Mutual Admiration

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up" (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

During the next several weeks many of you and your families will receive expressions of gratitude and admiration from members and friends of your congregation.  (I hope all of you do!)  Since 1994, when Dr. James Dobson and all of us at Focus on the Family began to boost Clergy Appreciation Month (see last Friday's 9/28 post) we have been overwhelmed by the response of our supporters.  They are eager to honor folks like you who provide them with spiritual leadership.

But as I was preparing this column, I realized that besides any recognition we might get from other people in the church, it is appropriate that we ministers should support and appreciate each other. 

Who better than a colleague to understand the challenges and stresses we face?  Who better than another ministry family to relate to the pressures our loved ones encounter?  Who better to appreciate the gifts it takes for a minister to guide a congregation than someone else who does it?  Who better to realize what is at stake than one who shares the same calling?

Clergy Appreciation Month could provide a wonderful time for you and your family to tell a comrade in the faith how grateful you are for his commitment to carrying the message entrusted to him by our Lord.  By simply making a home call or sending a note of affirmation, you might encourage another minister in the community.

When I was a young minister, a respected colleague in our community stopped by our church to let me know he was rooting for me and to offer his help if ever I needed it.  We shared a meaningful prayer time, and by the time he left I felt very special.

You might have that same kind of effect on a minister in your town.

I have watched and participated in a lot of sporting events, and so I've given and received encouragement: "You can do it! Go for it! Good hustle! Nice going! Super Game! Way to go!" These simple phrases from one teammate to another can mean so much.

In a real sense we are all on the same team, playing for the same coach, and engaged in a titanic struggle with evil.  We will not win the battle alone, but only as we join our hearts and talents in a mighty show of mutual faith and admiration for each other. 

By the way, my friend - nice going!

Comments

[Johann]

Dear Brother London, Thank you for your note on mutual admiration. I had been part of a congregation in Michigan for 30 years. Just a few years ago, our pastor and several ministers in the city formed a very tightly knit ministerial association. There had already been one, but these ministers recognized that it was just a formal monthly shaking of the hands among the clergy and that there were real, ongoing issues and needs amongst themselves and throughout the city that really needed addressed by not just a group of ministers, but by the city elders, as it were. They began to pray about just what their relationship ought to be with each other and between their congregations. They soon began to really pray together apart from the monthoy formal meetings. After some time, they were getting together weekly to meet and pray and encourage each other. The group is truly diverse - Free Methodist, A few Baptists (of varying strains), Assembly of God, Church of God, Salvation Army, Evangelical Free, Church of Christ, United Methodist and Missionary. What a group!

After a number of months, they began to sense a unity of spirit and a need to get their congregations to drop the denominational barriers as well. Over three years ago, these congregations began to have a once a month Sunday night service together. People from all nations and lands (spiritually) began to flow together. This event each month is a highlight for the city as we move from church house to chapel, every month in a differnet location. Several time a year we are worshipping in public - at the amphitheater or in a bigtop at a local festival. The city has begun to take notice and the school superintendent is attending the monthly ministerial meetings. The clergy are sharing information back and forth, telling eachother about the latest "user" who is church-hopping in order to bleed assistance from every congregation in town. The ministers are even informing eachother about trouble makers who think it is their job to "straighten out the pastor" and then leave when they don't get their own way.
This year I was honored to be called to pastor a congregation in the adjoining town. We don't have a strong ministerial association there - too much mistrust and too many walls. Don't get me wrong - I have no use for a casual charismatic free-for-all where doctrine is like water and lives are not transformed because there is no strngth in the message. These ministers in my former town, who have broken through the foolishness and have found unity in Christ, will frequently have fervent discussions over their differences. But they recognize their unity in Christ. The ministers who DO meet in the city where I now pastor are of a more seeker sensitive ilk. And so I attend their monthly meetings, quietly praying that God will help these new friends to become more fervent in their love for His Word. And I attend the other ministers' meetings every week so that I can remain in fellowship with some true, strong brethren.