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Many Christian churches today are tempted to celebrate their pastors for the extraordinary things they see them do or achieve in ministry – demonstration of power, healing, accurate prophetic word or an imposing church building.
In this article, I want you to journey with me as I attempt to answer the question in the light of the Word of God. First of all, it is important that we understand what a church is, what it means for a church to celebrate and who a pastor is.
Basically, the word church comes from the Greek word, “ekklesia” or “ecclesia.” It means “the elect of God,” “the assembly of called out ones” or “the congregation of Christian believers” with Christ Jesus as its Head and Lord.
Biblically, to celebrate as children of God is to praise based on what has been done, what is being done and what it is hoped to be done. It is to share joy with others for blessings. It is important to know who is worthy to be celebrated in all of these. Is it man or God?
Now, we must also understand that a Christian pastor is not a monarch, he is not a celebrity, he is not a superstar, he is not a chief executive officer or a boss. A true pastor is first a Christian or one of the sheep of Christ. Second, he is a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:1). This makes a pastor a servant-leader.
Carefully, considering the explanations above, a church must be watchful to avoid the temptation of celebrating its pastors. We need to look into the Bible and see if a church ever celebrated its servant-leaders for something they did in the name of Jesus Christ. We must also know if those pastors accepted celebrations from fellow believers.
Naturally, humans, especially women have the tendency to celebrate people who achieve success or do something extraordinarily. In 1 Samuel 18:6-7, the Israelites celebrated both Saul and David for defeating their enemies. However, the two ignorantly failed to correct the people to rather celebrate the one who fought through them.
Pastors are not to be celebrated. However, they may be appreciated, supported, encouraged and above all honoured. We must understand that pastors are servants who are also expected to celebrate someone superior – God – for His great works. Yes, God is the only one worthy of our celebration, praise, glory and worship.
When David grew in wisdom, increased in the knowledge of the will of God, and pondered over the powerful manner in which God rescued His people from slavery in Egypt, he celebrated the LORD, saying “He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name! (Psalm 111:9).
Moreover, Peter and John would not want people to celebrate them when they were used to heal a lame man. They wanted people to rather celebrate God for healing the man through them in the name of Jesus Christ.
“And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus…
And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all” (Acts 3:12-16).
Again, when the Corinthian church appeared to be celebrating Paul and Apollos, Paul wrote to them, saying “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:5-7).
Similarly, in Acts 14:8-18, the Bible says in Lystra, Paul healed a man who had been crippled from birth. When the people saw this miracle, they thought Paul and Barnabas were gods. They called Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes because Paul was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus even brought bulls and garlands to offer sacrifices to them.
Paul and Barnabas, deeply distressed, tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, crying out:
“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.” (Acts 14:15)
Tearing one’s clothes was a Jewish expression of grief or horror, often in response to blasphemy. Paul and Barnabas did this to reject the worship and redirect the people’s focus to the true and living God.
You can clearly see that true servants of God do not accept praise or worship; they reject and discourage it. They know that God alone is worthy of our celebration or praise. He is worth worshipping. Pastors, on the other hand, must be appreciated and honoured for their services.
The songwriter was right when he composed the song: “We will celebrate our God, we will jubilate our God. We will celebrate our God, let His banner be raised, and His glory be seen.”
By James Quansah
