A Difference Between a Layman and a Leader

Over the past few years here at Valley we have had a few young men come through our doors who are transitioning from being laymen to full time ministry workers.  It is a transition that has been both challenging and encouraging as we see that there are still those who desire to serve the Lord out there but also that there are things seemingly being missed.  One thing that I have noticed that I am concerned about and want to address it in this posting and that concern is an often unseen and seemingly unaddressed difference between being a faithful layman in a church and being a true leader in a church.

Let me start by saying that there are certain things EVERY Christian should be involved in no matter what level of Christian service a person is called into.  For instance, reading your Bible everyday (Acts 17:11), being in church every service (Hebrews 10:25), and sharing the Gospel wherever possible (Mark 16:15) are examples of what every believer is commissioned to do.  But clearly not every Christian is called into every type of service as even the ministry positions within the church vary, such as teacher, evangelist, and preacher/pastor.  Also there are a diversity of spiritual gifts in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, thus there are different “positions” of ministry within the local assembly.

But there is a certain disconnect among those going into ministry nowadays that I feel needs to be addressed as it seems to be very common and truly crucial for men in ministry to see and understand.  That disconnect has to do with the differences between a layman’s responsibility and a leader’s responsibility according to the Scriptures. 

First let me use the practical example for a laymen to grasp.  What ministry opportunities does a layman miss that a pastor cannot?  If a few church members miss Saturday morning soul winning because of some family issue such as a baseball game, fishing, or gardening, few really think much of it.  Every person needs a day off (Mark 6:31) and that is just fine for a layman. Yet if the pastor were to miss soul winning because of a baseball game, fishing, or gardening, the church rightfully complain because they would have expected more from their leader.  This is an example of the principle difference I am speaking of.  The layman serves while the leader leads.  Other examples could include that it is understood that a pastor should be the first to give for a special offering.  A pastor and his family MUST be at every church service.  A pastor’s children should never work during a church service, and so on.  Yet a layman often has the things get in the way, right or wrong, and these decision are often written off as normal parts of life.

Now remember the context in the discussion - young people transitioning from laymen to leaders.  Quite often a layman misses some events within a church that a leader could/should never miss.  But this is the nature of leadership.   It is rightfully understood that a leader should lead, yet, we often fail to teach this to those who are transitioning from being a laymen into a leader.  

As an example of this principle, Jesus was the only one to stay awake through an all night prayer service when his disciples kept falling asleep (Matthew 26:36-46).  Now mind you Jesus did not strongly preach at these men as he knew they were not in the leadership position yet, and, he knew that they were struggling to battle their flesh (vs. 41).  We assume a pastor who calls for an all night prayer meeting will stay awake for it, while the laymen may not because they have been working all day.

Another example we find is in Acts where Paul was being LONG winded and had preached all night and so a young man named Eutychus fell asleep and had to be brought back from the dead after falling out of the window (Acts 20:7-12).  Bring that into modern day - imagine a pastor falling asleep in the middle of a revival meeting while the visiting evangelist is preaching his message!  It would not be overlooked very long by the church, would it?  But now think how often church members fall asleep in church during that same pastor’s messages.  They fall asleep because they are weary from a week of labor…and no one thinks anything about it.  It is the nature of being a layman and being a leader…SIMPLY PUT, WE EXPECT MORE FROM OUR LEADERS!

Now, please let me be clear, I am not complaint about the people at Valley but simply showing that we MUST teach that there is a level of responsibility that needs to be learned by those moving from layman to leader.  How can we expect leaders to know what it means to lead if we do not teach them?  Paul taught Timothy that he was to be an example because he was a leader (1 Timothy 4:12). 

On a side note let me interject here that too often preachers tell their people that they should be at every church activity and they often schedule these activities on Saturday or Sunday or another day in the evening so that the layman can participated on their day off.  Yet too often a pastor takes an entire day off, usually a Monday, by telling his church that this is his family day and to call only if there is an emergency.  This can easily be seen as hypocritical and so, pastors, be careful when you take a day off from ministry and then expect EVERY church member to take one of their days off to serve in ministry. 

But back to the lesson at hand. 

Secondly, let me explain something leaders need to remember too when comes to our different responsibilities.  As leaders must not allow our ministry obligations to supersede our Christian duties.   In the New Testament all believers are exhorted to edify one another.  1 Thessalonians 5:11 states to all Christians, “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”  Yet how often do we as leaders see the ministry we are in as our only method of edification?  We assume that layman do the daily edification while we, the pastors, do the Sunday edification from the pulpit.  

