The Perfect Pastor!

 I have had the great privilege to spend the last three years with several pastors. My dad was a pastor, my grandfather was a pastor, and I have been attending church since I was born. Since I am old, I have seen and heard a lot of pastors. The vast majority of these servants were awesome people. Pastors give of themselves sacrificially. They are truly superheroes to me. BUT, they are not perfect and the pressure to perform the perfect sermon, lead the perfect worship, say just the right thing, show an infinite amount of compassion, and live up to their calling, is a severe challenge. No one can live up to those standards! Even in their great imperfection, I have so much respect for them. 

As I read Hebrews 7-9, the topic of these three chapters is the High Priest, the perfect High Priest, Jesus! The Bible points out many flaws of the priests in the Old Testament before Jesus and we are aware of the failures of modern priests and pastors. But, Jesus, he is the only PERFECT PASTOR! And, although, we should do everything to emulate him, there is no way we can achieve the perfection of his life. 

"He [Jesus] is the kind of priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people's sins. The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his son has been made the perfect High Priest forever." (Hebrews 7:26-28)

Jesus is the only perfect pastor and with that in mind we need to show an infinite amount of grace to our church leaders, the pastors of the flock. We need to encourage them, support them, defend them, and above all else love them. Yes, they are flawed. Yes, they might do some things we scratch our head about, but they have been chosen by God and we owe them the deepest honor for accepting the call and obeying the Lord!

Paul shared that exact same sentiment with the Thessalonians Church:

"Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord's work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other." (Thessalonians 5:12-13)

Today, I praise God for my pastor, and the leaders of my church. I am so thankful you answered the call to serve the Lord. My life is blessed because of you and I look forward to worshipping with you each week. May God bless you with peace, plenty of rest, and joy throughout your life.