HOW TO HELP YOUR MINISTER SUCCEED Romans 15: 14-33 
NEED: 
ASSISTANCE FOR THOSE IN PASTORAL MINISTRY 
PROPOSITION: 
THE LAITY CAN CONTRIBUTE MUCH TO THE SUCCESS OF THOSE INVOLVED IN PASTORAL MINISTRY. 
OBJECTIVE: 
TO LEAD GOD'S PEOPLE TO BECOME SUPPORTIVE OF THE WORK OF THEIR PASTOR. 
INTRODUCTION: 
Thorn Reins is an evangelism professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In his recent 
book, GIANT AWAKENINGS, he shares an experiment that he made while he was still a pastor 
in St. Petersburg, Florida. He wanted to have a better feel for the expectation for his 
congregation so he gave each deacon a survey to complete. 
He asked them to write down the minimum number of hours they expected him to put into the 
various responsibilities he performed during his work week. The results were startling. 
Prayer 	14 hours 	
Sermon Preparation 	18 hours 	
Out reach visitation 	10 hours 	
Counseling 	10 hours 	
Hospital & home visitation 	15 hour 	
Administrative Functions 	18 hours 	
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Community involvement 5 hours Denomination involvement 5 hours Church meetings 5 hours Worship services/preaching 10 hours 
	Others 	14 hours 
	TOTAL 	114 HOURS PER WEEK 
They had not even considered that he would need to spend some time with his family and would need to take a nap on occasion. If these reflect the expectations that a congregation has of their minister, it should be obvious that he needs some help. 
While the purpose of the Apostle in writing this passage in the Roman Letter was not to elicit help for the pastor of the Roman congregation, it does make some helpful suggestions in that direction. The purpose of the Apostle was to share his personal plans for the months ahead with the Christians in Rome. He was interested in sharing his plans with them because they were included in his plans. He had been prayerfully planning for sometime to make a visit to Rome and to involve himself in the ministry of that church. However, in the process of reflecting on his own ministry and setting forth his plans for the future, he did make some suggestions about things they could do to be of help. Interestingly, these suggestions would still help any minister to succeed in his ministry. I want us to look at the text tonight and to lift from it these four suggestions that the Apostle gave to the church at Rome. 
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I. BE FAITHFUL IN EXERCISING YOUR MINISTRY IN THE CHURCH. 
This is where the Apostle beings this personal section of the letter. He writes, "I myself is convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another." With this statement he moves away from the addressing the problems that have been threatening the Roman Church. He does so by reminding them that they are capable of addressing the problems that are in the Church. He has confidence in their spiritual competence to make a contribution to the growth and welfare of the Church. 
"--.-- 
1. You have the character that personal ministry requires. 
"That you yourselves are full of goodness, " is a statement concerning the character of the members of the church. Because of the working of God's saving grace in their lives, they are now full of goodness. This goodness is effecting their attitudes toward one another and their actions toward one another. This goodness prepares them to be used to minister to one another. 
Those involved in pastoral ministry do not have a monopoly on Christian character. Some of the best examples of Christian character I have ever seen were in the pew and not in the pulpit. Some of the most christ-like people I have ever seen were not ordained to any kind of ministry. The character that has been developed in them provides a bases for them to exercise spiritual gifts and spiritual leadership in the body of Christ. 
2. You have the knowledge that ministry requires. 
"Complete in knowledge" is a reference to that spiritual knowledge that God has granted to you 
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during the days of your Christian pilgrimage. He has used others to teach you the things of God so that you have a great deal of spiritual knowledge. You are not ignorant of the things of God if you have been in the body of Christ for an extended period of time. If you have this reservoir of knowledge of the things of God, then you become responsible for the use of this knowledge. 
You are a steward of what you know. For this reason the Apostle is encouraging each member of the church to use the knowledge that they have for the building up of the body of the Church. 
3. You have the competence to minister. 
"Competent to instruct one another." This is the confidence of the Apostle. Williams translates this expression, "competent to counsel one another." You do not have to be ordained or have some kind of certification to be used of God to give encouragement, counsel, and support, to some brother in the Church. This kind of mutual ministry to each other would make the task of your minister so much easier. 
Too many members of the congregation think that the only person qualified to speak or to offer counsel about the things of God is the ordained minister. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is a contribution that you can make in light of what God has done in your life to benefit the life of your church. You will enable your pastor to be a whole lot more successful if you will begin to maximize the potential of your contribution to the life of the church. 
II. AFFIRM THE ASSIGNMENT GOD HAS GIVEN TO YOUR MINISTER. 
There has always been some concern about the validity of what the Pastor does. This concern 
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seems to have grown in recent years. I remember reading a quotation from Huckaberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck and Joanna are discussing her uncle who is one of no less than seventeen clergy in a church in Sheffield. Joanna defends his role in the church by saying, " They do not all of them preach the same day - only one of them. " 
"Well then," Joanna responds. "What does the rest of them do?" "Oh, nothing much." Huck explains. "Lull around, pass the plates - and one thing or another. But mainly they don't do nothing." "Well then," cries Joanna in wide-eyed astonishment, "What are they for?" 
"Why," they are for style," Huck replies. "Don't you know nothing?" There are a lot of people who would agree with Huck that they don't do nothing. 
Confronting that kind of attitude can negatively impact the effectiveness of any pastor. It is always a source of encouragement to him when he senses that the people with whom he ministers has an appreciation for the work that God has called him to do. 
