8. It Encourages Pastors
As well as explaining the responsibility pastors have, Hebrews 13v17 also outlines some of the responsibilities the church family has toward their pastors.
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.
The words ‘obey’ and ‘submit’ do not mean “mindless submission, but persuasion”. It means to be persuaded by, have confidence in, entrust yourself to, place yourself under. Essentially, to lovingly trust, listen to and follow your brother(s) in Christ.
The first reason is because of the responsibility the pastors have; to keep watch over their brothers’ and sisters’ spiritual wellbeing. The second is because, when we lovingly trust, listen to and follower our pastors, they can fulfil their responsibilities with joy, which, according to this verse, benefits the whole church family.
This verse is telling us that, sadly, pastoring can be discouraging, burdensome, disheartening. It also tells us, however, that pastoring can be joyous. And when it is joyous to the pastors it is profitable to their brothers and sisters.
One of the ways to encourage pastors is to be part of the gatherings. As pastors put hours of work into preparing to teach and equip their church family at the gatherings, it is heartening for them when the church family does gather and they are able to shepherd and watch out for the spiritual welfare of those they are called to.
On the other hand, then, it can be discouraging for pastors to labour through a passage of scripture and prepare a message for their brothers and sisters, and for many to not to be present. Although there are many legitimate reasons for not being able to come to the gatherings, there are other reasons that leave them “groaning” in discouragement.
To illustrate, imagine preparing a meal for a large group of friends and family. Think of all the work you put in to have the meal ready. As everyone comes and sits around the table, imagine the joy of seeing everyone together, enjoying what you prepared for them. Imagine, on the other hand, how it might feel to put all that preparation in, and on the day, many of your friends and family decided not to come.
So we gather, because we want the hearts of our pastors to be encouraged, and for them to be full of joy as they keep a watch over the spiritual welfare of their church family.
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