A calling, not a job
This is not a letter concerning any of the great social and political issues that confront us today. But it is an appeal for proper thinking and usage of words concerning the pastors of the Lord Jesus Christ who serve us and Him so faithfully.
In Thursday's newspaper, in the "Local" section, the headline reads, "Coeur d'Alene Nazarene hires new senior pastor." I am sure the newspaper and the writer of this article meant well, but no pastor should ever be spoken of as being "hired!" He is not a hireling, that he should flee when trouble comes. "I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep" (John 10:11-13).
Pastors are "called," not "hired." They are servants of the Lord first, not the congregation, though in Him, they do serve the congregation. They love the Lord's people, as expressions of the Lord's love for them. They are not hirelings, who don't care for the life of the sheep.
Their salary is not to be thought of as a wage. Wages are paid to hirelings. Their salary is compensation from the Lord's house, even as Levites ate from the table of the Lord.
The importance of proper words concerning the call of pastors is a matter of respect and authority. Hirelings have little authority. They are necessarily people pleasers, serving their employers' wishes so as not to be rejected. Pastors, however, must not be people pleasers so as not to be fired. They serve to please their Lord, often called to "lay down their lives" in the sense of having to speak hard unpopular words whenever the Lord commands. The Lord is His protector, not the people's attitudes. Pastors are not called to please those they serve; they are called to serve and please the Lord Jesus Christ, whether or not what they are called to say or do pleases God's people. Pastors are never to be "fired." Hirelings who do not serve well are fired. Pastors who fail, either by sin or failure to serve well, are released or they are terminated from their position by the Lord, though by and through His people.
A secondary importance of thinking rightly of calling rather than being hired, has to do with how we who are sheep regard and speak of or to pastors. If we think of a pastor as one who is just a hireling, expected to do our will, or be fired, we are confined to thinking of the pastor in human terms only. He is just a man, and we who hired him can also fire him. The issue is control. But if he is not our servant but the Lord's, then we are enjoined to think of and speak to him with respect, as one annointed by God, whose mind and heart are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, not by any human compelling. Welcome, Pastor McWhorter, to your calling as the Lord's man.
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Pastor John L. Sandford is the founder of Elijah House Ministries in Coeur d'Alene.