The Church's Responsibility to Its Pastor Week 1

All right. And if you look at page nine of your notes, I believe we stopped at letter E, the church's responsibility for the pastor. Um, we've been talking about ecclesiology, which is the study of the church. Ekklesia is the Greek word for church. Now, you know, a good Greek word you can impress people with, and it just means a a called out group. And we as a church are called out from the world to come together and to meet and to worship the Lord and to uh hear the preaching and teaching. And and so we've been looking at that and we've gone through obviously a lot up on pages one through eight.

And we've been talking about the qualifications of a pastor and what his purpose is. We talked about the the responsibility the office of pastor. Letter D up above there. And then letter E, the church's responsibility. What's what is our responsibility as a church to your pastor? What what does God call the church to do? And um the one is look if you look over 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 um 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verses 12 and 13. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verses 12 and 13. And we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves.

And so the first thing he says here is to know them. Uh wherever you go to church, one of the things I want to encourage you to do is get to know your pastor. Now depending on the size of church will depend on how well you're able to get to know him. Uh, one of the things I miss as a pastor is I think the ideal time for our church was for me as a pastor was when we were between about 80 and 160 people because when when that those numbers I was able to really uh have personal time with everybody on a very regular basis. Now, we're averaging on the average Sunday between our different services um in the morning, uh we probably average about 4 to 4:50.

And uh and there's just no way I could get with everybody on a regular basis as much. That's by the way one of the reasons I love Sunday night, I love Wednesday night, I love the small group Bible studies because then we get to have a more personal interaction. When you have a couple hundred people in the auditorium, you don't get to make those connections. Uh a lot of you came to revival and stayed for the fellowships. fast words and that's when you really get to know people and um as a pastor I want to get to know the people. One of the things I I try to do is when when people come to church is as soon as I can uh we can to have them over our home for a meal and that way we get to know them.

But the problem is uh we have probably three or four or more new families every week and so I I can't even have all the new families over every week and so it's uh hard to keep up with that. And then the old families when do we have them? It's one of the reasons we do the larger fellowships at our home like the hot dog cookout we had and we're going to have some more coming up later this summer as well. Uh because we just can't have everybody over individually like we'd like to. And um and and when you get to a a mega church where there's thousands, you may really not even ever get to even shake your pastor's hand, let them get to know him personally.

A lot of times in the bigger churches, they'll have um people that have small groups and they're pastoring those small groups and and and that's a good way to do that. Um but anyway, one of the things you want to get to do is know him, to know his strengths and to know his weaknesses. You want to know his strengths because you want to take full advantage of that. If your pastor is a great teacher, then you want to really learn from him. If he's a great pre preacher, you want to be challenged. If he's a pastor that has the gift of mercy, then you can really benefit from that is know what his gifts are, what his abilities are and his talent.

And so getting to know your pastors and it's not just the senior pastor, but it's the other pastors in the church. Pastor John has many things that he can offer you that I can't. Pastor Enner, uh, Pastor Peter, uh, Pastor Andy, even though you're not Filipino, there's so much blessing he can be to you as well. And, and so, you want to get to know those that are your pastors. And along with that, I think you can include in there your your spiritual leaders like uh, Sunday school class. If you're in the the family and marriage class with the the Sandbex, then they can be a blessing to you. If you're in the auditorium class with Bajan, you get to know him.

Get to know their strengths and also get to know their weaknesses because every pastor has strengths and has weaknesses. You want to know their strengths because this is what I can draw upon. This is what I can benefit from. God's given me them for a reason that that I can benefit my life. And then you want to know their weaknesses first of all to understand this is where he struggles and so I'm going to understand that. Uh, one of the things I try to tell people when we do the start point class for those that are new in the church is, um, I tell them I'm a good forginner. Uh, I went to the doctor yesterday and, uh, one of the things they have to do when you're on Medicare, you have to take the, you have to fill out this app, the paperwork, and one of the things they do is they do a cognitive test on you.

And part of the cognitive test is you had to remember three words. And they would come back to you, ask what those three words were. I forgot one of them. And so now my wife says, "I'm going scenile." and is pro is proven by a test. Uh I I have I have been a good forgiver all my life. As a teenager, I was a forg. I I the only thing I've gotten better at in the all these years is being a forgiver. That I I'm better every year at that. And and so understanding that, knowing that about me as your pastor, you can know, okay, I told pastor something and he he never followed through on it. Well, that's why I want you to sit I don't mind you sending me an email or a text reminder or to ask me, "Pastor, I talked to you about this last week.

