What Should the Congregation Expect from Its Minister?

Delegating Responsibility

How willing is the minister to delegate responsibility to the lay officers of his church? Does the minister try to gather to himself all lines of local church responsibil­ity, to direct and attend to every detail? Is the missionary leader the missionary leader of the church? Or is the pastor the mission­ary leader? Is the local elder the pastor's assistant, or is he a figurehead? The con­gregation probably feels that it has elected its officers to perform certain duties, and it likes to see them growing in God's service as they perform their functions.

How patient is the pastor with the offi­cers who may not be so qualified as they should be for the office to which they have been elected? Perhaps they are the best ma­terial the local church has available and yet they fall considerably short of what is needed for this particular office. Is he pa­tient enough to work with them, helping them to learn how this office should be con­ducted? Or would he rather take over the duties of that office himself than to see someone else do it in what he may consider to be a rather blundering way? How pa­tient is he? The Scriptures say, "Let pa­tience have her perfect work" (James 1:4), and the minister will have many opportu­nities to learn the truthfulness and the wis­dom of this counsel as he goes about his work with his well-meaning and earnest, if inexperienced, colleagues. Correctives are not so difficult as we think, when they come wrapped up in patience and kindness!

Understanding

Many ministers are able to see that the local laymen are a valuable asset to the work, and they make good use of them. But is the pastor considerate when a layman disagrees with him? Is he willing to try to see the matter from the viewpoint of the layman with whom he is working? Is he in­terested to learn as much as possible from this layman as to the reasons why he disagrees? Perhaps the layman has had expe­rience with a similar problem. If so, he may feel sincerely that a certain method of ac­complishing these ends is preferable to the one that is being suggested by the pastor. Perhaps he sees that a certain course of ac­tion, though not particularly disturbing to many people, might be rather upsetting to certain members of the local congregation. Is the minister willing to try to learn some of these things from the layman who is dis­agreeing with him on this matter? Or does he feel that the layman is simply trying to throw a stumbling block in his way, at­tempting to assert his authority as elder, deacon, treasurer, or whatever office he may hold? If the pastor reacts indiscreetly then, of course, a spirit of antagonism can quickly arise. The board and the church witness this spirit, and both parties involved lose respect. They may wonder whether those involved are in truth following the exam­ple of the lowly Galilean. They may not think quite so much of the antagonism dis­played by one of their laymen as they do the antagonism displayed by the pastor. Once again, this reasoning probably is not correct, but there should not be two stand­ards, one for the layman and one for the pastor.

Approachability

Closely related to this matter of consider­ation is approachability. The congregation expects the pastor to be a good listener when some problem, especially a personal problem, arises. It is the task of the minister always to have the door open, so to speak, for a layman to approach him freely and confidently with whatever perplexity may face him. There may be times when a lay­man may present a problem for which the pastor at that moment can offer no solu­tion. It will not do him any harm to admit that he needs some time to think this over, to pray about it. Perhaps he can give some interim advice and then later he can go back to that layman after he has prayerfully considered this matter and present the solu­tion as he sees it. It may not be particularly acceptable to the layman, and a season of prayer is always necessary. But never should the minister by word or act or attitude give the impression that he is closing the door to any thought, any argument, any reasoning, however unacceptable it may ac­tually be, that the layman wishes to present. The minister is expected to be approach­able.

Cooperation and Team Spirit

The layman enjoys being in the presence of his minister, enjoys working with him, especially if he can feel that he is a part of the great Advent Movement, that he is one with the minister in the work of carrying the gospel to the world. One of the ways in which this can be accomplished is for the minister to recognize duly constituted authority and procedure in local church administration. A layman who has accepted an office in the local church and is con­scientious about discharging the duties of that office may well study the Church Man­ual, endeavoring to find out what is ex­pected of him. He will seek to carry out the duties of his office in harmony with the recommendations of this book. In coordi­nating the work of church departments, in admitting names of persons for baptism, in church business of every kind, the consci­entious lay officer will read his Church Man­ual and expect the procedures there rec­ommended to be followed by the pastor. If the latter rides roughshod over such recom­mendations and follows a course of his own, then laymen will be disappointed. They will expect something more coopera­tive and inspiring. Team spirit is expected of both pastors and laymen, and happy is the church where both live up to expecta­tions.

