“What do you think of your Pastor?” (1 Corinthians 4:1-7)

Series: Say it Out Loud!

by Pastor Nate Walther

Third Sunday of Pentecost, 06/14/2026

                What do you think of your pastors?  I don’t mean to brag, but at my first call in North Dakota I was a pretty big deal.  Some people literally said I was the reason they were there, and why the church was growing when it was growing! Now, just to burst the bubble of that big head of mine, I should also add that I was told the opposite at other times.  Others literally said I was the reason they were leaving, and why the church was shrinking when it was shrinking.

            Now that I’m a little bit older & wiser in my second call, I’m wary of the matter of what people think of their pastor.  Oh sure, I still think about it.  I want you to have positive feelings about me, and I’m sure Pastor Horton would say the same!  But do you think about your pastor, “He’s a good preacher”?  Or do you think, “He puts me to sleep”?  Do you feel like your pastor really cares about you?  Or do you wonder whether he even knows your name?  Do you see the church heading in the right direction under our leadership?  Or does it seem things are falling apart?

            Today, the Apostle Paul addresses the topic of what we should think of pastors, but not by looking at any of these things we tend to look at.  Because even for a famous pastor like him, or leaders like Joshua & Moses in our first reading, or the Twelve Disciples in our Gospel reading, it wasn’t about that.  As we revisit our sermon text from 1 Corinthians, we’re stepping into a bit of a situation.  It’s why Paul mentions not just himself but a pastor by the name of Apollos in verse 6.   Like us they were a larger church that had multiple pastors, and they also had their favorites!  Some proudly followed Paul, others Apollos, still others Peter.  And I’m sure they had their reasons.  Maybe those reasons even made sense.  But how does Paul instruct them to think about their pastors? Verses 1 & 2, “This is the way a person should think of us: as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.”  In this connection, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful….”   As I study God’s Word,I often find it beneficial for myself to ask what’s not there, so notice what’s not in our sermon text.  There’s nothing about how innovative a pastor is, no hint of how captivating his preaching style, not a whisper of his talents, not any mention of his ability to make people laugh.  Instead, it’s all about being faithful to God and being a steward over his affairs.  That’s just it: a steward doesn’t focus on his own affairs; rather, he manages what has been given to him.  It’s all about his master’s business.

            It mirrors our first reading (Numbers 23:15-23).  Joshua had basic qualifications for being a leader—just as a pastor must meet basic qualifications, the Bible is clear about that elsewhere–but what was the substance of Joshua’s leadership?  Did you catch that curious passage about the Urim?  That was how the leader would make important decisions back in those days.  He would consult the Urim (& Thummim) that the high priest possessed, which essentially meant casting a lot.  i.e. It wasn’t about the leader’s decision or knowledge, it was about leaving things in God’s hands and following God’s will. That’s really what we heard in our Gospel reading too (Matthew 9:25-10:8).  Jesus chose simple fisherman who had no wisdom of their own–to whom no one would listen on their own–and they preached a basic message about sin and grace that could only be effective if God’s power made it so.

            Now I’m sure we’d all nod along with this, but let’s be honest with ourselves: we don’t want to hear this.  I don’t.  In my heart of hearts, I want ministry to be all about me.  Of course I do!  I’m a sinful man. I want people to like me and be impressed by me, which leads to the temptation to act and speak in a way that will yield such a result.  Don’t be surprised by that.  In fact, you want this too.  You want to be able to think highly of your pastors, perhaps because that’s what will naturally happen if they give you what you want.  We all want to choose leaders and decide what they would say & do based on our criteria, not God’s. 

Paul highlights a couple of ways we struggle with this in our sermon text in verse 5. For one, he reminds us that we are to wait until Judgment Day for God to make all things right.  That’s fair, of course God is going to make everything right in the end.  Yet don’t we want all of our problems figured out now and sorted out long before Jesus returns?  So maybe we don’t want our pastors to be patient with others, or we don’t want to show grace to others if it gets in the way of what we want… Along those lines, as the verse continues, it is implied that since we cannot know what’s on a person’s heart we should really just let some things be. Yet how often do we assume we know what a person is thinking, we assume we know all they know, and then we assume the worst –whether it’s with pastors or others above us? 

            So often we’re just wrong as we go down these paths.  There’s a reason the Bible is constantly calling us sheep—we heard a couple examples of that again in our readings earlier! God doesn’t mean that as some throwaway expression, it means something.  Sheep tend to wander, and we wander too.  My soul and your soul were born into sin, which means we tend not to choose what is best for ourselves, but what will ultimately harm us in the end.  That’s why God sends us shepherds: pastors to lead us—even us pastors have pastors above us as a circuit or district level—because we all need to be led.  There are things we need that we will not hear unless someone else says it.  There are dangers that threaten us which we simply don’t see.  Jesus put it bluntly in our gospel: we face the effects of sin, we face demons, we face death itself.  Even when we don’t see these dangers, God sees them! 

            It leads to a reminder in all of this: forget what we’re thinking.  What does God think of us?  God, who can see our hearts & who knows our every intention?  God, who sees that we do things only for ourselves, no matter what it may look like to others?  God, who sees every way we wander when nobody else sees it?  God, who judges sins and who can save or condemn—no pastor has that power, no matter what you may think of them!—no, what does God think of us?… It’s a mystery he has since revealed in his Word.  Despite all of our sin:  “I love you.  I forgive you.  I sent my Son, the great shepherd of the sheep, to die for your sins!  You are mine.” 

That’s where your pastors come in.  More than anything, we are stewards of this great mystery revealed.  Our job is nothing more and nothing less than sharing such good news with you and your loved ones.  That’s the standard by which God wants us pastors to judge ourselves, and that’s what you should judge us by too. That we freely give what has been freely given to us: that although we are sinful, selfish, wandering creatures, God loves us always in Christ.

 By the way, that explains exactly why we treat the ministry as we do.  Take as an example the call system: this is why our churches don’t interview candidates like other businesses, and we don’t just try to fill a spot in our church or school with the most convenient option. (At least, we shouldn’t do this!)  Likewise, us pastors shouldn’t just go where we want to go.  (If we did, I imagine I’d be a ski bum living out west and Pastor Horton a beach bum living in Hawaii!)  But no, this is a calling, which means it’s about trusting and being faithful to the one who calls.  As another way of looking at it: this is the same reason why, when I was ordained into the ministry at Grace in Minot, and then when I was installed here at Eastside, I had hands laid on me (like our first reading).  That’s our tradition as a church body to show we don’t possess this on our own as pastors, it must be given to us. Finally, it all reflects what we heard today in God’s Word.  The ministry is about following God’s will.  It’s not about a pastor’s whims or will.  It’s not about Apollos or Paul, Walther or Horton, your favorite pastor ever or your least favorite. It’s about following Jesus & his Word, period…  And that’s why your pastors are delighted when you do catch Pastor Mike on Time of Grace, or if another pastor is able to baptize, confirm, or marry someone.  However you can get more of Jesus as Savior from sin, that’s a good thing.  But make no mistake, that’s what this is all about – not the pastor who’s doing it.

As I think back on my ministry, if I could be doing the same things and people could have such varied opinions on it—mutually exclusive viewpoints, mind you: that I’m such a phenomenal pastor OR that I’m such a bum!—they can’t both be right.   In fact, neither is the right approach.  Instead, say it out loud: “I follow Jesus!… and that’s why I love Pastor Walther.  That’s why I love Pastor Horton.  That’s why I loved Pastor Schmiege, or Pastor Mike, or any other pastor I’ve ever had.”  Think of us in terms of whether we lead you to the shepherd, Jesus.  Because if all you had was Pastor Walther, or Pastor Horton, or Pastor so-and-so, you’d be lost. You’d languish in hell for ever along with us.  None of us can save you from your sins or get your kids or grandkids to heaven.  But Jesus did.  Think of Jesus when you think of us, and then (only then) we can be of some good to you.  Amen.