Did you take care of that?" Uh, I don't get upset about that because I understand. That's what I I struggle with, but I hope you'll understand. I've had people kind of get mad. Well, you said you were going to do this and you didn't. Well, I didn't write it down or I did write it down, but I lost the paper or I put it on my phone. I I we were we invited one couple over and I put it on my phone, but for a week later and so uh I I'd forgotten it. you know, fortunately we were ready for them, but um I'm just forget her. And so, know your pastor's strengths and know his weaknesses. The better you know him, the better, number one, you can gain from his ministry and the better you can support his ministry.

If the pastor is not good at uh at mercy, then you can and you are, then you can you can help him with that and showing mercy. And and so it's just under knowing your pastor is important. wherever you go, get to know him and and all the spiritual leaders that you have. And then secondly is to esteem them uh very highly and love for their work's sake. And and the idea of esteem is is is showing them respect. Uh showing them um that that hey, I'm thankful for your ministry in my life. I'm thankful that for what you're doing and and to give them that respect to their position. Um, I appreciate when people show me that respect.

And I think one of the ways of showing them is is most everybody calls me Pastor Wayne. And and I'm not hung up on a title. I don't like the title Reverend. I don't like some of those other titles like that. Uh, but I like the Pastor Wayne because I I feel like it's informal. Uh, but it's it's a sign of respect, I think, when people call me that as well. I appreciate that. And it's just esteeming your pastor for who he is in your life. And and that's important that that we should do. And then uh if you'll look at Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 7. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 7. Hebrews 13:7 says, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow consider the end of their conversation."

So the Bible says to remember them. Remember that this person is there for a reason. It it just seems like sometimes people forget, hey, I'm your pastor. I'm here to help you. And and so when you're going through something in your life, I I'm amazed sometimes people will I'll find out afterwards I had surgery. And they never said anything to me as their pastor. And and hey, I want to be praying for you. Now, sometimes people say, "Well, I didn't say anything because I didn't want to announce the church." All you have to do is tell me don't announce it and that we won't do that. But but as your pastor, I want to be there for you.

Or if a couple's going through marriage problems, hey, I'm there to there for you. Uh people said, 'Well, I don't want to bother the pastor. That's like saying, I don't I'm sick, but I don't want to bother the doctor. That that's what they're there for. And remember, they're there for a reason. They're there because God put him there for you. When God leads you somewhere to join a church, then God led you to be under that pastor with his strengths, with his weaknesses. He's there for a reason in your life. And remember that. And then um along with remember follow them. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

It talks about in Hebrews here whose faith follow and Hebrews chapter 11, I'm sorry, 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and um and verse number one. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse one number one. The Bible says follow be followers of me even as I also am of Christ. And so the it's teaching here that we're to follow those that lead that God has set to lead us as they follow Christ. It's not a blind following. I do not want people to blindly follow me. Uh we chose as our theme verse Acts 1711. I want people to check out the word of God. These were more noble and that they search the scriptures. I I don't want people to say well pastor said it so I have to do it.

But yet at the same time, you should follow your pastor's leadership spiritually in the church. Uh he's there for a reason and and God wants us to follow that leadership. Uh Philippians chapter 4 and verse number nine. Philippians chapter 4 and verse number nine. Those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me, do and the God of peace shall be with you. One of the things as a pastor is I I just want to be here. I I want to help you and and so I I'm here to teach you and but you've got to receive it also. Uh I can put it out there but if you don't receive it then it just sits on the table just left there and to receive it the both things that you've learned and received and heard and seen in me.

And and so you're looking to your spiritual leaders for a reason that they're going to they're there to guide you. And let me let me encourage you at whatever point you're at in your spiritual life, look for people that you could look to to follow their example as well. I I'm not a perfect example in all cases. I've I've failed in areas of my life, but I want people I want to live my life in such a way that people can say, "Well, okay, that's that's a good pattern to follow." And I've told you before at my age, one of the things I'm here to teach you also is is not to make the same mistakes I made.

