responsibilities of the church to its leadership

Steve Camp wrote, Holding Pastors Accountable. As with most of his writing, I found it a little long but it's worth skipping down to the 5 responsibilities of the church to its leadership.

Edify through prayer - you cannot hold someone accountable if you do not love them enough to constantly lift them up in prayer.

Examine their message - what message is this leader bringing? Camp focused on "preaching" but I would expand this the overall message of the man's life. Does it stem from Scripture and a passion for Christ and does it hold up to examination. More - is he open to or better, inviting examination?

Encourage godly character - encourage balance. Do not be pleased with leaders who excel in one area of the Christian life but fail in others.

Entreat their shepherding - are your leaders watching over the souls of those that God brings to the community? How are they building you up? How are they encouraging and challenging you but in and out of times of trouble? If they are not, they are missing the mark of spiritual leadership. Camp uses this anecdote.

I asked the head of the elder board to tell me about their senior pastor... what is he known for in his ministry. Without hesitation he said two things I have never forgotten: 1. he is faithful expositor of God's Word; and, 2. he smells like sheep. What a great way to identify that this man was ministering faithfully among God's people-he smells like sheep. He didn't smell like a board room, a class room, a golf course, etc. He smelled like the ones he was ministering too. That's it friends. Oh for leadership that will invest pro-actively in the care, discipleship, and needs of the flock of God.

Exhort the unfaithful - our leaders must confront sin through the power of the Holy Spirit. Many have adopted a pattern of allowing sin for the sake of love. I think this is a misunderstanding of true love. When face with sin, we must confront it if we truly love our brother and want to help his growth. We should expect this from our leaders and we should do the same for them.

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