As an example, a youth leader labors with teaching and edifying his youth group and having edifying youth activities.  His world becomes that of the teenagers of the church…while the other “groups” within the church are not his concern.  His edification focus solely becomes his ministry of edification only for the teens to the exclusion of all others.  But is that ALL that a youth leader should be doing?  Should not the youth leader be looking to edify EVERYONE he can, regardless of their participation in his group or not?  Of course!  

How about preacher who says, “Come to church for every service and you will get all the counseling you will ever need.”  Is this biblical?  No!  Read John 3 and you will find that Jesus took time for the one on one as well as the public ministry of edification.   The pulpit ministry is crucial (1 Corinthians 1:18-21), but preaching CANNOT be our method of edification!  We must have one on one time daily to fulfill the commission given to both layman and leader.

So in other words, a leader can fall prey to this failure as they see their “ministry” as their Christian service alone.  These same leaders can expect the laymen to edification daily while the leader struggles to get past their “ministry” edification.

My challenge today is this - look up the verses written to EVERY Christian and ask yourself how to apply them to your life right now.  Let us not think that layman and leaders MUST do everything the same as that is clearly not biblical.  But neither should we ever excuse our lack of service in some commanded area because we are not leaders or because we are not laymen and that the area of service has been assumed to be just for the group we are not a part of at the moment.

What Does a REAL Christian Look Like?

A major problem today with "Christianity" is that the term "Christian" has become a catch all for anyone who claims to be a "Christian."  Every type of group imaginable claims to be Christian even though their beliefs are completely different from the next group which claims to be "Christian."  As an example, you have groups today that say they accept the deity of Christ and others who reject the deity of Christ yet both say they are “Christians.”  Another example is the “Christians” who say good works must be a part of salvation while other Christians claim grace alone saves.

It is no wonder why the unsaved world around us is so confused and even rejecting at times of the Christian faith as they are not convinced WE even know what it means to be “Christian.”

This is not a new problem as even in the New Testament there were those who claimed to follow Christ but where not true "Christians."   Jesus tells of this struggle in John 10:25-27, “Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

But the confusion did not end there as the early churches had the same issue such as Paul points out in Romans 16:17-18, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ…”

Even later in early Christianity John writes that there were those who were among the believers for a time but then they left because they were not really part of them.  1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”

So what does a REAL Christians look like?

1. Faith in God’s true doctrine - 2 John 1:9 “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”  Look up the word doctrines in Scripture and you will see that EVERY TIME doctrines is plural it is speaking false doctrines being taught.  You cannot have multiple doctrines being accepted and still be “Christian.”  There is NO WAY that all the various doctrines being taught today in the name of Christ can be true and thus it is crucial to believe in sound true doctrine. (John 7:17; Acts 2:42, 5:28; Romans 16:17; Ephesians 4:14; 1 Timothy 1:3-10; Titus 1:9, 2:1)
2. Love for other believers - John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”  When a person spends all their time and energy tearing down other “Christians” they are either saying those they are tearing down are not Christian or they themselves are not walking as Jesus said a Christian should walk. (Romans 15:30; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 6:23; 1 Peter 1:22, 3:8; 1 John 3:14-16)

Going to church does not make a person a Christian…just as sleeping in a garage makes one a car!  You are not a Christian because you CLAIM to be one, but because God has redeemed you and thus your life is showing what He has done within you!  

Acts 11:26 “And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

Acts 26:27-29 “King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.”

Why Pastors Feel Like Quitting

Let me start by making it clear that I am NOT ready to quit, nor do I have any intention of quitting anytime in the future.  This article is written to help those who are trying to help their pastors but do not know what to do and for every pastors to know they are not alone in their struggles.