And so at 70 years old, I can tell you don't do this and do that because even though I didn't do it, this is what I've learned now in life. But not only with the pastor, but others. I encourage every every person here, you ought to have somebody you're looking to that you can say, "Man, I want to be like their marriage. I want to be like him. I want to be like her." And and following their example as well. And then asking them, you know, you should have people you're going to say, "Hey, tell me what you've learned. Tell me what you've learned in life." Um, I've had the opportunity of the years of experience in my life.

On top of that, I've had the opportunity of observing a lot of people. I've dealt with hundreds of people in counseling and and so like in marriage, I'm not just giving you the benefit of my marriage, but I'm giving you the benefit of seeing the good, bad, and the ugly. And so, I've learned a lot of things that I can tell you don't do this and do that. And so the pastor is there for you to to know them, to remember them, to follow them, to esteem them, and then to obey and submit to pastoral leadership. Look at Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 17. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 17. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you.

And so God says it's profitable when you obey and submit to leadership. Now again, not a blind obedience. The Bible never tells us to do that. Uh we ought to obey God rather than man. We have a responsibility to make sure and I want that check and balance. I want that the people, you know, if they disagree with me or they think, "Pastor, I don't understand why you're doing this." I want them to come to me and say, "Pastor, what about this or what about that?" I I want them to challenge me, but not to challenge the the leadership authority, but to challenge me in in making the right decisions. And um and and not a blind leadership.

I think you can talk, we're going to talk about deacons later, and you can talk to our deacons that I want them to to to counterbalance that thing as well. But I appreciate that they follow that leadership. And and so you need to follow the leadership of of of the pastor. And by the way, this applies to parents. This applies to all the spiritual leaders that God has set in our lives. Um, you need to pray for him. Hebrews 13:18. Pray for us for we trust you. Have a good conscience, all things willing to live honestly. I need your prayers. I covet your prayers. What a blessing is how people text me and say, "I prayed for you today, pastor."

Um, you heard brother Toser talk about prayer and and the revival meeting and uh, one of the things he does is I know he prays for me every week. I know that without a doubt. Uh, Don Nordstrom, you mentioned Don Nordstrom. Don Nordstrom gives me every Christmas he gives me a card that has check marks for every day of the year. Uh, he prays for me every day. I think the only time he's missed is when he was in the hospital under anesthesia. Uh, and that's the only time he's missed. And and you need to pray for your pastor. And here again is where knowing him you can pray for him. Pastor I know my pastor I you know God I know my pastor struggles with this.

Would you help them with that? And you can pray for him when you know him better. Uh look at Ephesians chapter 6 and verses 18 through 19. Ephesians chapter 6 and beginning with verse number 18 says, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints and for me that utters may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I'm ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." uh as a pastor I need your prayers for me that I would speak boldly that you know you need to pray every Sunday you should pray pa help pastor to speak

your word without fear help him to say what needs to be said and uh and to say it in a tactful way though uh you know but but to say what needs to be said and and praying for your pastor uh that's important to be doing Paul said man I need you this is the end of the armor of God I think this is part of the armor of God is prayer and he says you need to pray for me. And notice verse number 21. That you also may know my affairs and how I do. Titicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things. You can pray more effectively when you know that person in that situation.

For example, missionaries, you can pray Lord bless missionary and that's a generic prayer which I think doesn't accomplish anything. Now you could pray specifically Lord bless brother Savali Jim Savali as our missionary and that's more effective but if you pray Lord bless brother Jim Savali he's over there in Samoa and uh Samoa's got a lot of challenge you know then you can be more effective the more you know about the missionary and the more you know about where he is would you not think you would pray for somebody differently that's out in the middle of the jungle than somebody's in the middle of a big city sure you're going to pray for Lord, protect them from the jaguars.

But different kind of jaguar. One's an animal, one's a car. We had a missionary one time that was hit by a car and and it was deliberate because that's how they would sue somebody, you know, and and all. Um, you know, you got to know them to pray for them. Where are they? What's their country like? Are they in a predominantly like a Muslim country or communist country? Are they in a country where there's wars going on? um brother Micah self he he goes to India and and and he's facing he's in an area where there's a there's wars that are going on sometimes he's not safe over there he's out in the middle of nowhere in the mountains and uh you pray for him differently so the more you know about this person whether it's the pastor the missionary the evangelist you heard brother Toser you know what you can pray for him for his trailer situation that's a big thing you can pray for him on you know he's now right now traveling separate from family That's difficult.

