An Observation About Encouragement

I recently came across this great post about encouragement. I copied it below, or you can see it in the original form here …

Pardon me for a moment while I make a pointed observation:

I have never met an over-encouraged pastor.
It’s almost an oxymoron. Almost all are walking-wounded. Bitten by their own sheep.

It has always boggled my mind when someone who has never undertook the tremendous physical, mental & spiritual challenge of planting a church criticizes a church planter. That takes a lot of gumption, y’know?

Likewise, it has always astounded me when someone who has never pastored a church criticizes their pastor. I think Paul said something about this in 1 Timothy 1.6-7.

It would be like me trying to tell my primary physician he’s doing everything wrong while he’s trying to treat me. Ludicrous & judgmental, right?

Further, it has also always struck me as audacious when seminary students criticize pastors. This is like a first-year med student walking up to a tenured brain surgeon with years of mettle and experience and saying, “Hey Doc, I’ll take the scalpel here. I obviously have a steadier arm having been watching from the sidelines. You can scrub out.”

My point? Your pastor doesn’t need your criticisms & judgments, trust me. He needs your prayers and loud encouragements.

Allow me to go a step further with this observation: If you have a long critical email/blog post/phone call that you can’t wait to use to get your pastor’s attention, read Hebrews 13.17-18 first. And then if you’re still feeling moved to speak, watch Session 2 from Unleash (unpacks Heb 13.17 perfectly).

Bottom-line: It’s hard to create something beautiful with a sledgehammer. Criticize by creating. Trust that the true Senior Pastor (1 Peter 5) is consuming
& guiding your local pastor’s heart – the workman already approved.