From John MacArthur's Series on Excellent Shepherds:
It’s important to have the right priorities, especially as a shepherd. Distractions put your flock in danger, and a shepherd who is around only part of the time can’t properly care for or protect his sheep.
Pastors and church leaders have been charged with one duty—the spiritual training and protection of God’s people. The lives under our care are to be our first priority. It’s similar to a parental role (1 Thessalonians 2:7-12) in the lives the Lord has entrusted to us.
And it’s easy to spot a shepherd who has lost sight of that priority. He’s the one always out on the road, selling his latest book, speaking at the biggest conferences, and taking every opportunity to raise his profile and increase his influence. It often seems like his weekly pulpit ministry is a distraction from everything else he’d rather do.
An excellent shepherd won’t exhibit that kind of attitude. His first priority is the edification of his people.
The spiritual well-being of the lives under his care was the apostle Paul’s primary concern—he made that clear in 2 Corinthians. Rather than look out for his own reputation against the claims of the false apostles, Paul’s self-defense was written for the benefit of the Corinthian believers. “All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and all for your upbuilding, beloved” (2 Corinthians 12:19).
Paul’s goal in everything he did in relation to the Corinthian church, both in ministering to them and defending himself, was their edification. That was also the goal of the Lord Jesus Christ, who promised, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).
The question naturally arises, since God was Paul’s Judge (as we discussed last time), why should he bother to defend himself? He did so because if he were discredited the Corinthians would not listen to him; if they did not listen to him, they would not hear the truth of the Word of God that he taught. And if they did not hear the Word of God, they could not grow spiritually.
Paul suffered through the anguish and humiliation of his self-defense for the sake of the men and women to whom he was defending himself. His priority was not protecting his own reputation, but making sure God’s people didn’t inadvertently cut themselves off from His Word. He fought the lies of the false apostles to make sure the Corinthian believers had access to God’s truth, and so that the truth would be active in their lives.
Remember, there were a limited number of teachers for the New Testament church, and the Lord was still revealing His truth through the inspired writings of the apostles. Severing the relationship between Paul and the Corinthian church would have cut them off from the truth of Scripture and turned them over to the lies and corruption of the false apostles.
Paul needed to convince the Corinthians that he was the true spokesman of God, not so they could sit in judgment on his life, but so they could listen to his teaching. They weren’t his judges; they were his spiritual responsibility, and he couldn’t let them suffer the consequences of their own naiveté.
He could have reacted much differently; he could have angrily blasted the Corinthians for their disloyalty. But that would have been an abuse of his authority, which he previously said, “the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you” (2 Corinthians 10:8). In fact, he defended himself so vigorously so that when he next visited Corinth, he wouldn’t need to be severe with them (13:10).
Pastors today can and should learn a lot from how Paul reacted under pressure and opposition. Rather than lash out defensively, he put the spiritual needs of the people under his care ahead of his own reputation and happiness. We ought to pay close attention to the heart of this excellent shepherd, and reflect in our own ministries his emphasis on faithfulness, selflessness, integrity, reverence, and edification.
Showing posts with label Pastors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pastors. Show all posts
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Reverence
From John MacArthur's Series on Excellent Shepherds:
Writing in the early 1960s, A.W. Tozer rightly identified the dire lack of reverence in the church. In the opening paragraphs of The Knowledge of the Holy, he wrote, “The words, ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshipper in this middle period of the twentieth century.” It’s been more than fifty years since Tozer’s words were first published, and the problem he identified has only gotten worse.
In many churches today, there is no hint of the fear of the Lord—no reverence for His Person, His work, or His Word. Too many congregations are given over to trivial matters, and they deal with Scripture in a flippant, irreverent way. For them, God’s Word matters only inasmuch as it tells them what they want to hear and affirms the lifestyles they want to lead.
This modern lack of reverence for the Lord and His Word starts with the poor example of many pastors and church leaders—their lack of reverence for the Lord and shallow approach to His truth trickle down to their flocks, exponentially increasing the problem.
It should go without saying, but the pastor isn’t called to be a CEO, a standup comedian, or a rock star. He’s called to shepherd the people of God, strengthening their knowledge and love for the Lord and encouraging their spiritual growth. The job is to protect and guide, not entertain.
Even in the midst of touting his apostolic credentials in his own self-defense, the apostle Paul was a model of reverence for the Lord. After answering the accusations of the false teachers who had infiltrated the Corinthian church, Paul paused to clarify what he’d written, saying, “All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ” (2 Corinthians 12:19).
Paul did not want the Corinthians to misinterpret his lengthy defense of his apostleship and integrity. He was not on trial before them, and they were not his judges. Ultimately, Paul knew he stood before a divine tribunal, and as a faithful preacher of the Word, God was the only audience he was concerned about.
He had already made that very point abundantly clear in his first epistle to the Corinthians:
But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God. (1 Corinthians 4:3-5)
Throughout his life, Paul was acutely aware of the Lord and His final judgment. Popular opinion was unimportant to him—he answered only to God. And he encouraged his followers to imitate that same attitude. To Timothy he wrote:
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (2 Timothy 4:1-2)
Later in the same chapter, Paul reminded Timothy, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (v. 8).