So the more you know, the better you can pray. And then 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse number 17. 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse number 17. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. So you give honor to him. Now the idea we're double honor. Those of you military will understand this. When I was in the Air Force, when we saluted and when I saluted an officer, I I would give them honor for their position. I would salute them because they're an officer and I would say yes sir, no sir to them. Give Joan the honor of the position.

But when I saluted, I would look at some of I'd look at their shoulder and the other ones I'd look in the eye. The one I was looking at the shoulder, I was honoring his position. But the ones I looked in the eye, I honored the person. I was giving them double honor because not only were they an officer, but they were a good person. Not all officers are good people, are they? And but you still have to honor their position. Not all parents are good parents, but you still have to honor your parents. And so you honor the position. And then if it's a good person, you honor, you give them double honor as the person as well.

So you follow that. And then number six is support him financially. Uh verse number 18 there in 1 Timothy 5. For the scripture say, "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadth out the corn and the laborers worthy of his reward." Um many pastors struggle financially and uh a lot of pastors unfortunately leave the ministry because they're struggling financially. It's and and we're not in it for the money. And I know there are pastors that are way overpaid and have mansions and all the rest of it. I'm not talking about that. But the average pastor struggles financially and it's the church's responsibility to make sure that pastor is taken care of and his needs are taken care of.

Now sometimes that's challenging. When we first started Ohana there the church was too small. We started out with 15 people and we were partially mission supported. We had about $750 a month but that didn't pay our bills. So, I work part-time and and sometimes pastors are what we call tent makers. Paul would not only be a missionary, but he would support himself by making tents. That was his occupation. And so when he would go into a town, he'd he'd find local tent makers and and get a job working with them to support himself and but also people support him partly too. So that's what we call a tent maker.

So sometimes you have a pastor's dual occupation. and he's a pastor and he's got a job as well. And that's really challenging. When we started Ohana, I was working as a a manager of apartment building down past Wy Ki and uh and then also trying to pastor the church. And that's challenging when you're trying to do both because you you know, you're doing two jobs plus trying to take care of your family and everything else. But sometimes that's what's necessary. But I'm thankful that the church came to a point that said, "No, what we want you be available to us more full-time." And so the church takes care of that.

And I think a good a good goal for the church to have, any church to have, is take your church congregation, add in what they make, and divide it by how many pe families you have. The pastor should be making about the average of the church congregation. Not as much as the highest paid, not as much as the lowest paid, but it's one around the average is a good goal to have. So, one of the things I would encourage you wherever you go to church is to be aware of your pastor's needs and and and encourage your church to make sure are we taking care of our pastor and when that comes up for a decision or a vote to make sure that you're positive towards that and taking care of the pastor.

Now, I'm not saying this to ask for a raise. Uh uh I I don't need that. If anybody needs a raise, it's our assistant staff members and you know, I want to make sure they're taken care of. But the point is our obligation. This is what they're doing. Like with brother Toser, I hope you gave a love offering for him because he was a blessing to you. That's how his supports his family. And and so you always should be willing to do that. Uh look at Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 16. Hebrews 13 and verse 16. But to do good and to communicate, forget not. For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased.

When you read that word communicate in your King James Bible, it usually carries the idea of to communicate financially. When you appreciate somebody, you show that to them. You often times with a gift. We had somebody recently that was leaving to move to mainland and they gave us a nice card. In the card, they gave us a gift card for Amazon and and and that was they said, "We we're doing this to express our appreciation." And so, you know, communicating and and it's one of the things that over the years I've been so thankful for people that have communicated with us at times that we really needed.

I remember one year we when we were first starting, we didn't have enough money to pay our tax bill. We had more taxes than we thought we were going to have. We hadn't set enough aside for it. And someone came to us and handed us a check and said, "We just got our tax return and we felt led by the Lord to give this this amount to you." And it was just exactly what we need to pay our tax bill. They communicate it to us says you're you're a blessing to us. We want to show that blessing back and and and and that's a good thing to be aware of. I'm not saying you always have to give your pastor a gift.

I'm not asking for a gift from you in any way. I I don't expect that. But when God leads you to do that or when you see that need and sometimes it's not a financial dollar gift. Sometimes it's come over and say, "Hey, we're going to bring a bag of groceries or we're going to come help you out." And again, this is really great with missionaries. We went we travel for a year as missionaries to raise support to come start Ohana. And uh you know, we're on the road 24/7 in a little trailer. Doesn't even have a full bathroom. And with two little kids, I think at that time they were three and five or something like that.

