Godly leaders 'put you in your place.' What a blessing!
1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 (NIV)
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care [lit: watch over] for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 31: The Officers of the Church
We believe that
ministers of the Word of God, elders, and deacons
ought to be chosen to their offices
by a legitimate election of the church,
with prayer in the name of the Lord,
and in good order,
as the Word of God teaches.
So everyone must be careful
not to push one’s self forward improperly,
but all must wait until called by God,
so that they may be assured of their calling
and be certain and sure that it is
from the Lord.
As for the ministers of the Word,
they all have the same power and authority,
no matter where they may be,
since they are all servants of Jesus Christ,
the only universal bishop,
and the only head of the church.
Moreover,
to keep God’s holy order
from being violated or despised,
we say that everyone ought,
as much as possible,
to hold the ministers of the Word and elders of the church
in special esteem,
because of the work they do,
and be at peace with them,
without grumbling, quarreling, or fighting
Summary
As is often the case with the epistles (letters) Paul wrote to the various churches, he begins the conclusion with a litany of imperatives for his readers. The first thing he instructs as he closes this first letter to the Thessalonians is for them to acknowledge - literally, to know - those who work hard among you. Those of you who participate in our Bible reading plan tend to be really hard workers, so it's good to see once again how much the Bible values hard work.
But Paul is signaling out a particular kind of hard work here, the kind done by those who care for you in the Lord. But once again, Paul has a very particular type of caregiver in mind here. The NET Bible probably translates this the best: Paul wants us to acknowledge those who... preside over you in the Lord. In other words, you must know your hard working pastors, elders and deacons well.
After all, these are the men tasked with admonishing you. Quite literally, these guys have been tasked by the Lord to put you in your place. Often times this involves lifting you up and reminding you of your infinite value as a redeemed image bearer of God; other times they may need to knock you down a peg or two to remind you of your reliance on Christ, not your own abilities.
Paul gives a whole list of ways that you can acknowledge their leadership. Do this by living in peace with each other; by encouraging the disheartened, helping the weak and being patient with everyone. Paul summarizes all of this in a way that's easy to memorize: always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
Dig Deeper
The last couple of decades have seen an increase in folks who make a fine living amplifying what can go wrong in 'intersectional power dynamics.' They see the world through a lens where those in power will always abuse those underneath them. The rich will always exploit the poor, men will always abuse women, and the dominant race will always subdue minority races. The author of these critical philosophies, Karl Marx, described it as the bourgeoisie, who control the means of production, always taking advantage of the proletariat working class.
As is the case with nearly every social movement, this one has also crept its way into the Church. In general, most people now have a greatly diminished trust in those who preside over them than previous generations did. People are now much quicker to label any unpopular decision their church council makes as an 'abuse of power.'
Unfortunately, these attitudes are not without warrant. We all know of situations where God given power and authority was twisted and abused to hurt the very sheep that should have been cared for and protected. Such situations are sad and horrible, and implementing common sense church policies and procedures to prevent this type of abuse is wise.
These last couple of weeks as we've looked at God's design for church leadership, we've noted several times that pastors, elders and deacons do not operate with absolute authority or impunity - they must be at all times subject to the Lord and operate within the parameters and instructions He's given in His Word. We've also read several times that they will be held to a higher standard when they stand before God's judgment seat.
But we've also seen that those under them in the church must respectfully hold their leaders accountable to God's Word as well. This means that the better you know what the Bible says, the better you will be able to keep yourself safe from abuse and the better you will be able to properly acknowledge and submit to Godly leadership.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who places godly leaders over the flock He loves dearly;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will know your Bible well so you can know your leaders well and recognize & submit to their admonishment.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: John 5
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