Obey Your Leaders

"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you"(Heb. 13:17).

Any church member that wishes to make their pastor and elders become discouraged and see the ministry as a burden, then disobey them. Treat them as if they have no authority and have not been raised up, gifted and called by God, to watch over your soul. However, I warn you that to do this is to dishonor, sin against God and to provoke Him. Your pastor and elders are a gift from God to the local body. To disobey them is to disobey God for they act as His under-shepherds. Now of course I am speaking of those that are being faithful in their calling. That is those that are rightly handling the Word of God and preaching the whole counsel of God and who's lives reflect their faith in Christ. Yes, these men are watching over your souls and they will have to account for you before God. Understand, then, that when they preach difficult sermons that may convict, offend, go against your traditions, or challenge your pre-conceived ideas about God, they are doing this because they love Christ and they love Christ's sheep- that means you. They love you so much that they  gladly and willingly give you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, of God's Word. That is what they have been called and commissioned by God to do. They must remain faithful to that. The primary way they lead and protect you is to give the sense of Scripture. It is to open God's Word and read from it and explain it. You must remember that when he speaks out against false teachers and false teaching, he is not doing this for the sake of being contentious. He is protecting you. As a shepherd would defend his flock from a wolf, your pastor and elders are doing the same with false teachers that would desire to take you from Christ. Your pastor must preach Christ and Him crucified and risen, His love and grace, yet he must also watch over your soul and expose false teachers and false teaching that permeate the Church (2 Tim. 4, Acts 29:17-38). If your pastor fails to expose false teachers with their teaching, he is failing as a shepherd.  However, it is usually pastors (and elders) that protect their flocks by preaching the whole truths of God's Word, who are the ones that typically get the disobedience from some in their congregations. The ones most faithful to Christ by keeping watch over your souls, are the ones the most discouraged in the ministry. And if you continue to sin against God by not submitting to His under-shepherd, your pastor will be of no advantage to you. Have you ever observed someone distracted, depressed and discouraged trying to do a job? They don't do it very well. They lack passion, focus and often neglect things. This is the same with your pastor when he gets discouraged because the congregation starts questioning his authority and motives. When people rise up against him and treat him as an enemy instead of God's servant on your behalf. He may smell like a sheep, because he is one, but nevertheless, he is the under-shepherd that God is using to lead and protect you. Love and honor him. Submit to him and let his ministry be a joyful one.

Pastors and elders- remember the calling to which you were gifted and called. Do not fail to preach the whole counsel of God to your congregation. Open the Word of God before them and explain what it means. Do not cower from the difficult issues and subjects. Be patient with your flock as they are patient with you. Do not look to ulterior methods to be more effective in ministry. To do that is to give up your authority. You were called to stand and preach the Word of God. It is the Word of God which is the revelation of God in the person of Christ Jesus. Fail to preach Him, as he Has revealed Himself, is to disqualify yourself. Your own thoughts, opinions and ideas are just that- what you think. But the Word of God is God's testimony of Himself. Preach the Word and allow the Spirit to do the transforming. Also remember to be in the sheep's pen ministering to them on a personal level. A shepherd should know his sheep. We learn that from the Good Shepherd Himself:  "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me" (Jn 10:14). You will make it very difficult for the flock, that has been entrusted to you, to submit to you if you are distant and fail to minster to them on a personal level. Even when you sheep nip at you, do not fail to love them for they belong to Christ. Remember to always preach Christ and be an example for your church. "For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake" (2 Co 4:4–5). Love your flock and honor them in leading by example. And never go into the pulpit without the thought that you have to give an account, before God, for the souls of the those you are shepherding.


Finally, we all should: "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith" (Heb 13:7). Soli Deo Gloria!

For His Glory,
Fernando