God's Man Needs a Man

Bob recently preached a sermon where he referred to the passage about Moses having his arms held up by Aaron and Hur when the Israelites were having a battle against Amalek. As long as Moses kept his arms up then the Israelites won the battle. But when Moses got tired and his arms drooped down, the Amalekites began winning. So, they found a rock to have Moses sit on and Aaron and Hur held up the arms of Moses so that the Israelites won the battle. 

The whole time Bob was referring to that passage, I recalled a sermon I once heard from our first pastor based on the importance of God's man's second man. I remember that sermon and how convicting it was. Many people and church members seem to think that a pastor's job is easy and simple and that they only really work on Sundays and Wednesday nights, and that everything that happens around the church building is done by a magic fairy. None of these are true. A pastor is on call 24/7 and when he isn't behind the pulpit, he is studying, visiting, door knocking to reach new people, making repairs around the building, helping with charitable issues for members and those in need in the community and cleaning the building. If you add in that the pastor is bi vocational and works a secular job on top of this, his job is in NO WAY easy or simple! ---even if he doesn't work a secular job, that prior list is pretty extensive. 

The point I'm trying to make is that every man of God needs a man, just like Moses had Aaron and Hur. By man, I mean person. Every pastor needs members and folks they can count on to help in the work. This takes commitment. It takes being where you are needed when you are needed and being on time....being faithful! My kids learned early on the importance of this fact. My son did a year at Heartland Baptist Bible College in OK City. He used to get upset at times because so much of the focus was on the young men who were planning to be pastors or missionaries. He did not feel lead to become a preacher. He went to bible college to learn more about his bible and to become more grounded and to be better able to serve as a Aaron or Hur in his local church. He knows the tremendous pressures that pastors and their families face and how important it is to be a faithful servant in the pew and anywhere they are needed in the church. If something doesn't get done by a layperson in the church it automatically falls to the pastor and his family. That is all there is to it. Churches and their buildings do not run and upkeep themselves. Van routes and visiting must be done by someone!