Keeping Confidence

Another matter where the congregation expects the pastor to exercise caution is in keeping confidence. When a member is faced with some perplexity—it may be a domestic matter or it may be a per­sonal problem in his relationship with his Lord—he should be able to go to his pastor with no fear that the members of an­other church in the district, or his own church, for that matter, will know of his problem the next day, or ever. Perhaps nothing else we have discussed can do so much to destroy confidence in the pastor as for him to betray confidence. Soon he will find the laymen struggling with problems for which they need help, seeking their own answers and ignoring the instrumen­tality that the Lord has placed in the church to meet these situations.

Wisdom and Knowledge

Basically, many of the questions we have discussed here boil down to the question: Is the ministry just a profession to the minister who is following it, or is it a genuine calling? It is true that today the ministry has become a profession and the minister needs to be familiar with many facets of organizational activity and how they must be managed. But if his ministry is only a profession and not a genuine calling, the congregation will sense it. There are two interesting verses that could be considered here. In 1 Corinthians 8:1 we are told that "knowledge puffeth up." Then in Eccle­siastes 7:12 it is said that "wisdom giveth life." Now, of course, I suppose it is to be assumed that when "knowledge puffeth up" it means knowledge that is not accompa­nied by wisdom. Also when the Word says that "wisdom giveth life" it assumes that this wisdom is accompanied by sufficient knowledge to enable the person to be effec­tive in the line of work that he has chosen. The two must go hand in hand. If the min­istry is only a profession to the individual engaged in it, is it not possible that knowl­edge will lead to self-exaltation? We are told that "the fear of the Lord is the be­ginning of wisdom" (Ps. 111:10). Along with formal education and experience, we need a close connection with the Lord of hosts.

On page 110 of the book My Life Today, we are told: "You need not go to the end of the earth for wisdom, for God is near. . . He longs to have you reach after Him by faith. He longs to have you expect great things from Him. He longs to give you un­derstanding in temporal as well as in spir­itual matters. He can sharpen the intellect. He can give tact and skill.... To everyone who constantly yields his will to the will of the Infinite, to be led and taught of God, there is promised an ever-increasing devel­opment of spiritual things. God fixes no limit to the advancement of those who are 'filled with the knowledge of His will and in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.' Those who make God their efficiency real­ize their own weakness, and the Lord sup­plies them with His wisdom. As day by day they depend upon God, carrying out His will with humility and whole-heartedness and strictest integrity, they increase in knowledge and ability. By willing obedi­ence they show reverence and honor to God, and are honored by Him."

"It is not enough to have knowledge. We must have the ability to use knowledge aright. God calls upon us to show a good conversation, free from all roughness and vanity. Speak no words of vanity, no words of harsh command; for they will gender strife. Speak instead words that will give light, knowledge, information, words that will restore and build up. A man shows that he has true wisdom by using the talent of speech to produce music in the souls of those who are trying to do their appointed work and who are in need of encouragement, p. 111.

Ellen G. White says in another place that "there is danger that those who are en­trusted with responsibilities will acknowl­edge but one power, the power of an un­sanctified will. "—Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 397. We are warned that this danger does actually exist. If we ignore this warning, is it not possible that we may fall a prey to this danger? But if we realize the possibility that it can exist in our own experience, then we can be on our guard.

All of these suggestions will not fit any one man. There may be some among our ministry where none of these suggestions apply, yet perhaps most may find one or two that need pondering. If so, perhaps it will mean that minister, layman, and church officer may experience a closer, happier re­lationship, and that those around us will see more clearly that we do "love one another" and may know that we are called of God to give them a message for these times.