Kingdom Honor: The unexpected power of serving in second place

“Honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work” (1 Thessalonians 5:12, NLT).

As a ministry leader, it is imperative that you have a strong support team around you that has a spirit of honor. Many are struggling with depression and stress and are overburdened. It is no surprise that ministry is becoming more difficult for leaders in recent days. Here are some startling statistics concerning leaders:

Fifty-four percent are overworked.

Forty-three percent are overstressed.

Thirty-four percent experience battle discouragement.

Twenty-six percent are overly fatigued.

This data provides insight into the body of Christ and is a window into why ministry leaders are throwing in the towel, factors even leading to church closures. In order to strengthen the local church, its leaders must be reinforced. As Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ arms during the battle when he was exhausted, you need a team of people who will hold up your arms and help you carry the weight of the ministry.

Honor is a powerful principle that produces multiplied effectiveness in the lives of those that serve you. Their destiny is connected to you as their leader. When they honor you as the leader God has placed in their lives, God gives them the grace needed to fulfill their callings.

The Bible is full of examples of godly people serving their leaders: From Joshua to Moses, Samuel to Eli, David to Saul, Elisha to Elijah and Timothy to Paul. As their lives unfolded, their servanthood brought fulfillment of their own destiny. Before God fulfilled the dreams He had given them, they first needed to fulfill the task of being faithful with their leader’s vision.

“If you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?” (Luke 16:12, NKJV).

Serving at this caliber isn’t easy. We have all seen people struggle with honoring their leaders. I have served as my pastor’s personal assistant for seven years, and comprehending God’s standard of honor came at the hefty price of me eating a lot of humble pie. I made mistakes, but I also made changes that altered my life for the better. These events impacted me significantly because each one showed that I was growing and learning this life of honor. I now see the positive impact serving him has made.

Here are the 12 keys that have radically changed my life:

1. Be a vessel of honor.
2. Develop a servant’s heart.
3. Be loyal to your leader.
4. Respect your leader.
5. Obey your leader.
6. Serve your leader like you would serve Jesus.
7. Cultivate an excellent spirit.
8. Build your leader’s
9. Give double honor
10. Guard your leader.
11. Pray for your leader.
12. Honor the word.

It is my passion to strengthen leaders and their ministry teams, which is why I have written the book Kingdom Honor expanding on these keys in depth. I believe this resource will transform your ministry team and multiply your effectiveness!

This article was extracted from Issue 5 (Spring 2021) of the AVAIL Journal. Claim your free annual subscription here.

This article was written by Gary Montoya

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Gary Montoya is an associate pastor at The House Modesto in California. He has previously served his Pastor as personal and ministerial assistant for seven years. Gary has a passion to teach the Word of God, inspiring believers to walk in their God-given calling through serving. He believes that the local church is the key to transforming entire cities and strives to empower the body of Christ to advance the Kingdom, sparking a counter-culture revolution of honor. When he and his wife Raquel are not collaborating on projects, they are on adventures with their daughter.