In this passage Paul shares some of his own convictions about his ministry with the Roman Christians. 
1. His ministry is by the grace of God. 
Paul writes, "I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles." Paul did not 
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put himself into the ministry because he felt worthy of being in the ministry. God put him in the ministry because he is a God of grace. This would be true of any man who is a genuine minister of the things of God. He is in the minister by the grace of God. The church can affirm him in this. 
2. The ministry is service to Jesus Christ. 
In Paul's declaration concerning his own calling, he says, "To be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that they Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." While it is true that the minister serves the people of God and the Word of God, it is also true that this is His way of serving Jesus Christ. His first obligation is to do those things that will be pleasing in the eyes of Jesus. Any church who encourages its pastor to be a good servant of Jesus Christ will enhance the effectiveness of his ministry. 
3. The ministry is a work of God. 
Paul testifies, "I will not venture to speak of any thing except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the gentiles to obey God about what I have said and done - by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit." The work of the ministry is not an expression of the intelligence and creativity ofthe minister. The work ofthe ministry is an expression of the power of God being seen through a human instrument. The minister is the instrument but God is the worker. You will enhance the ministry of your pastor when you encourage him to be the instrument of the Holy Spirit, when you place your expectations upon 
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God and not upon the man who serves as your minister. 
ill. PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR YOUR MINISTER AS NEEDED. 
Even though Paul had personal opportunity to get acquainted with most of the members of the Roman Church, he was not hesitant to talk to them about financial support for what he was doing. In these personal words that he addressed to the Church he says, "I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey, after I have enjoyed your company for a while." Since Paul did not think of the ministry as being his work but rather God's work, he was not hesitant to give the people of God the opportunity to have a financial part in doing the work of God. He did not see their support as being something done for him personally, but rather something done for the advancement of the work of God. 
While all of us who are involved in ministry are hesitant to talk about money when it involves support for what we are doing, it is an essential. Even for an itinerate preacher like Paul there were certain financial needs. It was his practice in most instances to provide for his own 
financial needs. He did that by making tents. He would have been identified in our day as a bivocational minister for most of his years of ministry. However, he envisioned some ventures of the Lord ahead that would require the financial support of the Roman Church. He was not hesitant to ask them for that support. He indicated to them it was his expectation that they would joyfully and willingly want to be a part of what he was doing. 
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Any time a congregation makes it possible for those doing ministry in the church and for the church to do so without financial concerns, they are enhancing the ministry. That financial support will make it more likely that the minister will be able to succeed in doing the work of God. 
IV. ENABLE THEIR WORK THROUGH YOUR PRAYERS. 
Paul comes to the close of this personal section with the most direct and urgent appeal found in this section. It is an appeal for the prayer support of the Romans. "I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judah and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed. " 
1. The motivation for their prayers. 
Paul makes his appeal for their prayers on the basis of their relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is using high authority to lead the church to become involved in prayer on his behalf "I urge you by our Lord Jesus Christ!" 
He also uses the love of the Spirit as a bases for the appeal. He means by this the love that the Spirit imparts. The Holy Spirit in them would develop a love for the pastor. Because of that love which the Holy Spirit had placed in their hearts, they should be compelled to lift him up in prayer. The most loving thing you can do for your pastor is to pray for him. 
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2. The burden of the prayers. 
Paul was specific about what they should pray for. He wanted prayer for his safety. "Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judah." He was going to Jerusalem to carry an offering from the Gentile believers for the support of believers in Jerusalem who had come upon hard times. He knew that he had enemies in Jerusalem who would be plotting his destruction. He believed that the prayers of the people of God could make a difference with reference to these dangers. So, he wants their prayers for his protection. 
You can know that The Enemy of the people of God always has traps set and destructive designs upon the man who serves as your spiritual leader. He knows if he can destroy the leader he can frustrate everything God is trying to do through the church. It is urgent that you pray for the physical and especially for the spiritual protection of your pastor. 
Paul also wanted prayer for the effectiveness of his ministry. "That my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there." It takes the favor of God upon the life of the minister in order for his ministry to be effective. This favor of God rests upon the life of the minister in response to the prayers of God's people. You effect the effectiveness of your pastor by how faithfully and earnestly you pray for him. I remember reading about the early days of the ministry of Wilbur Chapman. Before he became an evangelist used widely across the world, as a young man he became pastor of a prestigious congregation. When he began that ministry in that strategic congregation some of the wise leaders of that church came to him and said, "Pastor, we know that you are young and that you lack the maturity to be able to lead this congregation. We have 
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coveted together that we will not let you fail. We covenant with you that we are going to uphold you with our prayers and that through our prayers we are going to make you a successful pastor for this congregation." They kept that covenant and the rest is history. He became such a useable and effective servant of God that his ministry became a blessing all across the English speaking world. 
Paul recognized how vital the prayers of others were for the effectiveness of his ministry. He regularly made this kind of appeal as he closed the letters that he sent to the churches. So, if you want to help your pastor succeed, be a regular supporter of his ministry through your prayers. 
These suggestions of the Apostle are healthy and relevant. There is not a church around that would not be strengthened if the laity in that church decided to maximize the usefulness of their own gifts and experience. Affirm the validity of their pastor's role, undergird him with what ever is needed financially to sustain his ministry and to uphold him faithfully in their prayers. Who knows he might become effective that God might be able to move him some place else and you would get you a brand new preacher. 
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