Churches are to honor their pastors. But if that honor amounts to blind approval or loyalty, great harm is done both to churches and pastors. The honoring of pastors is not to spare them from critique or provide space for them to retain and cultivate their folly. Rather, the honoring of pastors is an appeal to the honorable Spirit within them. Churches can honor their pastors in hope that they will grow up into the honorable life of Christ. Accordingly, the honoring of pastors is not a passive overlooking of flesh and sin, but an active and expectant watching for God to overcome.