HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO YOUR PASTOR?
REV. EKOW ESHUN.
SCRIPTURE: ACTS 2:42 (NKJV)
” And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Our verse for today is the testimony of the believers that formed the congregation that was pastored by the 12 apostles led by Peter. What we read in this verse refers to their behaviour as a church as they cooperated with Apostle Peter and his team of leaders in the days and years after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Very clearly, these verses reveal lessons for us, as we strive to make progress on daily basis as individual believers and also as a collective church or family. One striking truth we must note is the way these believers responded to their leaders. The scriptures say, ” they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine….”
How important is the leader in the believer’s life? And, how important is the doctrine or teaching of leadership? In Hebrews 13, verse 17, we are told to, ” Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. ” (NKJV)
One major reason God gives us shepherds is for them to act as watchmen over our soul. Moreover, the care and teaching that shepherds provide keep us well fed for spiritual growth and get us protected from Satan’s devices.
These believers in the Jerusalem church were devoted to their leaders and habitually followed their teaching. It is important for you as a believer to develop the habit of responding in obedience to your leaders’ teaching. Your total well-being is linked to this. This is how you grow in spiritual strength and experience the full provision of God for you through Christ Jesus’s death and resurrection.
What were the results of this cooperation? Verse 43 of Acts 2 is clear.
“Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.” (NKJV)
The fear of God increased and they experienced more of the supernatural as a church because their leaders were used by God more to bless them and get their needs met. Make it your determination to cultivate the attitude of reverence, obedience and submission to your pastor. It is highly profitable to do so. Don’t yield to the flesh and deception and disobey your pastor. It is Satan’s plan to set you back and rob you of a better and higher life in Christ Jesus.
PRAYER
I thank you, Father, that in your wisdom, you provided pastors to feed me and to watch over my soul. I acknowledge my need of sound teaching and care from my pastor as important means of growing into Christlikeness. Thank you for wisdom to cultivate the habit of constant practise of what I am taught in Jesus’s name, Amen
FURTHER READING (NKJV)
EPHESIANS 4:11-15
[11]And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
[12]for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
[13]till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
[14]that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
[15]but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ….