Honor Is the Currency of the Kingdom of God

Honor is the currency of the Kingdom of God. It’s different from the currency of the world. In the world, if I want to increase my bank account, I need to hoard it. I need to not let you get any. I need to keep it for myself to increase my bank account.

But the currency of the Kingdom of God is honor. I increase my bank account by giving it away. The more I give away honor to others, the more God puts in my bank account.

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17)

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13a)

It’s a high value in the Kingdom of God to honor our spiritual leadership. Especially our pastors.

Weaponizing Honor

Unfortunately, the Biblical teaching of honoring our leaders can be weaponized by narcissists and spiritually abusive leadership to squelch any accountability and godly exposure of wrong doing.

If you know your church history over the last couple of decades, some of these abusive churches that crashed and burned (Mars Hill, Willow Creek, etc.) have a distinct pattern. Lone Ranger Pastor. One guy, large and in charge, over everything.

You do not have to stay under abusive spiritual leadership. If you’re in that situation, please find a healthy church with healthy leadership and healthy community.

How do I know the difference? A major litmus test is that healthy leadership will never shame questions or doubts. They will honor you, even if they disagree with you. If you are shamed for asking questions, that’s a clue you’re in the wrong place.

Accountability and Transparency

Humble leaders are willing to be taught by others. Humble leaders say, “I want to set up a Board so I can be held accountable.” And they don’t pack the Board with yes-men who will be an echo chamber for what they want to hear. They put people on the Board who, while trustworthy and loyal, are not afraid to speak up when something’s wrong.

It doesn’t have to be an official Board of Directors or Board of Elders, per se. But every leader needs to have somebody who can speak hard things into their life. Humble godly leaders have people who have permission to speak into the leader’s life, permission to say the hard things when they need to be said.

What politician says, “I need to set up a committee so I can be held accountable.” Nobody in the world does that. But the Kingdom of God does that. Godly mature leaders do that.

Recently, our church had a “Culture Night,” where our pastor invited leaders to talk about our church’s core values. The first words out of the pastor’s mouth that night were “church governance.” In other words, he answered the question, “Who’s in charge of me?” Not everybody does that. That level of transparency and vulnerable accountability is really worthy of honor.

Financial Sacrifice

Most pastors are not getting paid nearly what they could be getting paid, if they’re getting paid anything at all, in the job market. And most church leaders don’t get paid anything at all. They volunteer their time on top of their 9-to-5 jobs.

Especially our pastors, their sacrifice, the time they so freely give, is worthy of special honor. At my 9-to-5 job, at 5:00, I go home. I’m done. But pastors get those 2:00 AM calls in the middle of the night. I hope everyone reading this has a pastor, a small group leader, someone that you know you can call in an emergency that will be there for you.

As Christian community, we need to do this for each other. As churches grow, the pastor and his wife can’t necessarily be there for everybody. But everybody can have somebody in leadership who’s there for them. And those people, no matter what title they hold, are worthy of our honor.

Sheep Bites

The Bible talks about the people of God as sheep. Being compared to sheep is not really a compliment. Because sheep bite their shepherd. Every pastor knows there’s such a thing in ministry as “sheep-bites.” It’s really painful to be bitten by your own sheep, the people whose hearts you’re trying your best to steward well, protect, and invite into spiritual growth.

Actually, I think that’s an inside joke within the Trinity. I can picture Jesus during his ministry praying for his disciples, “Father, these sheep! Their lack of understanding and back-biting is so painful,” and the Father’s like, “Dude, the entire Old Testament! Let me tell you…”

So let’s not bite our shepherds. May we make their jobs easy and not burdensome.

Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. (Hebrews 13:17)

Your Turn

Does this resonate? Have you had a pastor or a leader be there for you? Tell us your story in the comments.

Do You Want Help?

Have you been harmed by abusive spiritual leadership? That is not God’s heart for you. Reach out to Dave and Janet for an inner healing session. We use a combination of Biblical truth and brain science to facilitate a safe, gentle way to experience a two-way connection with Jesus, get unstuck, and receive the healing he has for you.

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