“Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.’ And in another place, ‘Those who work deserve their pay!’”1 Timothy 5:17-18 NLT
The word ‘shepherd’ is used often to describe elders in the church but always to distinguish pastors. A pastor is the shepherd of the flock, the congregation. He excels in leadership, preaching, and teaching. While all elders help in leading, preaching and teaching, the lead elder is the pastor, the head shepherd. Paul had a few things to say about head shepherds in his first letter to Timothy.
First of all he said elders (shepherds) who do their work well are to be respected. Some translations use the term ‘worthy of double honor’ which means ‘a valuing by which the price is fixed.’ In other words as in the NLT Paul says secondly they should be paid well. This is especially true for those who work hard (toil) to a point of weariness and exhaustion. They are worthy of double honor.
A pastor’s (shepherd’s) main responsibility can be narrowed down to three things. They are to feed the sheep, love the sheep, and protect the sheep. All the hard work a pastor does day in and day out will fall under one of these three categories, and it can become exhausting. A true shepherd is committed to the health and welfare of the sheep under his care. The Lord, the ultimate head shepherd, assigns a pastor to the sheep pen He desires to place him.
May each of us be aware of the tremendous responsibility given to our pastors from the Lord in feeding, loving, and protecting us through all the hard work of preaching and teaching they do and remember that they are worthy of double honor.
Word for the Soul 