Him from the Dead, you shall be saved.”

You can speak words with your mouth all you want to.  You can repeat some Sinner’s Prayer.  You can confess Jesus all day long, but believing it in your head won’t save you.  People say all the time, “Well if you’ll just believe in Jesus, you’ll be saved”. NO YOU WON’T!  The Devil believes in Jesus and that joker sure isn’t saved!

Listen, you can walk into just about any Crack House or whatever and ask people, “Do you believe in Jesus?”  And most will reply in all sincerity, “Well of course I do!” And many may even go onto say, “Yes, I’m a Christian!”  They sincerely believe it in their head, but there’s a difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge and what you believe in your head will not produce life! But when you get that down on the inside of your heart and it gets into your inward man, it will produce new life in you and you will never be the same again!  You will be a changed individual!

It’s not good enough just to walk around and say, “I’m Saved!”  If you’re really saved, it’ll show forth. It will produce fruit or rather evidence of the change that’s taken place in your heart and life!

You say, “Well, I didn’t think works were important!”  They’re not as for as attaining Salvation, but following Salvation they are the fruit thereof.  The Bible says, “You’ll know them by the fruit that they bear!”  I say it oftentimes, that I’m not talking about Perfection here.  Please don’t ever get into the mindset that your own expectation of yourself is perfection, because when you think like that and you make a mistake, as we all do, you’ll say, “What’s the use? I’ll never be able to serve God!” and you’ll just throw in the towel!

That’s not proper Christianity!  That’s just stupidity!  Everybody makes mistakes!  The difference is that when you’re truly saved, you don’t WANT to make them over and over and over again!  You don’t want to live the same way that you used to! You don’t want to do the things you used to do!  And the Spirit now residing in you will begin producing fruit in your life that begins to cause you to look a little bit more like Jesus.

Listen, I hear people all the time and you probably do to saying things like, “Well, they know I believe in God!”  But saying you believe in God don’t mean one thing. Saying it amounts to nothing unless there is some change that comes along with that.

If you say you’re saved, but you never have a desire to change, then I’ll say it bluntly – You Don’t Know Jesus!  If you can still cuss and raise all kinds of Hell on Earth and hang out in barrooms all night and that don’t even bother you, then you need to get saved! Because when you truly get saved, again you’re not perfect, but there’s something dwelling within you that makes you want to change. And when you do foul up, the Holy Spirit living in you will convict you and you’ll ask God to forgive you and help you not to do that again.

Again, looking back to our text in James 2:19 & 20, “You believe there is one God. You do well!  Even the demons believe – And tremble!  But do you want to know O foolish man, Faith without works is dead?”

He speaking here of Dead Faith and Dead Faith is basically people who have a profession, but they have no evidence in their life. Those often become professional church goers. They’re attenders and they may even be givers, but they’re really just going through traditional motions.  And all they have is a Profession of Faith.  But there’s never any change in their life.

They can still go out on the weekend and party all night long…

They can cuss you out and never think twice about it…

They can sleep around all over town…

They can just keep on living just like they always have.

The only difference is, now they go to church and look the part, but there’s no real change!

And Churches of every name and denomination are full of people of Dead Faith!

It sounds good, but it don’t produce any real fruit!

We’ve got a huge tree on our property next door to the church that’s dead. It’s still standing…  It still looks like a tree…  But we don’t expect any production from that tree in the future because it’s dead…

And there really are many people in churches just the same…  Their lives don’t produce anything because they’re not connected to the True Vine…  They don’t really know Jesus and there faith is simply dead…

Then again in James 2:19 he says, “If you believe in one God, you do well.  Even demons believe…”

That means that even the Devil himself has faith and again, we know that he’s not saved!

The text goes on and says that “He believes and TREMBLES”…

He believes and even becomes emotional…

And we see that same sort of faith and emotion often times played out in the lives of people in church.  I’ve been around people at church who could shout on Sunday Morning.  Cry and Dance around and scream like an Apache Indian on the Warpath and then live like the Devil the other 6 days of the week…

It’s not Real Saving Faith or it would produce something other than a little emotional response in church…

That’s pure Demonic Faith in action!

But the faith that God is looking for and desiring, is that Dynamic, Living Faith in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ on our behalf and nothing else!  That’s a Faith that will change the way that you live.  That’s a Faith that will put victory in your life.  That’s the only Faith that God will recognize!

Through it, God will produce Good Works in your life and began forming your character into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Matthew 7:16 Jesus said, “You will know them by the fruit that they bear.”

Titus 2:6-7, “Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works;”

God wants there to be Good Works in the lives of His children, but they will not save you.  They’ll simply be the product of your Salvation!

I’m so grateful for price that Jesus paid to purchase my salvation and give me liberty!  I'm also grateful to know that I'm completely Justified simply by faith in what He's already done for me.  That's truly Amazing Grace!

