A Pivotal Prayer Partnership, Part 4
How can a pastor – one called by God to shepherd His flock – lead like Jesus without investing himself wholeheartedly in the lives of those entrusted to his care or without developing intimate bonds of love and friendship as he himself follows Christ?
I remember when I was a student at Southwestern Seminary at Fort Worth, Texas, in the early 70’s sitting around and talking with fellow students about our call to ministry. On more than one occasion I recall someone cautioning this advice: “You can’t get too close to people in your church. You can’t be close friends with anyone in the church. If you do, you’ll be sorry you did.” Although I don’t believe it was explicitly expressed, the implicit message was that for a pastor to be successful he must remain somewhat detached from his people and guarded in self-disclosure if he’s to keep his job. In other words, never make yourself vulnerable or transparent with people you can’t trust!
I listened, but what I heard didn’t sound right, or sit well with me. I grew up getting close to all my pastors, in large part because of my dad. Dad was a preacher’s kid, and he had a particular desire to make sure all our pastors had a friend they could lean into and trust. Dad was a lawyer, a lay-preacher, and leader in the church, and a friend to pastors.
I grew up fishing on French Quarter Creek with Dad. He had all the pastors, at some point, go fishing with us. I remember when I was about 10 years old, Dad took me and our pastor at the time fishing one Saturday morning. After a few hours, we got back to the creek bank. Dad got out with the bow line and pulled us to the bank. And as both the pastor and I stood up, a water moccasin dropped from a branch above us into the boat between us. With a single bound, I instantly jumped out of the boat to the bank, which verified Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. My action in jumping from the boat threw the pastor into the creek, leaving the boat to the snake! We laughed for a long time after that. You know, you can get close to people in a boat. Jesus did. And in one of the most intimate moments in Jesus’ relationship with the disciples he said to them, “You are my friends.”
Jesus wasn’t afraid of deep friendships and intimacy with others, and it’s sad when pastors are. It’s sad because both pastors and people are missing out on a powerful partnership that includes a partnership of prayer – a partnership that is pivotal to the ministry of the church and the Gospel.
So, you might ask: Why is a pastor-people partnership in prayer so important? The short answer to that question is because as the Body of Christ we are at war with an enemy that is ruthless and unrelenting in his schemes and assaults against the people of God, especially those in leadership, pastors, in particular, and prayer is one of the principal effective weapons we have in this fierce spiritual conflict.
In Ephesians 6 we find one of the most important passages in the Bible concerning this spiritual conflict. It’s Paul’s call to arms: “Put on the whole armor of God,” he urges. And then we hear his personal plea for prayer warriors, intrepid intercessors: And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
This, more than anything, was what Paul wanted as a preacher – for God to give him the words to say and to preach them boldly, courageously, and fearlessly, as all preachers should. Paul was being transparent, confessing his vulnerability, pleading with his fellow believers to remember him in prayer. As far as I can tell, Paul never lacked for those things for which he asked the people to pray. And, perhaps, because of this pivotal partnership in prayer between Paul and the people, the Gospel was planted wherever Paul went and spread throughout the world.
As I continue in this ministry by the sustaining grace of God, I want to thank you, my ministry partners, for your continuing support in giving to our ministry, which is so helpful, but, more importantly, your continued intercessory prayers. It makes all the difference in the world to me! But let me hasten to add: If you haven’t already, ask your pastor if you might partner also with him in this pivotal partnership of prayer. It does make a difference.
Family Update:
In August, Elliott and I traveled to Salem, Massachusetts, for the wedding of our niece, Dr. Katherine Pitman. It was a special time to be with family and to celebrate Katherine’s marriage to Matt Scheffler, a wonderful Christian man. We got to spend some time – though not enough – with Laura, Joe, Bella, and Joey. The day before we came home, we sailed with Peter and Martha Pitman on a the When and If, a sailing yacht commissioned in 1939 by General George Patton, now in private hands and sailing out of Salem Harbor. I thought you’d like to see a picture. Idalia forced us to return a day early, but all is well. We’re very grateful for God’s providential care and faithful provision.
Prayer Requests:
For the ongoing coaching of 4 church leaders in the NextStep Process of leadership development through the SCBC.
For my facilitation of 2 small groups of pastors in the Santee Association.
For Bedon Baptist Church in Walterboro where I’m serving as Interim Pastor.
For church renewal and spiritual awakening across our nation.
For a civil and just society and for local, state, and national leaders of character and courage and commitment to serve all people with integrity and honesty.
For true believers to hold firm and persevere in faith and in hope and in love to the end.
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming Soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21)