They wake at 5 AM, some as early as 3 AM so that they can
first feed their souls with the daily bread and secondly spend hours in prayer
for the flock that is under their care. They plead with God for the sheep. They
want to see the sheep grow to be a Christ-like people. This is the heart of the Pastor which his flock doesn't know.
They see him smiling. They see him joyous. There are times
when he may be hurting but for the sake of the sheep he wears a gentle face so
as not to scare the sheep away. The flock doesn't know all this.
“Oh! Lets go and listen to him thunder,” says one member.
“Yeah, I hope I don’t doze today. I slept really late yesterday,” replies the
other. It’s Sunday. Pastor gives his exposition of God’s Word. Afterwards, he
laughs with several people. Some members follow him to his office and he
welcomes them. There is sweet fellowship with the Pastor for five minutes
before the members leave. “That was a wonderful sermon,” says Mary, a young
convert. However, the amount of time it took to prepare the sermon, the books
and references he had to search for, this, the flock doesn't know.
Ting! Ting! “Hello,”answers Pastor Ben. “Hello, Pastor, our Son was involved in a
terrible accident! We don’t know what to do. Is he going to die? Pastor, please
help us. Please!!” The man of God hangs up his phone and quickly leaves the
house. Within fifteen minutes he is in the intensive care unit. He comforts the
broken; he prays for them and reminds them of God’s goodness in all things. Nonetheless,
this man of God they saw walk into the Hospital ten minutes ago left home in
the middle of a very good meal he has not had in long time. It is also a day in
which he rests from his busy schedule. He also was looking forward to an early
night sleep. Many times he has found
himself in this situation. But for the love of Christ he left these God given
pleasures to attend to the sheep. This again, the flock does not know.
John is angry. Why? He has lost it because his Pastor told
him to end the relationship with his new girlfriend. “He doesn't know her,” grumbled
the young man. “We get along very well. How can he say that she is not a
Christian?” The Pastor has known Mary for a long time before John joined the
Church. He also knows how much of a pretender she can be. His heart is to
protect John but this, John doesn't know.
“He talks like he is perfect. You should listen to him
preach. He thinks he is an angel,” said James. When the under shepherd is
praying, you would think this is the most wretched man I have ever seen. He
mourns for his own sin. Several times he asks God for forgiveness of his
transgressions. At times he weeps like a baby when he is before the throne of
grace. Sheep like James don’t know this.
Sometimes you would here statements like, “Some of these
tuma Pastors just want money.” How can you decide to become a Pastor of all
things?” However, the under shepherd being slandered left a Job with a huge
salary in order to respond to God’s call into the ministry. Another had to
battle the fact of living behind his desire to become an engineer. This, the
flock doesn't know.
What is the point of all this? What am I trying to point out
to us? Some “men of God” are foxes and pretend to love the flock. They do so
with wrong theology and motives. You can see it from the mansions they have
built for themselves, the kind of preaching they present. This can cause the
flock to think otherwise.
On the other hand, there are under shepherds that seek to do
the Lords will. They are passionate about the Lord’s work. Many times we do not
appreciate the work these men do. We don’t know what they go through just to
see to it that our souls are cared for. Not that we should glorify them but as
members to play our role in making them serve with joy as Hebrews 13:17 states, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.
They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that
their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to
you.”
If you have a Pastor like this let me ask you these questions to
help you see what I mean.
When was the last time you prayed for your Pastor? Do you
pray for your Pastor? Is he a burden to
you? Do you pray for his sermon preparations and delivery? Do you pray to God
for his protection physically and spiritually? Do you pray for his family? You
and I need to do so every so often. We too will be held accountable for we have
a responsibility to honour such men.