Helping the Pastor

Heb 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

The word obey in this verse carries the idea of trust being persuaded by an authority, and to make friends with that authority. Hence when we are told obey them we are in essence being asked to trust them explicitly and to rely on their judgment in matters of the soul.

The phrase rule over is the idea of leadership. The idea is not of a boss and employee relationships especially when coupled with the idea of obey. It is in reality an expression of two very close friends traveling together to a place one of them has already been or across a terrain that one of them is more skilled to transverse. Hence, one of them will take the lead.

You in this instance is not a singular you. The you of this verse is a you of plurality meaning not just one person but all who might fall under that person. Here is the indication that it is a family matter.

Submit yourself is the idea of yielding. I watched a movie once where the police were tracking a fugitive with dogs. One officer was ahead of the dogs and began slipping on the muddy terrain. The dog handler asked him to move back so that he did not spoil the scent. The dog handler wanted the dogs to be able to smell clearly the path they should take. Likewise, when we yield to the leadership of those best equipped and gifted we do not “spoil the scent” that leads to God’s glory.

Why are we to do this? We are to do all that has been mentioned because they watch for our souls. In the original language of scripture this means they spent countless nights in a state of sleeplessness in earnest concern and prayer for your entire life and its eternal state of reward. As a pastor I know this to be true and many nights when sleep does come it comes in intermittent spurts and never really sinks to the deep level of rest.

The reason for this sleeplessness is because they understand that they must give an account for how they tried to persuade you, influence you, guide you, to the truth of how they could best glorify God. Sometimes this means begging God for the special revelation of dormant gifts or the wisdom of how to tweak of gift without discouraging you.

The more yielded you are to this way of leadership the easier it will be for your leaders. Remember our dog handler? I wonder how frustrated he would be if that officer never yielded to those best equipped to track the fugitive. How frustrated would you be if you were the dog handler? That frustration is exactly what is meant with the phrase grievous. It is to sigh in exasperation over a situation. I wonder how many people realize that when only a handful of people heed the sermon of the pastor and the majority do not that they are frustrating and spoiling the scent of their entire church to get to God’s glory.

So, the next time you see a pastor tired, run down, care worn, and doing their best to be upbeat and their for everyone do not criticize them. Instead pray and ask God if you are the one who is in a state of spoiling the scent. If you are not, then would you pray for those who are to realize this important point? If you are…then God says could you move aside and let my guys do their job?