Pastors struggle with loneliness. Leadership is a function in loneliness for many. There are a multitude of reasons for this. Most are not good reasons. There is an alternative! The greatest alternative is provided by the practice of the Apostle Paul.
A cursory reading of his epistles clear indicate that Paul was not a loner. In fact, like most pastors, when he was alone, he did not function well. Remember in Macedonia (2 Cor. 7:2ff) he broke down. “This body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn – conflict on the outside, fears within.” Sounds like the experience of many pastors! Paul knew tensions, the weakness of the flesh, anxiety for those he wished to care for, and apposition from others.
How was he sustained? He was not a loner! He created a constellation of companions. There were at least nine others who stood close to Paul in support. You know their names: Ananias, Barnabus, Luke, Timothy, Titus, Silas, Archipas, Stephanus, and Pheobe. Beyond that group was another circle of support consisting of Apollos, Priscillia and Aquilla, Euodia and Syntyche, Lydia, Mark, and I could and many more to the list. Paul did not stand alone!
He created a constellation of companions. Some were intimate partners in ministry, men and women. Other, seemed to be occasional supporters, perhaps what we would call consultants, or occasional supporters. They were essential to Paul’s endurance and sustaining partners in ministry. This could not have been an easy task as he was frequently mobile in ministry. Some he took with him in presence. Others he communicated with by mail. Others, he simply carried in his heart, knowing their support and prayer for him.
Pastors need to design a constellation of companions with whom they can share, who will affirm, comfort (as Titus did), pray, communicate, and those who visited him, even in prison, to provide the underpinning, assurance of care that he need to survive the rigors of the ministry he was called to endure for the Lord.
Pastor: Can you identify a constellation of companions whom you can count on? Let me challenge you to create a list, as Paul did. If you cannot readily create a list, you are or will be in trouble. No one can effectively sustain themselves by lifting themselves with their own bootstraps. The strong “stand alone warrior” does not engage the enemy alone successfully for long. God never intend we should.
Moses needed Aaron. Yes, it was true when Paul was in difficult experiences the Lord stood with him. Remember in when he was in custody of the Roman garrison and the Jews where plotting to kill him. (Ac.23:11) “The following night the Lord stood near Paul.” And in the dangerous voyage to Rome (Ac. 27:23), “Last night and angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me,” declared Paul. He references the first experience again for Timothy, (2 Ti. 4:17) “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength.”
God is with us! But that does not preclude setting, as Paul did, a constellation of companions whom we can count on for prayer, affirmation, comfort, support, and to be partners in ministry. God does not intend us to stand alone. Consider creating your constellation of companion for care, and you will celebrate ministry to the completion of the race.
