In the Epistle reading assigned for this coming Sunday in the three year LSB lectionary, we read these words about how Paul conducted himself among the Thessalonians:
1 Thessalonians 2:7-13 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. 9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
While Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians are not considered part of the pastoral epistles, words like these pair it nicely with those books they border in the cannon of scripture.
Mothers and fathers parent differently. And some might suggest that the difference is inherent more than culturally determined. It certainly can be argued that the difference is bound up in the ordered creation of God in making both male and female.
Regardless, Paul here suggests two different ways in which he ministered among the Thessalonians.
Sometimes like a mother. Affectionate, feeding them the basic nourishment of the Gospel. Persevering their life as mothers do to their precious infants. Other times like a father, directing and exhorting, even demanding obedience.
It would be too simple to suggest that pastoring like a mother is the work of the gospel and pastoring like a father is the work of the law, but it certainly seems to follow those contours at least generally. And yet, these words of pastoral wisdom have application beyond the right division of Law and Gospel.
Sometimes pastors must be affectionately loving towards their members. They must deliver the peace of Christ by their abiding presence and their offering of sincere compassion. Sometimes this means being Christ’s arms with a literal embrace of assurance.
Other times, pastors must “father up.†They must speak plainly and with the authority given to them by God. They must demand obedience to Christ. They must exhort, encourage, and charge the people of God to walk worthy of the calling they have in Christ.
I would guess for most pastors, pastoring in one of these ways comes quite natural to their personality. For some, offering a consoling hug is quite natural. For others, the thought is near torturous. For some, standing up and exhorting to action comes as naturally as breathing. For others, taking such a decisive stance can make them literally short of breath.
But Paul here says that both ways are essential to good pastoring. And that means that we must make good use of the talents we have naturally been given and also must work on the areas that do not come so naturally. We must pastor as mothers and fathers as Paul did among the Thessalonians.