And uh we were either in a trailer or in a hotel room with those two kids all the time and traveling all the time. I remember we pulled into one church and um when we got there uh some teenagers came up to us and said, "Hey, we want your shoes." I said, "You want my shoes?" They said, "Yeah, we're going to polish your shoes for you." They had realized that being on the road, we never had a chance to polish your shoes. So that was their ministry. Every missionary that came, they offered to polish their shoes for them. Pulled in another church and the guy came up and said, "Give me your car." I said, "My car?"

He said, "Yeah, I I'll change your tires. I'll rotate your tires. I'm going to change your oil. I'm going to do all these other service things to it because when you're in a road in a hotel or in a parking spot, you can't do that. Uh, another one we came up to, they said, "Give us your kids." They said, "Here, you can have them." We spent 24/7 with them. Um, they they they had they took our kids, they had raised take our kids for two days with a family that was approved by the pastor and then they gave us a hotel room for ourselves for two days just to have a break. What a blessing that was. That's people who had had communicated to us, we we want to be a blessing to you.

And uh there's other times where they met us with a basket of fruit or or other things or a gift card to eat out or whatever. These were things that they showed their communication. And so keep that in mind. Look also at Galatians 6:6. Galatians 6:6, the Bible says, "Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teaches all good things." So again, if you're being taught spiritually, then God says, then you need to communicate financially in being a blessing to that person. uh not every case and again I I don't you know but I I really am thankful when I see people do something special for Pastor Inster or or other staff or whatever that's that's the Lord blessing and and not only the staff but for their kids.

One of the things that we do at AANA is every one of our missionaries on their birthday we send them a a gift of $25 and we send all their kids on their birthday $15. Uh, and I I can't tell how many will write back and they'll, you know, they'll say, "Thank you for our birthday." But so they're so thankful that we've remembered their kids as well because a lot of time pastors kids are left out. And so those are the things you can do to communicate that to the pastor. And so the pastor has a job towards you. We talked about that. You have a job towards the pastor as well. And so keep that in mind also.

And then we have the other office of the church is a deacon. And you'll go into some churches, and many churches are different. Some churches have no deacons at all. Some churches will have uh just a couple of deacons. Some will have a whole group of them. Sometimes they'll give them a different name than deacons. Um and in in our modern world, they're also not they're usually deacons and trustees. Uh as a nonprofit organization, we have to have tr have trustees. So the government says these are the people that are responsible for the decisions of the church and so you have certain so our deacons are also trustees and in ohana we also have trustees that are not deacons and one of the reasons we do that is because if we were ever in a situation we didn't have people that were spiritually qualified to be deacons but we still have to have trustees for the government purposes we wanted to have that ability and secondly in ohana when we choose is a deacon.

They're a deacon for as long as they're here. In many churches, they're chosen as deacons for three years or five years or maybe seven years and then they're they're no longer a deacon, right? They'd be reelected in. I don't see that time period in the Bible. And so, when somebody's a deacon of this church, they're a deacon as long as they're here and as long as they're qualified. and uh and and so we don't have the time limit, but because we're a military church, we have a lot of uh new Christians and young Christians that are not quite ready to be a deacon, but we want to get them ready. So, we have the trustee is a one-year position.

It's like it's like an on the-job training. And so, they can be a trustee for a year and see if they're ready for it or not. And we know that they're still learning and growing in that as well. Apologize for my voice. So we have uh deacons. And so what are deacons? And and again some churches deacons run the whole church and other churches they do almost nothing. So what is the what is the position of deacon? A deacon is a is the word diacinos in the Greek. It means servant or minister. Turn over to Matthew chapter 23. Deacon is one of the words that is transliterated in the Bible. Now most of the words in the Bible in your Bible were translated.

Now it depends on your Bible. Some Bibles are word for word translations and so you have this original word in the Greek or Hebrew language and it's translated into a equivalent English word. It may be one to two or two one. Those of you who speak two languages know that sometimes you can't say one word in this language. You have to have two words or vice versa. Okay? But they're translated and you want to make sure your translation is a word for word translation. Some translations are um uh what's the word I'm looking for? Um my mind just went blank. But they're they're they instead of translating word for word, they are translating the thought.

