Protect Your Pastor in 10 Seconds a Week

Written by John Trent, Ph.D.

No one saw it coming. Not the people who thought he looked and sounded "just fine" on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. Not the Deacon board or the renovation committee or the Tuesday night visitation team that he always joined.

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But, like thousands of churches each year, when the congregation showed up for services that Sunday, there was an assistant pastor in the pulpit. Another pastor had walked away from his calling and church.

It was Brian's problem, right?

Certainly, to a degree he could have done things differently. But it's not what you think. There was no immorality. No huge division in the church. No smoking guns. In fact, Brian's problem is the problem of too many burned out, used-up pastors: he never cried out for help. He hoped help would come, but he never brought up his own inner struggles until leaving seemed the only answer.

When I talked to Brian, he told me that he had walked away because in all the swirling activity of a growing church he felt both alone and unwanted - a failure. It's not that Brian was only seeking the praise of man. But, his leaving was directly related to something that his congregation could have solved in as little as ten seconds a week.

Let me repeat that: Brian's feelings of loneliness, being unwanted and not measuring up could have been solved, and a good man would have remained in the ministry, if his congregation had taken ten seconds a week to do something.

What's this "ten second" cure-all? That's how long it would have taken people in his church to live out the message of two verses in Scripture, both verses carrying the same word: "Good."

• Proverbs 3:27 "Do not withhold good from those whom it is due, When it is in your power to do it."
• Proverbs 15:30 "Bright eyes gladden the heart; Good news puts fat on the bones."

Let me connect the dots between these two Proverbs and then give you a specific example of a "ten-second cure."

Unleashing the Power of Deacon-Led Ministry Teams

First, it's clear from Scripture that those in ministry are worthy of "honor" in the biblical sense of the worth. 1 Timothy 5:17 tells us, "Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching." In Greek, this word, "honor" literally means, "to be heavy, weighty." In Old Testament times it was used of gold that was both heavy, and very valuable. Can you see now the connection with your pastor?

"Do not withhold good from those whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it." We're to treat pastors with honor - like they're "heavyweights" in our eyes. In fact, doubly so. And, like our first Proverb challenges, the time to express that honor is right now, not at their retirement party or "sometime." It's "now." This Sunday when you see him.

But how? How can you "doubly honor" your pastor and in the process, be a tremendous blessing and protective element in his life? In ten seconds, you can live out that second Proverb when you see your Pastor this Sunday. "Bright eyes gladden the heart. Good news puts fat on the bones." A sound heart and "fat" on the bones. Both are images of healthy functioning. And what does it take to provide this spiritual and emotional vitamin pill? "Bright eyes" and "good news."

Now watch this. Here comes a chance in ten seconds to increase the emotional health of your pastor. It's this Sunday morning, you catch him in the hallway rushing out of a Sunday school class where he's made an announcement and on his way to the second service.

"Hey Pastor _______!" Look at him with a smile and purposefully "widen your eyes" like you're really glad to see him. As you touch his arm, you say, "I've got to tell you this. "You are so good at (pick the strength you've seen in his life; preaching, counseling, sharing a vision for our people, blessing your own family, balancing so may plates, listening, etc.) that I wanted you to know I love you and am praying for you and your family.

That's ten seconds flat (If you say it slow). No long speech. No expensive card. Nothing but genuine praise and encouragement for someone God deems worthy of "double honor."

Here's your assignment: