Expectations from the pews …

The mother pounded loudly on her son’s bedroom door.

“Get up! It’s Sunday morning, you have to go to church!” she shouted.

But her son just rolled over and pulled the blankets up over his head.

The mom banged on the door again.

“Get up son, you’re going to be late for church if you don’t get up now!” she yelled.

“I don’t want to go to church!” the son yelled back.

“But son … you’re the pastor!” responded the mom.

As hard as you might think it is to get yourself to church on a Sunday morning, a similar challenge can be there for many pastors who aren’t feeling the joy of what they face every Sunday morning.

That’s because for too many faithful servants of God, this is similar to what they see when they look out over the pulpit:

We tend to burden the preacher and other pastoral servants with a full load of expectations, many of which are not biblical. But that doesn’t stop us from expecting the preacher to jump through our hoops and perform to our satisfaction.

Just imagine what Sunday mornings might be like it we put away our hoops and, instead, obeyed the Word of God:

“Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other,” 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13.

What messages do your church leaders get from you?

Scotty