And I don't like that because that puts them between me and God. Every jot, every tit is important. Every word of the Bible is important. So I want to know what the word is. Maybe it can be a different English word, but I want to know at least what the word is. I don't know what I don't want to know what they think the word is. And so some are are are paraphrases specifically like the the living Bible is a paraphrase. The guy said, "This is what I think it says," and he wrote it out. Um, and I want a a word for word translation, not a a concept translation. And and so like in the King James Bible, it's a word for word translation.

And and so when you when they translated, most of them, they would say, "Here's the Greek or Hebrew word and here's the equivalent word in the English or whatever language is translated into." But there were some words they transliterated. Instead of giving you the English or the equivalent term in your language, they transliterated and that's what they did with the word baptism. Baptiso was a Greek word that meant to immerse. It was not a religious term. It was a common everyday term. The the parent would say to their child, "Wash the dishes and make sure you baptize them." You know, because children just kind of wash it with a cloth and put it over there.

They don't put it in the water. And so they that was not a religious term but we've we has become a religious term because they transliterated it. Same thing with the word uh this idea of deacon is coming from the word diacinos. They transliterated the word. If they had translated it directly it would have meant servant. That's the word it would mean. Look at Matthew 23 and u verse number 11. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased. And he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. But woe unto you scribes. Go we'll stop there.

But the word servant is is your diacinas. Now I don't think they did wrong to transliterate it. What they were trying to do is is identify that position. But the point is the word literally means servant. So a deacon is the servant or the slave of the church because it could be translated for both of those. And so when you're if you're chosen as deacons, say, "Hey, we want you to be our slave is what we're saying." And and and the word is used to describe Christ was a deacon. Look at right here in Matthew. Look at Matthew chap 20 and verses 26- 28. But it shall not be so among you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister, your diacinos.

And whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant diacinos. Even as the son of man could not be ministered on but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. So the son of man Jesus was a diacinos a servant a slave. Um we see that also in Philippians chapter 2 Philippians chapter 2 and verses number 5-7. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robber to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation took upon the form of a diacinos a servant and was made in the likeness of man and so he became our servant so he's an example of servant leadership in John chapter 13 uh is it verse chapter 13 yeah John 13 that's where remember when they gathered for the last supper and the the tradition of that day was someone was supposed when the guests came was supposed to wash everybody's feet when they got there.

And none of the disciples were willing to do that because that was the lowly guy job, you know, that was the lowest of the low. And so Jesus put on an apron and began washing their feet. And they said, "No, Lord, you can't wash our feet." But he said, "I have to do this." And he said, "If I, your Lord, your master, your God, is washing your feet, how much more should you?" And so he set the example of being a servant, a slave. And that's the position of deacon. It's also used describe the pastor. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse number six. 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse number six. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister, a diacinos of Jesus Christ.

That's why we call a pastor a minister. He's a servant. He's there to serve you. And one of the things I I as a pastor, I want to stress, I'm here. What can I do for you? That's that's why I'm here. That's that's what God's called me to do. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse number five. 2 Timothy 4:5. But watch thou in all things, endure affliction, do the work of evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry, thy service. Deaconas is again the word. And he calls all Christians to be servants. Go to John chapter 12 and verse number 26. John chapter 12 and verse number 26. If any man serve me, diacinas, let him follow me.

And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man also serve me, him will my father honor. And so God's called us to be servants, servants of God and servants of each other as well. And so even though you may not have the position of a deacon, God's called you to be a deacon. Every person in the church should be doing what a deacon does. You should be serving serving God, serving the church, serving others. Uh sometimes to serve the pastor. uh every every spiritual leader in the Bible that God called, God also called someone to come alongside and serve them, to help them. And and so it's to be servants.

That's what the word deacon means. Um his purpose is to be a servant. That's his number one purpose uh in in life. We already looked at Matthew 23 and and 20. Uh you know, if any man will follow me, let him he's got to be a servant. He's got to be willing to serve. And and so uh why is he serving? In Acts chapter 6 verses 2-4, Acts chapter 6 verses 2-4 says, "Then the 12 called the multitude of disciples unto them, and said, if not, it is not reason that we should lead the word of God and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, who we may appoint over this business, but we'll give ourselves continually prayer and ministry of the word.

