Prof. Mgbeke’s Sunday Sermon. April 10, 2022
“Dear Man of God, Who Takes Care And Ministers To You Too?”
My dearest Mgbekes, how has your weekend been so far? I hope you have thoroughly enjoyed your few days of rest and you are well oiled and geared up to go at this new week again from tomorrow?
My message this Sunday is specifically designed to cater to a set of people prone to living in some grave and potentially fatal errors due to the nature of what they do and their calling. Yes, I would like to speak to many of our dear pastors across the world today because there have been some incidents of late that haven’t gone down well with me at all.
For once, I think we all owe a collective duty to do our best to also look out for these servants of God physically as they, in turn, always look out for us spiritually. In our generation and time, the number of pastors who are falling and dying while ministering on the pulpit is alarming, and I believe it is something that we ought to address.
Oh, and as much as we would like to say and think that they get a straight pass into paradise for “dying in active service” or “at their divine duty post,” I’d like to ask us one question before I move on to the servants of God: What if the death you’re thinking is a sure “call to glory” is nothing but an avoidable bad health-induced early slide to the pearly gates? Ponder on that while we proceed.
For our pastors and servants of God, I’d also like to begin with an important question: Dear pastor, who takes care of you and ministers to you too? Yes, we know that you have a calling of God upon your life to serve HIM, but pastoring people does not mean that you cease to have a life of your own entirely. It is not a death sentence!
Due to this increasing situation of clerical mishaps, if I may so call it, I would like to make a few suggestions to our dear pastors here today. I have also taken the liberty to break these suggestions into a few categories to make them easier to follow, so kindly come along with me, dear sirs.
(1) Health:
Being a Pastor does not exempt you from taking medication. If you have health issues, allergies, or red flags regarding your health, take a break and get treated. Allow yourself to enjoy some bed rest too. That is what Jesus would want you to do.
Go for medical check-ups regularly too. A pastor may experience high blood pressure. Yes, you can! So, again, if you see the red flags, you don’t have to stop praying. You can keep the prayer going as you head to the hospital and not church service.
Don’t follow certain advice and words foolishly till you slump and fall on the pulpit. If your spiritual fathers lied that they never had pain relief medications nor visited hospitals, good for them. On your part, though, please ask them for their diet plan and lifestyle, or do I need to tell you that many of them sneak out for foreign medical attention?
Don’t be over-spiritual with health issues. Eat when necessary, fast, and please don’t run 40-day services day and night fasting; you may collapse! If you like herbs, enjoy them for the nourishment of your body. Salvation is from a heart of love to us. It is not a punishment!
If you feel dizzy and faint during a fast, take a sip of fluid, check your blood pressure and sugar level, and run other tests immediately. If you have consistent headaches, it’s not a sin to check your health status. You are human, and it is not a slap on your salvation.
Please call in sick if you wake up sick on a Sunday morning. Let the church pray for you while you head to the hospital. Jesus Christ would love to see you among them healthy. He would love to see you strong and not dead before you can even fulfill the mandate that HE gave you.
The flesh is prone to sickness, stress, and ailments. Jesus knows that you know what to do.
(2) Personal and Physical Welfare:
Dear pastors, you are also allowed to have personal challenges as a human being. So, please, do the needful when you also need someone’s shoulder. You are not God!
The church is a family. You are a part of that family and not the head. When you run it as a CEO of a business, you will not be able to stop or slow down your pace and speak to people as one of them.
So, next week, try to delegate some assignments to the church. Ask different sections in church for their views, opinions, and thoughts about scriptures. Make it a family place. You have been preaching year after year. Let the church also review scriptures on their own while you sit and enjoy the harmony among the brethren.
Pastor…there is no law asking you to always stand while teaching. You could rearrange the chairs in the auditorium and sit amongst the people while teaching. Save some strength. It is wisdom!
You do not need to organize church services round the clock. Fast with caution, and create time for vacation and rest. Accept that the Church of God will march on without you if you suddenly slump and die, so start acting accordingly.
Lastly, be glad to receive church members with baskets of fruits after you have missed any service. It shows the love of God through them, and it doesn’t reduce HIS grace upon you.
(3) Spiritual Welfare:
Man of God, you are not the savior of the Church, so please serve within your ability! Don’t ever pretend to be perfect to the Body of Christ. Let them also pray for you and water you.
Always remember that being a pastor does not make you a covering over people. If you don’t take care of yourself, you will be hit!
You are human like everyone else, so ask for help whenever you can. Ask someone else to take the pulpit and sit and enjoy the service, too, from time to time. Be bold to ask them to pray for you as well. We all need prayers, don’t we?
Finally, please, always remember the advice that Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, gave to him when he visited the camp in the wilderness and saw how that Moses had been the only one carrying out the role of prophet, priest, commander-in-chief, and judge for the entire nation – Exodus 18: 13-27.
If God could concur with Jethro, why not follow this same line of wisdom here too, my dear sirs? This is my 2cents shared today from a heart of love that genuinely cares for you all, please.
Do remain blessed, and may God continue to strengthen and keep you all; Amen!
Till I see you all again next week…
A-na eji Uche Eme Ihe!
By: Dr. Sandra C. Duru
#PROFMGBEKE
Refreshing