1. Pastors feel ineffective.  I am convinced that most pastors want to make a difference in their communities.  They want to see people saved and they want to see Christians growing in Christ.  But I also believe that most pastors feel ineffective a lot of the time.  Pastors wisely set goals, but, many times the goals are not met and thus they set themselves up for feelings of ineffectiveness based on those goals.  We “feel” ineffective because we do not see what we hoped we would see, either in ourselves or our church.  Pastors can easily question themselves with thoughts of “I wonder if someone else could do a better job here.”  I know that the phrase “I’ve done all I can here” is a bit of a cliche, but once again it is a real thought often born out of the feeling of ineffectiveness.
2. Pastors have personal battles that discourage them.  Contrary to many misconceptions, pastors are people (sinners) too.  They have the same flesh, struggles, and discouragements that everyone has in their daily lives.  It is just that they are supposed to have grown to such a place in their Christian life that those struggles can be defeated through Holy Spirit strength that mature Christians have learned to rely upon.  Remember that Jesus was tempted in ALL points are we are (Hebrews 4:15).  But when a pastor struggles with a personal issue, it really makes quitting seem like a viable option.  Pastors want to live for God and defeat the sin in their lives, but when you are trying to carry everyone else’s burden, carrying your own becomes a weight almost unbearable.
3. Pastors get frustrated by their people.  People are people, no matter where you go.  There is no place where people’s problems are not real and at times frustrating.  Several years ago, Evangelist Ben Everson wrote a song that spoke of a pastor who came home one day discouraged because people he had ministered to for two years hadn’t changed.  Now, some pastors might laugh at that and say within themselves they have worked with people that seemingly haven’t changed after twenty years!  But it is true that when pour your heart and soul into people and they seemingly continue to do the same things over and over again, you may want to quit because you are frustrated and weary.  But once again we are not alone in this as even Jesus was wearied by the people He sought to ministry to (Matthew 17:17).
4. Pastors feel alone.  We call this the Elisha complex, but it IS a real issue and nothing to joke about.  Even Paul in Romans 11:3 references this potential problem in the context of describing grace and works.  When a pastor has to go clean the church early Sunday morning because no one else signed up to do it, he feels alone.  When a pastor goes visiting week after week alone because the church people are occupied, he feels alone.  When the pastor’s wife has to take nursery week after week because no one else sees the importance of having a place of babies to be during service, the feeling of being alone settles into the heart very easily.  It isn’t that the pastor wants to be alone, but that he FEELS alone and that is enough to cause quitting seem possible.  Let me quickly add to you that are pastors - Don’t forget that people have lives away from church and sometimes we get discouraged when they don’t volunteer like we expect them to do.  Just remember, pastor, that if you need a day off, then so do your people and often pastors expect their people to minister on their days off….just be mindful of this before you let being alone settle deeply in your heart.
5. Pastors forget they are serving God first and foremost.  Really when we come down to it, this is the real issue that we face in all the other reasons given above.  We must remember that we are not serving our people, but our God.  We may be ministering to the people through service, but our service is for the King of kings and Lord of lords.  He is our Master and He is our reason for being in the ministry.  We get our eyes off of Him and onto the storm around us (Matthew 14:30).  We get our hearts off of serving our Savior and onto measuring our success by people (Colossians 3:24).  

Let me say in closing, if you are church member who wants to lift up your pastor, then here are a few simple ways to do that.

1. Be in church - nothing lifts a pastor’s heart more than seeing ALL the people there ALL the time.  Now I know that things happen and so does your pastor, so don’t think I am saying that missing church here and there will destroy your pastor.  But when you go to the store on Sunday when you “can’t” go to church, sinks like a knife into your pastor’s heart. 
2. Don’t wait until the last minute to commit to events.  As an example, if the pastor says “we need helpers for VBS next month,” don’t wait until the day before to volunteer.  If you know you are going to help, sign up the first day the list goes up.  It shows that his vision is a priority to you and that helps him plan effectively.
3. Notice the little things and do something about them.  Pick up trash around the church building.  Use the trimmer around the church property.  Take out the trash when it’s full.  Straighten the hymnbooks without being told.  Pick up the tithe envelopes on the floor that have been used as scribble pads.  I know these seem small but few things say “I care, pastor,” more than people who notice the little things.  
4. Ask your pastor if you can go with him on visitation once in a while.  Don't just send him to the hospital to visit your Aunt Bertha, go with him.

(By the way, these last things mentioned ARE things that this pastor notices and it means a lot to me, so I can assume it would mean a lot to your pastor too.)

When the Altar is Too Small

So often my flesh wants to give just enough to the Lord.  Truthfully, I do want to serve the Lord, but I also want to sleep in on Saturday morning when there is soul winning.  I want to give my money for the Lord’s work but I also really like my “toys” too.  I like to go to church, but I like my family time away from everyone too.  I want to serve my God but how should I behave my in Christian giving of myself and my resources? 

One of the the most amazing concepts to me in all God’s Holy Word is David’s mindset when it came to his giving to the Lord, whether it was his direct service or his resources.  Let’s consider for a moment this.

While David was fleeing from King Saul’s wrath in 2 Samuel 23, he and his mighty men were seeking to help Israel defeat the Philistine army which had surrounded Bethlehem.  Obviously since David knew Bethlehem well, he knew there was a well of water that he loved the taste of and was thinking out loud about when he says in verse 15, “Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”  He was not asking his men to get him this water, but longed for it and they knew this.  When three of his mighty meant heard this, out of love and respect for David they went through the Philistine lines and got David a measure of this precious water and brought it back to him.  But when when David saw what they had done, he refused to drink it and poured it out as an offering to the Lord (verse 16) because the gift was too great for him to receive.  He knew these men had risked their lives and that sacrifice was worthy only to be given to God.

