Should Pastors Thank People for Stuff?
This is my day three highlight post from the Reach Australia conference. There was much to thank God for on day three. Gary Millar reminded us from John 17:20–26 that we must be people of truth and love. I found Murray Capill’s exhortation to pursue warmth and depth in preaching helpful and relevant. I loved Dave Jensen’s comment about the beauty of the church: “We are the trophy cabinet of God to the heavenlies.“ What a quote. I greatly appreciated Alan Au’s call from Philippians 2:12-18 to keep at the ministry with gladness and joy and without grumbling. Each of these were probably much more significant than what I’m about to write about. But I’m distracted by it. So I’m going to write about this:
Should Pastors Thank People?
Should we? When a church member does something, perhaps something we ask them to do, perhaps something we didn’t ask them to do, but it was super helpful: should we thank them?
In one of the final panels, we were encouraged not to. Don’t thank your church members. Don’t do it. No.
I spoke with several people about this afterwards. There were kind of two teams.
The No-Thankers
The first response? The No-Thankers.
The No-Thankers I spoke to expressed a concern that thanking people risks making people forget that ultimately they are serving Jesus. They said that thanking them risks subconsciously making people think that they are serving us, the pastors, rather than Jesus. Pastors don’t want their people to have a mindset focused on thanking us. We don’t want them serving us. We want them serving Jesus. Joyfully. With Gladness. Willingly. Sacrificially. That kind of stuff. We want them to lift their eyes to see who they’re really serving. You know, Psalm 100:2/Colossians 3:23–24/ Galatians 1:10/Joshua 24:15/1 Thessalonians 2:4/Romans 12:11 kind of stuff.
The Yes-Thankers
And the second response?
The Yes-Thankers I spoke with want to be encouraging and thankful people. They were concerned that if pastors don’t thank people, people will get discouraged. I suppose that they would point to verses like 1 Thessalonians 5:11, 1 Corinthians 14:26, Ephesians 4:29, Hebrews 3:13, and Hebrews 10:24–25, which highlight the importance of encouraging people.
So what should we do?
How Paul Gives Thanks & Encourages
I did a quick word study of “thanks” and “thanksgiving” in Paul’s letters. Here are the (relevant) verses I churned out: Romans 1:8, Romans 6:17, 1 Corinthians 1:4, 2 Corinthians 8:16, 2 Corinthians 9:12, Ephesians 1:16, Philippians 1:3-5, Colossians 1:3-4, Colossians 1:12, 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Thessalonians 3:9, 2 Thessalonians 1:3, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Timothy 1:12, 2 Timothy 1:3, and Philemon 4.
Let me break it all down for you.
Who is Giving Thanks
Paul (all of ‘em)
Who He’s Giving Thanks For
Romans 1:8: All of you (the Romans)
Romans 6:17: Those who used to be slaves to sin
1 Corinthians 1:4: You (the Corinthian church)
2 Corinthians 8:16: Titus
2 Corinthians 9:12: The Corinthians supplying for the Lord’s people
Ephesians 1:16: You (the Ephesian church)
Philippians 1:3-5: You (the Philippian church)
Colossians 1:3-4: You (the Colossian church)
Colossians 1:12: You (the Colossian church)
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3: All of you (the Thessalonian church)
1 Thessalonians 2:13: You who received and accepted God's word
1 Thessalonians 3:9: You (the Thessalonian church)
2 Thessalonians 1:3: You (the Thessalonian church)
2 Thessalonians 2:13: You, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord
Why He’s Giving Thanks
Romans 1:8: Their faith is being reported all over the world
Romans 6:17: They’ve come to obey sound teaching
1 Corinthians 1:4: For God's grace given to them
2 Corinthians 8:16: For the concern Titus has
2 Corinthians 9:12: For meeting needs
Ephesians 1:16: For their faith and love
Philippians 1:3-5: For their partnership in the gospel
Colossians 1:3-4: For their faith and love
Colossians 1:12: For qualifying them to share in the inheritance of the saints
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3: For their work produced by faith, labour prompted by love, and endurance inspired by hope
1 Thessalonians 2:13: For accepting the Word of God as the Word of God
1 Thessalonians 3:9: For the joy they bring
2 Thessalonians 1:3: For their growing faith and love
2 Thessalonians 2:13: For choosing them for salvation through the Spirit and belief in the truth
Who He Gives Thanks To
All verses indicate thanks given to God, often specifically through Jesus Christ or to God the Father.
Who Hears That He’s Giving Thanks
People reading his letter (all verses).
How They Feel
Good (I assume)
Encouraged (I assume)
Valued (I assume)
Thankful to God (I assume)
Some Observations
Paul is heaps thankful. He says thanks all the time. He does it continually. But in all of these examples, he directs his thanks to God (often through Jesus). And with good reason. God is the one who most deserves thanks.
But Paul lets the people he’s thankful for know that he’s thankful for them. Because he wants them to be encouraged. That’s why he shares it. And I reckon they’d be more encouraged, knowing that Paul is thanking God, way more encouraged than if Paul just thanked them directly.
The Way Forward
So we want people to remember that they are ultimately serving God. And we want them to feel encouraged.
How do we do this?
When someone does something good, why not just tell them how thankful to God we are for their sacrificial service of the Lord Jesus?
Heaps more encouraging.
And it reminds them that they’re serving Jesus.
That said, if someone brings me a cup of tea, there will probably still be situations … where I just say, “thanks.” Because it would be weird or rude not to.