Thinkin’ Out Loud,

Pastor Robbie

The Life Of A Small Church Pastor

I have had the tremendous honor of serving as Senior Pastor now for nearly 5 years at a church planted by my wife and I. Prior to this time, I had spent 4 years as an itinerant Evangelist and singer, traveling and spending many days and nights in numerous Pastor’s homes. My father, is also a Senior Pastor, so I’ve had the privilege of seeing the multiple functions of a Pastor from that perspective as well.

In today’s culture, the demands upon a Pastor all too often exceed what they really should be. The Pastor is traditionally considered a local church’s head “Everything”. He’s most often the spiritual and administrative head, the sole minister, the legal corporation president – and basically the know-it-all, do-it-all, man on the job. In many small churches, the Pastor will conduct the services, lead the praise and worship singing, do most if not all the preaching, handle all of the visiting, counseling and spiritual matters, while he may also have to take care of the office work, accounting, business matters, and possibly even the janitorial, maintenance, building repair and lawn care.

In my years of traveling to nearly 100 different churches, I have found many Pastors to be some of the hardest working, most versatile, multi-skilled people I have ever met. And for the most part, they pick up all these skills out of the necessity of their circumstances, as they have no funds to hire staff and usually have very few willing and committed volunteers to help with these matters. In too many cases, the Pastor has to do far more than he was ever called for, much less trained for.

This really isn’t the way that it should be. Ideally, the Pastor should be the spiritual overseer of the church, devoting his time and attention to the higher priorities of prayer and ministering the Word, while delegating the load of administrative tasks, details and responsibilities out to lay-ministers, assistants, elders and deacons.

The early Apostles faced this same dilemma. They received complaints that some of the widows of the church were not being cared for as they should be. So, they selected qualified persons to delegate these tasks, so they would not be distracted away from what God has really called them to do – to be men of Prayer and of the Word. “…It is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word”. (Acts 6:2-4)

The rewards of being a Pastor are many. Without question, there is no other position in the world that has a higher honor, than to be called of God to be a Pastor. However, it is a vocation of extreme contrasts. It can be sometimes wonderful and sometimes terrible in the same package. Despite potential blessings of leading souls to Christ, the job of Pastor is one of the most difficult, agonizing tasks there is.

Some of the greatest challenges of a Pastor are:

1. Being Misunderstood ~ For the most part, the life and ministry of a Pastor is not understood by the average layman. A Policeman once told me the same thing about Law Enforcement Officers. He said, “The only one that really understands what a cop does is another cop”. I could completely understand what he was saying. Sheep really don’t have any idea what it’s like to be a shepherd – only other shepherds. The average layman has little concept of what a Pastor is, what he really does, the hassles he deals with and so forth.

Being a Pastor is not a job. It’s what a person is. When God calls a person to be a Pastor, He places in him a shepherd’s heart, nature and characteristics – to love and care for his flock. He is a Pastor 100% of the time. It’s what he thinks about, what he lives for, his purpose for being on earth. It’s not possible for him to go home at the end of the day and leave his ‘job’ behind the way that most people can. His, is an all consuming task. The Pastor is on duty twenty-four hour per day, seven days per week three-hundred and sixty-five days per year. He frequently receives phone calls from early in the morning until late at night. Most of his home activities are related to the church. Most social calls or relationships are church related. A large percentage of his conversations with his family revolve around the church. His home should probably be a refuge to rest or to have a life of his own, but it’s usually the only place he can hide himself long enough from interruptions, to pray for the church and to study sermons that he must preach and Bible studies he must teach.

2. Coping With Criticism ~ Like most other public figures, a Pastor and his family live in the public eye, like a ‘fish-bowl’ or a ‘glass-house’ where people watch them constantly, frequently viewing them with criticism and cynicism. People who enter the ministry must be prepared to face much criticism, sometime of a brutal and cruel nature. However, all those who have risen in leadership or accomplishment know well the sting of their critics. It has been said that “the only way to avoid criticism, is to Say Nothing, Do Nothing and Be Nothing”.

People frequently find disappointment with Pastors, largely due to a lack of understanding of what Pastors do. Rarely does a church ever have a written description of duties for the Senior Pastor, and if they do, it’s usually too vague to help much when a new Senior Pastor arrives for duty. And it seems that so many have a different opinion of what the Pastor should do. They usually hand him the keys to the church and assume that he’ll take care of everything that needs to be done – without realizing the hundreds of details that it may all require.

3. Faced With An Overwhelming Task ~ It’s been said that 80% of the work of the church is done by 20% of the people. But when realize that the majority of American churches have fewer than 100 people, you can imagine that the Pastor and his wife and/or family often make up a great portion of that 20%. As I have mentioned, in many of those churches, the Pastor is often faced with having to do jobs that he was never trained for – everything from plumbing to desktop publishing to accounting… and besides this, he must also be the well-studied preacher and teacher. Beyond these demands, his life will be one of constant distractions, receiving countless calls each day and expected to always drop whatever he’s doing to sympathize, counsel, or encourage those who ask for help. The Pastor seldom has enough time to do everything – time is always one of his greatest needs.

