Even Pastors Need Grace
"Authority exercised with humility, and obedience accepted with delight are the very lines along which our spirits live"
Rebellion seems to be a part of the universal human experience. Man has been unable to successfully submit to God since Genesis 3. The story of the Old Testament is full of man’s corporate and individual inability to submit to God-given spiritual authority as well. Israel and her kings consistently failed to obey God’s commands or listen to prophets sent to call for them to return to the Law of God.
Rebelling against tyrants and kings can be understood, even if one disagrees with the decision to do so, but for Israel to constantly refuse to listen to the prophets seems unbelievable. These are meant to be God’s representative among His people, His voice to those who cannot hear Him directly. Nevertheless, no amount of long-suffering and forewarning on God’s part seemed to have any effect on Israel’s willingness to listen.
Even under the New Covenant, the epistles are filled with exhortations for saints to submit to the authorities that God has placed them under, both civil and spiritual. Within the lifetime of the Apostles, there were those in the Church who would seek to undermine their authority and doctrine.
One of the most consistent patterns in scripture is that those that God used mightily were submitted to the authority that God placed in their lives. Moses lived in Jethro’s house, Samuel listened to Eli, David respected Saul and obeyed Nathan, Joash feared Jehoiada. God uses those who listen to the shepherds that God gives them.
That does not mean that those authorities are infallible. They are, after all, mere mortals as well. An anointing and a call does not make one more divine than those God has tasked them with leading. They still fall short, err, and make mistakes. This doesn’t lessen their authority.
We find a beautiful example of submission and authority in the story of David.
David desired to build a temple for God. His heart was bothered by the fact that the Ark of God remained in a tent while God had blessed him with Jerusalem. Certainly a noble and godly desire! David’s heart for the things of God drove him to worship above and beyond what the Law required. In an example of David’s wonderful wisdom, David sought counsel from the man of God in his life. Nathan the prophet.
Nathan, seeking to pastor the king, encourages him:
“Then Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.’”
Maybe Nathan should have prayed before he answered David. Perhaps he simply was not listening when he answered. Either way, the Lord came to Nathan that night to correct his error.
Nathan was to go to David and tell him that he should not, in fact, build a temple to the Lord.
Imagine how hard that had to be for Nathan. This prophet’s entire ministry, and likely identity, was found in speaking for God amongst Israel, and now he had to go before the king and admit he had counseled foolishly. There were likely those in Israel who, if they had learned of the error, would have proclaimed him to be a false prophet. He had to go to his friend and tell him that no, he could not fulfill this dream, that it was for his son to do instead. Not only was this an admission of his own failure to pastor David appropriately, it was a prophecy he likely took no delight in giving, even as God tempered it with a blessing.
Nevertheless, Nathan was obedient.
And so was David.
He received the correction and blessing of the Lord with gladness. He accepted the will of God and did not question it. Neither did he hold the error of Nathan against him. David continued to value the prophet’s counsel and input. It was through the wisdom of Nathan that Solomon ascended to the throne of Israel peacefully.
David embraced submission and Nathan remained humble. So God used them both.
How people view pastors tend to be one of either extreme: The perfect embodiment of a Christian or a domineering tyrant, expecting too much from those they should be serving. Of course, rarely is either one true. Pastors are anointed and called, even held to a higher standard, but not perfect. And we should not expect them to be. This does not mean that a man of God can disqualify himself from that office. Scripture is plain that is not the case. Not all shortcomings are disqualifying, however.
So often, when a pastor or leader fails, people are hurt. This is inevitable, of course. Too often, when the pastor we respected so much, whose word carried immense weight, fails in some way, we diminish their standing in our life. We should learn from David. Scripture tells us that pastors are a gift from Christ. They should be valued and respected, without idolizing them.
When pastors show humility and admit to their error, we should show grace. True submission does not demand perfection from those we would submit to. When we demand a flawless life from those we would submit to, we will spend our lives rebelling against those God places in our lives for our own edification. At best, we will limit how much God will use us and, at worst, heap destruction upon ourselves.
Let us seek to be as gracious as we are submit to the leaders God has gifted us with.
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
Hebrews 13:17