Summary
Just like we are called to respect our parents and respect government authority, so too are we called to respect pastor-teachers—those who have spiritual authority over us. We ought to respect them on the basis of them carrying out their duty to teach the Word of God; we ought to respect those who teach the Word of God more and better to a higher degree than those who talk a good talk but don’t truly walk the walk. This respect and deference we owe those who actually labor in the truth on our behalf is not optional, but required.
Content
Introduction
Paul says to acknowledge and respect pastor-teachers (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13a).
As Christians, we are to respect our parents (cf. Exodus 20:12 and Ephesians 6:1-3, among other passages—and also see this other study I have up on the matter). We are also to respect government authority, for it too is put in place by God (cf. Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17). And, most apropos to our focus here, we are to respect pastor-teachers (cf. also 1 Timothy 5:17; Hebrews 13:17).
Respecting them does not mean blind obedience. It means acknowledging that this is how God has seen fit to structure the Church—that is, with pastor-teachers exercising spiritual authority over their flocks as under-shepherds of Jesus Christ, the Chief Shepherd (cf. 1 Peter 5:1-4). Unless you are yourself someone with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher (only given to men: see 1 Timothy 2:12)—and have prepared and studied to the point you can largely “feed yourself”—all Christians are to submit to teaching authority, and properly respect it. Not to put too fine a point on it, but not doing so is actually arrogantly rejecting God and His Plan for the Church. For this organizational structure is what God commands in His Word.
To emphasize the critical point again, it is the role we respect (cf. verse 13—“hold them in the highest regard because of their work”). It is not about them as individuals, our like or dislike of them as individuals. Instead, it is the office that we need to salute. One might compare the respect afforded the office of the President of the United States… no matter what one might think about the individual occupying said office.
Respecting the office is about respecting those who actually carry out their responsibilities as they ought
Now, with this being said, the “because of their work” bit rather crucially narrows the mandate to pastor-teachers who do the work they are called to (compare again 1 Timothy 5:17). In other words, people who want to stick “Reverend” in front of their name and parade around as if they ought to be listened to and respected just because they claim the title can be freely scorned… if in fact they are not acting as the Bible clearly calls for pastor-teachers to act. In fact, not only can you scorn such people, but you should. That is not arrogantly failing to submit to biblical teaching authority. It is instead respecting actual biblical teaching authority by not treating charlatans as the real deal.
To put it more explicitly, we ought to respect the men shouldering this burden to the exact extent that they do what God expects of them in the office (first and foremost revolving around the responsibility to substantively teach the Word of God). We are not beholden to respect everyone who claims to be a pastor, in other words, but only those who are actually carrying out their duties as befits the much stricter judgement they will face on account of their authority (cf. James 3:1).
In our times, it can be hard to find pastor-teachers worthy of your submission and respect
Unfortunately, in our times, it can be hard to find pastor-teachers carrying out their duties in this way that befits the stricter judgement they will face—that is, pastor-teachers worthy of your submission and respect. Most of mainstream Christianity disagrees with my take here, but I firmly believe that most pastor-teachers today are not at all effectively fulfilling their office in the way God would wish, primarily in that not many focus upon the Word of God as they truly ought, instead letting their flocks shift their time and attention to other things (which things may not always be inherently bad or sinful per se, but simply have no right to displace the teaching of the Word of God as the central purpose of Christian assembly). And so it is that much of the Church visible today is mired in spiritual infancy, never advancing from “milk” to “solid food” (cf. Hebrews 5:11-14; 1 Corinthians 3:2). Churches may have music that does well at stirring emotions, many faux-profound rituals (rituals that pretend to great importance—making one feel a manufactured sense of awe or transcendence—but all the while putting the focus on physical objects and actions rather than the spiritual truth we ought to be about as Christians), pleasant social interaction, lots of activities and events and “opportunities to serve”, and even put on a good show of “helping the community”… but if the Word of God is not kept front and center, it is all for naught. For no amount of easing of material hardship or lip service to the Word of God will truly help people in the eternal ways that actually matter. People need the truth to save them and then effectively nourish them spiritually thereafter, and absolutely nothing can substitute for it. Nothing.
Yet, is it any surprise really that many pastors avoid keeping the focus strictly upon in-depth teaching of the truth? For doing such is inherently bad for numbers and money. You see, the truth inevitably divides people (cf. Matthew 10:34-35), and many people simply do not really want to hear the truth (cf. the “itching ears” mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:3). So pursuing such a path is a surefire way to “fail” according to most physical metrics of church success. As a pastor in our lukewarm times, you are more likely to be scorned and spit upon than honored for staying 100% committed to teaching the Word of God… by most people, that is. Oh, these people will talk a good game, to be sure, but they really have no interest in growing up in the truth, of doing the hard work of Bible reading and Bible study that is necessary for substantial spiritual growth. Their actions belie their words, for they always spare little time for God and spiritual growth in their lives (as compared to other things such as social events, watching TV shows/movies, watching sports, playing video games, browsing social media, and whatever else people put on the thrones of their hearts other than God).
Let us not be these people! We do not need to follow others into this folly. Instead, we need to take pains to properly respect and submit to those teachers who are doing things the “right way”, no matter the individual cost to them. Regarding all the others… well, it is not arrogant or judgmental to call a spade a spade (despite all the loud and insistent claims you are sure to hear to the contrary). I can assure you that I very much wish I could be less harsh with regard to most of what passes for Bible teaching in our country, but I can’t, and nor should you. Because you have a duty to respect those actually teaching the Word of God, and equating the pale simulacrum that merely pretends to the real thing is gravely insulting to the real thing. They are not the same—not in how God views them, nor in how you ought to allocate your respect.
We still need to respect our teachers even when they are strict with us
I shall close this discussion by noting that Bible teachers sometimes need to be strict and say some things that are difficult for us to hear. When we are sore tempted to be cross with them for it, we ought to try to remember back to our days in the classroom as youths. I don’t know if you ever had a strict teacher growing up as a child, but I did—a couple times in fact. I would not probably have nominated them as my favorite teachers at the time, but boy did I learn a lot. And it has only been in adulthood that I’ve realized that everyone’s favorite teachers as children were not perhaps always the ones who taught us the most—the ones that we honestly should have respected in their capacity as teachers. Because, fundamentally, the telos of teachers (if you will) is not to be your friend, but to teach you. And so too with Bible teachers. We should bear this in mind as we go about submitting ourselves to some worthy pastor-teacher so that we might grow up in the truth of the Word of God: what matters is how well they teach us the Word of God, and nothing else. For that is their main purpose within the body of Christ, and the sole basis upon which we ought to evaluate them and have respect for them.