I have been in many a Pastor’s home, joining with him in tearful prayers for God to send helpers, workers and finances to lift the heavy load on him and his wife and/or family. Many Pastors will never know what it is like to have a paid staff and must pray for volunteers to train and delegate responsibilities. Unfortunately, for most churches, the Pastor wears more hats than he should have to endure – both physically and emotionally. According to ministry researcher George Barna, among the most discouraging aspects for Pastors is the extensive range of duties they must fulfill that exceed their mix of gifts and talents.

Author, James Rutz says that the average Pastor often feels overwhelmed and lonely in his task. “He beats out his brains in the pulpit week after week to make a difference in people’s lives and the church. But sometimes he feels like he’s been condemned to a lifetime of futility, trying in vain to motivate a sullen pack of foot dragging spiritual adolescents who never quite seem to see the big picture, never get excited enough to shoulder real responsibilities and never come anywhere close to a full 10% tithe.”

4. Resisting Manipulation ~ For many, this will sound unbelievable. But the Pastor is a frequent target of manipulation and control. Sometimes people unintentionally take advantage of a Pastor’s willing heart, and make requests and demands that begin to dominate his personal life. And then there are others who view the Pastor like a politician, trying to lobby for his favor or influence to attain a position, to favor their opinion, etc. But there are those who have a definite spirit of control, better known as a Jezebel Spirit, who feed on control and domination and if they can’t get the Pastor to do what they want, they’ll often turn on him and try to run him out. A prominent Pastor once said, “There’s an old saying about Pastors: ‘If they can’t run God’s man, they’ll try to ruin God’s man”.

Because of this or other sour experiences with people, Pastors will sometimes distance themselves from having close personal relationships with people. They may even decline offerings and other gifts given directly to them unless given anonymously, since such gifts often have strings attached – perhaps unintentionally, the giver will often expect preferred treatment, recognition or to have a ‘special influence’ in the Pastor’s decisions.

5. Coping With Emotional Conflict ~ During the ministry of a Pastor, he will face challenges and strange conflicts in his emotions that he was never prepared for. This unique man most likely entered the ministry out of his divine calling, and his love for souls. But he was probably surprised to learn that shepherding people was a life filled with wounds, hurts and disappointments.

As the Pastor faces his daily tasks, he will begin to ride an emotional roller-coaster. With each person he counsels or prays with, he will experience a momentary bond with their circumstances or burdens. During the course of a day, he may console someone with a terminal illness, listen to trivial complaints, meet with a couple to discuss their marriage plans or their marriage troubles, hear the voice of those disgruntled with his decisions, sermons or methodologies or find it necessary to deal firmly with someone who’s falling into a sinful lifestyle. He will go from one contrasting situation to another then within a very short period, he will have to find a way to restore his composure from all these concerns to seek the Lord’s heartbeat for the upcoming service and preach the Word as the Lord leads him.

Most others who deal with repeated crisis or trauma eventually learn how to develop a callousness in order to cope with the emotional upheaval of their jobs. Paramedics, Police Officers or Emergency Room Personnel understand this all too well. However, when a Pastor deals with a daily assortment of similar urgencies, unlike other emergency workers, he cannot distance his feelings from the crisis. He cannot allow himself to become callous to protect his emotions from being involved. It’s the nature of his calling and his job to care. His flock expects him to be sensitive, a person of genuine compassion, to feel their hurts and to share their burdens.

6. Coping With Disappointments ~ Furthermore, during his ministry, he will experience many disappointments and heartaches with people. Many will fail to do what they promised to do… Many will fail to follow through with commitments that they have made and the disappointment weighs heavy on the Pastor’s heart. Others will criticize, judge, speak against him, betray him or even seek to ruin him and/or his family. Some will try to gain his friendship for ulterior reasons – to manipulate his influence for their own agenda. Many whom he loves will eventually leave the church for some reason… Some will move away, others may stray from church altogether, others will become offended and some will simply reject his ministry. Dozens of times, he will experience the loss of beloved members of his flock through death. Many, many are the wounds of a shepherd, which the flock will never truly understand or know about.

7. Dealing With Satanic Attack ~ The Pastor and his family are target’s of Satan’s greatest attacks. The enemy’s strategy is highly intelligent. If he can overrun the shepherd with temptations or trials, he can likely scatter the sheep. According to insurance statistics, ministers experience an unusually high rate of stress related illnesses (such as ulcers and nervous conditions), depression, marital difficulties, conflicts with their children or family, financial problems, etc. To complicate matters further, if he does face such challenges, some will criticize him as a spiritual failure.

8. Perseverance ~ There will be numerous temptations for the Pastor to simply quit. He must be a person of tremendous faith and prayer to overcome the many challenges – to set his face as a stone, with unflinching determination and steadfastness. The average layman will never realize the price his Pastor must pay to be his shepherd – the heartaches he will endure to minister to men’s souls. Jesus, the Great Shepherd was a man acquainted with grief and sorrow, despised and rejected and His under-shepherds and Pastors also identify with these same characteristics.

Remember to always pray for your Pastor and his wife, encourage them, show your love and appreciation for them and do your best not to add to his list of wounds.

Just Thinkin’ Out Loud…

Pastor Robbie