I Thessalonians 5:12–13—And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.

Romans 15:27—It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

I Corinthians 9:11—If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?

I Timothy 5:17–18—Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.

These verses often are used to support taking good care of a pastor. That truly is the context of these verses. While many pastors may not preach them out of fear of a charge of being self-serving, preaching them really shouldn’t be considered optional, and church members shouldn’t have any more problem with these being preached than with any other verses.

Yet there is a more important principle underlying the application of caring for a pastor. The reason caring for a pastor is even an issue is because of our need to value spiritual investment and work. We pay a lot to entertainers and doctors because we value what they do for our emotions and our bodies. Our soul and spirit outlast our bodies, though, and there are some among us who give themselves to specializing in care for the soul and spirit. Money is simply one of the primary means at our disposal for expressing our evaluation of this spiritual work.

While the application is primarily to pastors, it is wise for a church to consider developing an attitude that applies this principle in other ways. The pastor is not the only one who makes this kind of investment. In addition to a pastor, there is usually a staff, along with countless members, who give of themselves in spiritual work, whether directly, such as teaching, or indirectly, such as watching the nursery.

This issue of the Baptist Times is written to encourage churches to have a heart of gratitude for those who minister week after week. These are the ones who earn their income elsewhere but choose to volunteer their gifts, resources, abilities, and time so that the church can effectively and less expensively invest in the spiritual lives of its Jerusalem. Whether from members to pastor, pastor to members, staff to members, or members to staff, and many other configurations, a church becomes stronger when there is a mindset of expressing appreciation for the spiritual work from which we all benefit.

Here are some tips that could help develop this mindset in your own church. We’re constantly trying to incorporate them into Bible Baptist Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It has been worth the ongoing effort.

Don’t do spiritual work for recognition.
It is your responsibility to invest and to be grateful to others who do the same. It is not your responsibility to demand recognition. In fact, biblically it is dangerous for you to expect recognition (Matthew 6:1–6). You will develop an offense and offenses often turn into bitterness. Those kinds of offenses provoke members to say things they shouldn’t say in ways they shouldn’t say them.

Remember that everyone deserves to have someone recognize what they do.
If everyone in the church becomes mindful of the investment of others, everyone gets shown some kind of gratitude at some point. Every member doesn’t see everything that gets done. If each member makes it a point to show appreciation for something they see another member do, the majority of members eventually will be told someone appreciates their work.

Consider appreciation to be the work of everyone, not primarily a pastor. 
A pastor is one person and will never see all the work that goes on. Expressing gratitude will grow exponentially when it is the heart of a whole church. Many offenses come when a pastor doesn’t recognize someone, even when the oversight was unintentional. The pastor may feel like he is in an impossible situation, but this can be helped when there is recognition coming from other places.

Focus on how much you value spiritual investment instead of whether the pastor or staff are getting paid too much.
Some members act like their responsibility is to keep a pastor from making too much or to ensure that the staff stay humble. That is not a biblical mindset and is usually the mark of a petty church member. You are to be primarily concerned with placing a high value on the investment you receive from the pulpit week after week. Allow God to take care of whether anyone on staff is making too much. Many churches are held back by the one deacon who thinks God put him there to balance out everyone else’s “apparent” over-evaluation of the ministry of the Word. Many other churches have flourished because the members’ main concern was showing their own values of spiritual investment.

Ask yourself how each ministry gets done.
Who makes sure the pews are clean? Who visits the guests? How does the offering get counted? Who answers the phone? How do the buses get cleaned? Who puts the tracts out? Who cleans the windows? Who fills in when someone doesn’t show up in the nursery?

Make some of your gratitude memorable.
Write someone a personal note or send a card of thanks. That way someone can keep it if they choose. The more deliberate the expression, the more it can mean to someone. Don’t forego quick expressions when you feel prompted to do so, but take some time occasionally to go to the trouble of writing something down.

We have Hershey’s candy bars with custom wrappers printed to give out at various times to recognize random contributions. It’s not huge, but it provides yet another opportunity to say “thank you” to those who help make our churches what they are.