They were called to free the pastor up. You know, you have to understand there's a lot that goes on here during the week. A lot of spiritual business, a lot of financial business, a lot of physical labor. This building has to be upkeeped and taken care of. There's people that have to be taken care of. And so the the God called the deacons that they could take care of the of the things that they can so the pastor can focus on the ministry people and the word study and preaching and teaching the word of God. And anytime that I'm out trying to have to clean something or work on something, I'm not spending time doing the other things I need to do.

Now, I don't mind doing that. In fact, I I miss the opportunity uh of being out there doing things with my hands, the physical labor sometimes. And and I, you know, I I'll be the first one out there. In fact, many times the guys get mad at me because I'm out there digging with a shovel instead of them because I just feel like that's that's my responsibility too to be out there working as well. I'm not above that, but there's times I got to say, "You guys got to take care of this because there's somebody in the hospital or you guys got to take care of this because I got to get ready for the the the message."

And and so the deacons are there to free up the pastor by taking on these responsibilities. And each of our deacons has different areas that they're responsible for that they take care of and uh and it frees me up from what I'm doing. And then uh a deacon should already be serving. So you don't look for somebody to say, "Hey, they look like they could do do a good job. We'll call them do there's somebody's already doing it and now we're going to give them the title. They're already serving. They're already busy. Every one of our deacons before they were ever chosen to be a deacon, they were already busy serving the Lord in the church.

And that and that's the the thing that should be happening. And then secondly, he is a leader. Um in Acts chapter 6, we're there verses 3-5. Wherefore, brethren, look out among you seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom who we may appoint over this business. But we'll give ourselves continue to prayer and to ministry of the word and the same pleased the whole multitude and they chose Stephen a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost and Philip and a whole list of guys and these were all people that were godly spiritual leaders that were there by example lead deacons are not perfect but you should be able to look at them and say this is a guy that's really leading by example that's faithful that's serving that's involved that's got a good testimony and and and leading by that that example.

And then look at 1 Timothy chapter 3. Well, we've looked at this. We'll look at it more a little bit later, but in 1 Timothy 3 gives the qualifications of a deacon. And these qualifications are again not exclusive, but they're inclusive. But the point when we go through these qualifications, we're going to go through those real quickly. We've already done the pastor, and some of them are kind of repeat. But here's the thing I want to challenge you with. If God's called every one of you to be a diacinos, a servant, a slave, then shouldn't these qualifications apply to you as well? Even though you're not in the position of a deacon, you're still a servant of God.

And so to look at these not only as someday I may be called upon to help choose deacons but also these are good criteria for me in my life as well. And we're going to talk about this a little bit next week. But think about it. There's different kinds of slaves back in this day. Some servants were servant by they're kind of servant by their their position. Uh, for example, in the military, when you're an E1, you're a slave. And not officially, but you're the guy that's going to do everything every nobody else wants to do, right? And you do it because you have to do it. Some servants do it because they're paid to do it.

My waitress when I go to the restaurant is a servant. They're serving me and they're going to do the best job they can. Why? To give hopefully get a good tip. And and so they're serving for what they can get out of it. But God's called us to be servants or literally slaves. Slaves did it because they had to. Not only because they had to. And we're going to talk about this. Paul said, "I am a bondslaved." How many of you know what a bonds slave was in the Bible? Okay, some of you do. A bondslave was one who chose to be a slave. It was someone who was a slave, but they for whatever reason they were they were given their freedom.

It might be because they had reached a certain level or might be because the master said, "You've done such a great job. I'm going to make you free." Or whatever reason, but they were given their freedom. They and they chose, "You know what? You're a good master. I don't want to leave. I want to stay and serve you." And back in the day, what they would do is when they become bonds slave, they would put a little hole in their ear and put an earring in their earring in their ear. And wherever they go, everybody know that guy could have been free and he chose to stay as a slave. And and and so Paul said, "I'm a bond slave.

I'm not I'm not serving because I have to. I'm serving you because I want to. I love my master." And that's the way deacons ought to be. And so, we're going to look at that next week and go into that more and talk about the qualifications a little bit about that. And then um and and then we'll continue on from there. So, I hope this has been challenging to you. I know it's a little bit of detail, but yet I think it's important because a lot of people come to church and they have no doubt. What does a pastor do? He just preaches on Sunday. He gets paid for doing nothing, you know, and what does a deacon do, you know, and and all the rest of it. And and they don't know what they're what they're there for. And and so it's important to know what they're there for and what your responsibility is to them and with them as well. All right. Thank you for being out tonight. And remember, next week we won't have our Bible study.