The Aaron And Hur Ministry

What Sheep Can Do for Their Shepherd

Gary Farmer

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781644162507
• eBook ISBN: 9781644162514
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

According to a recent study by George Barna and Focus on the Family, nearly 1, 500 pastors leave the ministry every single month. That's almost 18, 000 per year. What is causing this and what can be done to prevent it? The AAH Ministry (Aaron and Hur) presents seven principles for the people of the church to apply in order to assist their pastors. Like Aaron and Hur holding up the arms of Moses, the members of every church are called upon to uphold their spiritual leaders to assure victory.

Chapter 1

The Nature of the Problem

For years, we have heard how pastors, ministers, preachers, shepherds, in fact, all spiritual leaders can improve, become better, build megachurches, preach more dynamic sermons, and meet the needs of their prospective flocks. For years, the emphasis has been on what these leaders can, could, or should do for the people they oversee. For generations, the emphasis had been on meeting the needs of the congregation, the attendees, the members. It’s time for a radial, positional, practical, and biblical change.

Do you want your pastors to do a better job caring for the flock entrusted to them? Do you want to see the leadership of your church accomplish more for the Kingdom of God? Do you want to see renewal in your church and revival in your community? Do you want to see the power of God manifest in your church that will really change hearts and lives? Do you, personally, want to experience the reality of the Presence of the Almighty in your everyday life to a greater degree?

If you are not seeing your particular church, fellowship, or denomination accomplishing all that could be done in the Name of the Lord, whom do you hold responsible? As a member, who do you think is guilty for the “failures” of your church? Who do you choose to blame? Who, if anyone, is held accountable, and who will inevitably be held guilty?

Naturally and normally, we blame leadership when things go astray. We hold those who are in control ultimately responsible for the problems we face. We complain when our duly elected officials enact laws that negatively impact us. We gripe against the president or Congress when our national indebtedness grows exponentially beyond our ability to repay. We grumple against our leaders when federal and state taxes take more and more of our hard-earned dollars. We play the blame game.

So are the congressmen, senators, and president alone responsible for the financial mess we’re in? Who elected those officials anyway? Who put them in positions of determination, power, taxing, and spending? Wasn’t it “we the people”? Don’t we bear some of the onus, the burden for these decisions? It’s easy to complain, moan, groan, and gripe. Anyone can do it. It takes individuals of mature, godly character to accept responsibility for their actions and choices.

The Principle of Talking Ownership

Many years ago, I was having lunch with a dear friend, an elder from my church. While we were eating, I was sharing how disappointed I was that my wife, Lisa, wasn’t as involved in our church as I was. Certainly her job was demanding, and she was putting in many long hours of unpaid overtime. But I felt that her commitment to the Body was much less than mine, and it bothered me. I wanted her to be as committed, as involved as I was.

Suddenly, I was stopped midbite. The Lord spoke clearly to my heart and said, “It’s your fault.” I was stunned. I the one who helped the youth, I was a member of the worship team. I was active in the men’s fellowship. I went to the prayer meetings. No, God was obviously wrong. He had misspoken or I had misheard. It couldn’t be me. It couldn’t be my fault. I was the spiritual one!

Then, I realized what I had done to my wife. Often, on Sunday mornings, I would be dressed and ready for church, waiting in my car with the motor running—all alone. More than once, I would beep the horn or go back into the house and yell, “WHAT’S TAKING SO LONG? WE’RE GONNA BE LATE! HURRY UP!”

(The situation was even more frustrating considering the fact that we lived about a half a mile from our church.)

She would come out, apologize, and we were off—ready to be spiritual, attentive, and wearing a façade that said, “We’re fine. No problems. Let’s worship God and hear His glorious Word.” The truth was, I was angry and upset that she didn’t comprehend my need for punctuality. She was hurt because I lacked compassion and understanding. Of course, I know that Lisa and I are the only Christian married couple that has ever had that problem!

The Lord strongly rebuked me at that lunch. When the realization hit, I told my friend, “It’s my fault.” It was then that I understood that my dictatorial demands for being on time had soured my wife’s disposition for being at the church and participating in fellowship with His people. It had put her in a negative frame of mind, literally, in a bad mood for church. I was a factor in the equation—and not a positive one. My attitude influenced her against the very thing that I wanted. I had, in a very real way, spoiled her perspective toward our church.

After, I repented to the Lord and told my friend of my shortcoming, a further thought crossed my mind. What was really more important, being on time or the nurture, compassion, understanding, and love I needed to express to my wife? What really took priority—being punctual or her? How inconsiderate I had been, how wrong!

My demand for punctuality had wounded my wife and helped to create an attitude that would encourage her not to be engaged. I had deliberately damaged what I had wanted to accomplish, her further involvement. I had successfully worked against my own objective. I had sabotaged my own goal.

That night, I shared my insight with her and asked her forgiveness. Additionally, I committed that I would not yell or beep the horn or insist that she needed to hurry. I would be patient and wait—even if it meant that we would arrive late to service. I also made a promise to the Lord that I would not talk to Lisa about this again; instead, I would pray.

Interestingly enough, this “soft approach” made all the difference. From them until now, she has rarely been late and then it was only a matter of a few minutes. When we arrived at church, we were both ready to worship, enjoy the fellowship, and receive the implanted Word. What a delightful change! No more cajoling. No more seething anger. No more intimidation or manipulation. No more wounded feelings. No more tension in the pews. Instead, there was manifest peace and openness to the Spirit of God.

Positive Action Instead of Negative Complaining

Another painful lesson I relearned that day was to stop complaining and start praying.

Years ago, Pres. Jimmy Carter made some decisions with which I strongly disagreed. He made them using his presidential prerogative. In my estimation, he made a number of terrible political moves. As I was vocalizing my complaints, the Lord stopped me cold. If it were a dialogue, it would have gone something like this:

“Son, you have no right to complain.”

“Well, why not? He’s done some idiotic things.”

“Have you prayed for him?”

“Ah no,” I answered sheepish.

The Lord was simply reminding me of my responsibility as a Believer to “Pray for those who are in authority over you” (1 Tim 2:2). Because I had failed to pray, I had no right to complain or disagree with the decisions that had been made. I had not fulfilled the scriptural admonition of praying for those in authority thereby relinquishing my “right to gripe.” I had no input into the process; therefore, I could not judge the outcome. Because I had not held my political leader up in prayer, I had not earned the privilege of expressing my dissatisfaction. In a small way, I may have been responsible for the lack of wisdom shown by any of my leaders because of my failure to uphold them in prayer. Reflect on that scenario when you are tempted to criticize your pastor.

Just as in the situation with my wife, we have a choice. It is the difference between achieving our objective or complaining about what isn’t happening. I am convinced that when we are moaning, groaning, griping, and complaining, nothing is accomplished; in fact, just the opposite. Rather than changing the situation for the good, our negative expressions and attitudes keep the situation on a negative path. Remember the Children of Israel in the wilderness? Constant complaining, murmuring, and speaking against the leadership God had established resulted in a forty-year waiting period and lost opportunities.

How can we turn this around? How can we change this downhill slide into frustration, accusation, and the blame game in our churches, home groups, or fellowships? What can we, as individuals and collectively, do to reverse this situation? Is there any solution to fix what we clearly see as wrong and ineffective?

Who Is in Charge?

So often, Christians like to live under the illusion that we are, somehow in control of everything and everybody. No...

Table of contents

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11