Then again in 1 Chronicles 21 we find that David sinned in numbering the people and God’s judgment came because of this disobedience.  But when David saw his sin and the judgment on the nation, he begged for God’s forgiveness.  He went to the threshing floor of Ornan to face the angel of the Lord who had stopped there.  David planned to offer sacrifice for his sin and to appease the wrath of judgement.  When David arrived he asked Ornan if he could build the altar and make sacrifice on the threshing floor before the angel of the Lord.  Ornan immediately replied, “Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.”  In other words, Ornan was saying “Your majesty, it’s all your’s.  I give it all to you without any charge or cost.”  But David replied in verses 24, “Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.”  David was saying I will not offer to God that which costs me nothing.

What a heart David had and what a testimony it must showed to others!  And that testimony must have been seen by Solomon on a daily basis as it made an impact which we can see in 1 Kings 8.  Because here we find Solomon dedicating the Temple to the Lord after seven years of construction.  Now we must understand than there is no direct command of what or how much to offer at the Temple’s dedication, yet we find that Solomon offers 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep in a single offering to show that the greatness of God was worthy of such as sacrifice.  In fact, the Bible says in 1 Kings 8:64 that Solomon had to turn the entire middle court of the Temple into an altar of sacrifice because, “the brazen altar was too little to receive the burnt offerings….”  Where did Solomon learn this concept of giving?  I believe from his father, David.

As I close let me give one final illustration of this kind of heart where David might have learned this kind of sacrifice.  You see, when Moses was commanded to collect from the people the needed resources to build the tabernacle, it is said of their sacrificial giving in Exodus 36:5, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work.”  Did David learn his giving from that?  I do not know.  But I do know that God is worthy and that my desire should be that I would be willing to give with that kind of heart and that kind of sacrifice.  

May my altar be too small! 

No Hammers on the Job Site

In the past I have had the opportunity to learn how to work with my hands in various trades.  I spent a couple of summers when a youth pastor in Virginia learning to help a block layer and a roofer.  In later years I earned some extra income by becoming a laborer to a carpenter and then working alongside that carpenter learning the basics of that trade as well.  In my limited experience, there was one thing I learned about construction sites - they were noisy.  There was always the noise of a hammering sound or a compressor going all day long, except during lunchtime of course.  But job sites were seldom quiet and truthfully one carpenter I worked with said, “Don’t worry about making noise, because a quiet job site isn’t getting anything done.”

In 1 Kings 6 we find Solomon building the Temple which his father David had wanted to build.  God has told David that he could prepare the materials, but, because of the blood on his hands from the years of war, Solomon would have to actually do the building (1 Kings 5:3).  So David prepped the materials and gave instruction for Solomon to follow.

We here in the United States often judge a president by his first 100 days in office and make  huge deal about those days.  If we did that with Solomon, I believe we would have judged him a 100% success as he started the Temple build almost immediately after becoming king.  He clearly wanted his reign to be seen as an extension of his father’s faithful reign and wanted the Temple built as an honor to God Almighty. 

Almost immediately after the coronation, Solomon connects with the king of Tyre for the cedar wood (1 Kings 5:1-11) and for the stone cutters (1 Kings 5:13-18).  He wanted this Temple done and done right away.  Now mind you, this was a huge undertaking as tens of thousands were involved in this project and it was seen by many historians as one of wonders of the ancient world for its beauty and engineering.

But to me, a small seemingly insignificant statement brought wonder and blessed my heart the other day during my devotions.  In 2 Kings 6 as the description of the initial Temple building is given verse 6 stood out like a beacon:

And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

Now mind you I am far from the most experienced builder, but with what limited experience I have and having reminded myself of that carpenter’s words from years past, “Don’t worry about making noise, because a quiet job site isn’t getting anything done,” this thought amazing me.  But what does the no hammer policy show?

1. It shows preparation is important in any task.
2. It showed the respect for the task being done - the building of God’s house was taken seriously.
3. It shows the importance of proper clear communication between all involved.
4. It shows experienced people willing to surrender their talents for the Lord’s work.
5. It shows that God’s house deserves to be built correctly and not thrown together.
6. It shows the value of training, as these were experienced men who prepared beforehand.

When we think of God’s work being done, how much preparation do we put into the work?  How much prayer, communication with God, do we pray BEFORE the task begins?  Do we truly believe God deserves our best?  

2 Kings 6:7, “… so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.”  This may just have been a simple thing to some, but to me it shows clearly of honoring our God!