Each week for the past four weeks, the Sunday School Class that I lead at church has been taking a look at Thom Rainer’s book, I Am A Church Member. This week we discussed Chapter 4, I Will Pray For My Church Leaders.
At first glance, one might assume that this would be the least convicting chapter in this book, as Rainer explains what it means to be a church member. However, it doesn’t take long to realize that even though the ideas mentioned in this chapter are easy to understand they do require as much focus and effort on the part of the member as the other chapters that we have covered.
I don’t think that anyone would deny that our church leaders need our prayers. However, how many of us actually take time out of our day, each day, to pray for them. The answer should be 100% of us but sadly this is not the case. Our church leaders are usually under appreciated and most always taken for granted.
Many feel that since the pastor (or minister, preacher, or whatever you call your worship leader) is getting paid then he or she should always be there whenever, or wherever we feel they should. Many feel that the pastor works for them personally and should do things the way the member wants them done. Some even feel like the man behind the pulpit on Sunday mornings has the cushiest job in the world. After all, who else only works for a couple of hours each Sunday and then spends the rest of the week at their leisure.
