I am a retired officer (kinda pastor) of The Salvation Army. In all my years of serving our people, one of the things that bothered me most was this "myth" of the pastor having to do everything in the church.
Oh sure, at first thought, I'm sure most would agree with me- pastors can't be expected to do everything in the church. HOWEVER. Big word there. HOWEVER, in reality, many people get all bent out of shape if their pastor doesn't do what they want. It doesn't matter that your needs are met by others in the church. If the pastor doesn't do it, for some strange reason, that makes all the difference.
Hypothetical: You're in the hospital and your pastor doesn't come to pray with you. Mind you, there are lots of others from the church who come to visit and pray with/for you, and help you but because the lead guy/gal doesn't, you grouse about it.
I'm now in a corps that has a lot of retired officers. When someone is sick or in the hospital, an email goes out and informs everyone of what's going on and what is needed. From what I can tell, that person is nearly overwhelmed with food, transportation, prayer, visits, and a whole lot of helpful things. The need is met.
HOWEVER, if the pastor isn't in that list, I will likely see a post on facebook mentioning just that. Remember, we just agreed that the pastor CAN'T do everything! And I add- frankly, SHOULDN'T.
In Genesis 18 we find the story of Moses who is literally killing himself trying to do it all for his people. Fortunately, his father-in-law sits him down and shakes his finger in his face: "DUDE! YOU CAN'T DO IT ALL!" (Burr translation).
Then he tells Moses how to spread out all the responsibility. So Moses job is to make sure everyone gets their needs met, by using others to cover where he cannot.
THEREFORE, if the needs are being met, the pastor is doing his job . . . and should be encouraged for doing good work.
HOWEVER, there are STILL people who think THEY are most important and somehow deserve ALL the attention of the pastor. UGH. (That may be putting it in a rough way, but this REALLY gets to me).
I seem to remember another scene in Genesis with Moses. His sister Miriam (and Aaron) grouse about Moses. To make a long story shorter, God hits her with leprosy to punish her for carping about their leader, which God gave them (why Aaron did not get the same thing is for another blog).
It is a very dangerous thing to carp about the leader God has placed over you. If you do so, you are putting yourself in a precarious situation, to say the least.
One more thing as I wrap up my rant . . . We each have our own spiritual gifts. Not everyone has the gift of pastor. Frankly, even many pastors do not have that gift! Pastors do a LOT of different things, only one of which is pastor people. If they do not have that gift, they need to make SURE their people are getting pastor-ed. If they do that, they are doing well and can then focus on the areas God has assigned to them via their spiritual gifts.
When I think back over the different pastors I have had over my lifetime, I find that each was doing what God called them to do- even if it did not meet with MY expectations.
If you find yourself in the place of carping about your leadership, I suggest you repent and find a way to support them. Pray for their blessing and some of that might just fall down onto you as well.
