Being a pastor is one of the most difficult professions ever in this world. The pastor is expected to discharge his duties as the spiritual head, teacher, preacher, counselor, musician, financial adviser, etc. The work of a pastor is such that he will come across diverse issues and he is expected to use a rich stock of knowledge and experience to deal with each of those cases. He is expected to meet the spiritual needs of his members and this task is very difficult due to individual differences, maturity and educational level.
It is important for you to know how to appreciate the efforts of your pastor and make him happy.
15 ways to make your pastor happy
- Respect him – 1 Thess. 5:12-13
Regardless of the age of your pastor, it is your duty to honour and accord him all the necessary respect. One of the worst things that can ever happen to a leader is when he knows that his followers do not like and respect him. It weakens his confidence and dampens his spirit to give his all.
- Obey and follow him as he follows Christ – 1 Cor.11:1, Heb. 13:7
When it comes to spiritual matters, your pastor has been trained to teach you the right way that leads to your development and spiritual growth. Your pastor is supposed to lead the entire church to reach the stage of perfection God requires of him. As a matter of fact, he must be directed by the voice of God through revelations, visions and other means of hearing from God.
Pastors get discouraged when they receive a vision from God to teach the entire church about the way forward and later realize that the members are deliberately or not deliberately refusing to follow the directions. One of the best ways to make your pastor happy is when you obey his directions and respond with promptitude.
- Visit him as you want him to visit you
Pastors become happy when members visit them in the house. It shows that there is fellowship among the membership. It does not necessarily mean that you should always visit with a gift or some money. Remember, pastors too do feel very bored and lonely more especially during the weekdays when all members go out to work.
- Pray for him – Eph. 6:18-20, 1 Thess. 3:1-2
One of the core duties of every member is to pray for the pastor just as pastors also pray for the members. Your pastor becomes happy when he knows that you are praying for him for the Hand of the Lord to move mightily in the Church. Pastors go through a lot of battles both physical and spiritual and your prayers can save them from many terrible situations. As the spiritual leader, any attack will first be projected against him before the membership.
- Support his vision and ideas
It is a terrible thing for every leader to have good visions and projects to do but will not receive the necessary support from the membership. As a pastor, you are likely to be discouraged and unhappy when you do not receive the necessary support for the work of God to go on.
- Make yourself available
One of the things that kill the joy of pastors is unavailability of both members and leaders. This is demotivating. Make yourself readily available in order to receive from the impartation of your pastor. Pastors pray and organize a program for the spiritual growth and maturity of their members and leadership but not for themselves. It is demotivating to organize a program and the beneficiaries of the program will not show up.
- Be a friend
Have you ever wondered how the life of a pastor looks like when the Sunday church service is over? Research has shown that some pastors feel very lonely more especially during working days. The life of a pastor could be pretty boring if his work is not that demanding. All the same, you must make efforts to be a friend to your pastor. Most of them have left their families and friends and live for the welfare of the members. The membership of the church also becomes part of their families and friends.
- Encourage him – Eph. 4:29
Pastors, like any other human being also need motivation. When your pastor does well and you are touched by his sermon, tell them how blessed you were. They really struggle and suffer to receive a message from God to deliver to the church. Your words of encouragement are sometimes a way of motivating your pastor.
- Avoid destructive criticism and gossip – Tim. 5:19 4
One of the things you must understand about a ‘Man of God’ is that he is a “MAN”. Pastors are not superhuman but a human being subject like same passion and weaknesses like us. If possible avoid destructive criticism against your pastor.
- Take care of him – 1 Tim: 17-18, Phil. 4:10-19
It behooves you as a church member and a leader to take care of your pastor. Members are supposed to visit their pastors, bless them and sow a seed into their ministry. There have several instances where doors never opened for some people until they sowed a seed into a Man of God’s life. Be a cheer giver to support your pastor’s ministry.
- Try to understand him
When your followers understand you and your vision, there is progress. Leadership becomes a challenge when your followers and coworkers do not understand your vision, quarrel with you and slow down the activities of the church.
- Avoid telling lies – its dangerous
It is not all pastors that are very vocal about the things they see spiritually. Telling your pastor a lie is a dangerous thing to do. Ananias and Saphira told the early apostles a lie and this led to death. Your pastor could easily descend that you are telling him and may decide never to tell you in the face that you just told a lie. Telling him a lie breaks the trust and confidence he has in his members.
- Good feedback
Just as companies need feedback to improve their products and services, so do pastors also need good feedback about the activities of the church. Giving a regular and timely feedback is a clear indication you have the ministry of the pastor and the church at heart.
- Be Volunteers for Christ and take initiatives to do things for the church
Pastors become happy when church members willingly volunteer to champion some activities. Again, when members suggest some ideas and take the initiatives to do things for the church with their own finances, you make your pastor very happy and proud more especially if those activities are in line with his vision.
- Be a coworker in ministry with him
Sometimes, church leaders and members feel that the Pastor is paid to do his ministerial work and pay less attention to assist them. The Church does not belong to the pastor but Christ likewise the work of God does not belong to the pastor but Christ. It is expedient for every member to support his pastor.
Read also:10 Ways To Turn Your Rejection Into Honour
What other ways can you make your pastor happy? Share your views with us.