Paul did not get caught up in the trivialities of his day. He wasn’t concerned with tapping into the felt needs of his community and endearing himself to his followers. As a shepherd, he was called to serve the sheep, but those sheep would not render the final judgment on the job he did. Whether or not they liked him wouldn’t matter when he stood before the Lord, and his reverence for God prompted him to stay faithful and focused to the end.
Here’s how Tozer described it:
In olden days men of faith were said to “walk in the fear of God” and to “serve the Lord with fear.” However intimate their communion with God, however bold their prayers, at the base of their religious life was the conception of God as awesome and dreadful. This idea of God transcendent runs through the whole Bible and gives color and tone to the character of the saints. This fear of God was more than a natural apprehension of danger; it was a nonrational dread, an acute feeling of personal insufficiency in the presence of God the Almighty.
Paul’s life and ministry reflected the reverent heart of an excellent shepherd. He’d been entrusted with the work of God’s kingdom, and he knew that God alone would render the final verdict on his life—and that verdict would be, “Well done, good and faithful slave. . . . Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21).
Writing in the early 1960s, A.W. Tozer rightly identified the dire lack of reverence in the church. In the opening paragraphs of The Knowledge of the Holy, he wrote, “The words, ‘Be still, and know that I am God,’ mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshipper in this middle period of the twentieth century.” It’s been more than fifty years since Tozer’s words were first published, and the problem he identified has only gotten worse.
In many churches today, there is no hint of the fear of the Lord—no reverence for His Person, His work, or His Word. Too many congregations are given over to trivial matters, and they deal with Scripture in a flippant, irreverent way. For them, God’s Word matters only inasmuch as it tells them what they want to hear and affirms the lifestyles they want to lead.
This modern lack of reverence for the Lord and His Word starts with the poor example of many pastors and church leaders—their lack of reverence for the Lord and shallow approach to His truth trickle down to their flocks, exponentially increasing the problem.
It should go without saying, but the pastor isn’t called to be a CEO, a standup comedian, or a rock star. He’s called to shepherd the people of God, strengthening their knowledge and love for the Lord and encouraging their spiritual growth. The job is to protect and guide, not entertain.
Even in the midst of touting his apostolic credentials in his own self-defense, the apostle Paul was a model of reverence for the Lord. After answering the accusations of the false teachers who had infiltrated the Corinthian church, Paul paused to clarify what he’d written, saying, “All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ” (2 Corinthians 12:19).
Paul did not want the Corinthians to misinterpret his lengthy defense of his apostleship and integrity. He was not on trial before them, and they were not his judges. Ultimately, Paul knew he stood before a divine tribunal, and as a faithful preacher of the Word, God was the only audience he was concerned about.
He had already made that very point abundantly clear in his first epistle to the Corinthians:
But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God. (1 Corinthians 4:3-5)
Throughout his life, Paul was acutely aware of the Lord and His final judgment. Popular opinion was unimportant to him—he answered only to God. And he encouraged his followers to imitate that same attitude. To Timothy he wrote:
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (2 Timothy 4:1-2)
Later in the same chapter, Paul reminded Timothy, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (v. 8).
Paul did not get caught up in the trivialities of his day. He wasn’t concerned with tapping into the felt needs of his community and endearing himself to his followers. As a shepherd, he was called to serve the sheep, but those sheep would not render the final judgment on the job he did. Whether or not they liked him wouldn’t matter when he stood before the Lord, and his reverence for God prompted him to stay faithful and focused to the end.
Here’s how Tozer described it:
In olden days men of faith were said to “walk in the fear of God” and to “serve the Lord with fear.” However intimate their communion with God, however bold their prayers, at the base of their religious life was the conception of God as awesome and dreadful. This idea of God transcendent runs through the whole Bible and gives color and tone to the character of the saints. This fear of God was more than a natural apprehension of danger; it was a nonrational dread, an acute feeling of personal insufficiency in the presence of God the Almighty.
Paul’s life and ministry reflected the reverent heart of an excellent shepherd. He’d been entrusted with the work of God’s kingdom, and he knew that God alone would render the final verdict on his life—and that verdict would be, “Well done, good and faithful slave. . . . Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21).
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Integrity
From John MacArthur's Series on Excellent Shepherds:
Integrity is a nonnegotiable characteristic of a true shepherd of the flock of God. If he is going to lead biblically, he must do so without dishonesty, deception, or duplicity. His character must be consistent, his motivations pure, and his conscience clear.
The apostle Paul understood that integrity is vital for godly shepherds and he repeatedly testified to his own honesty, often confirmed by his clear conscience. To the Romans he wrote, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 9:1). He assured the Galatians, “(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying)” (Galatians 1:20). To Timothy he wrote, “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Timothy 2:7).
When his character was under attack from false apostles who had infiltrated the Corinthian church, Paul did not shy away from defending himself, declaring, “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you” (2 Corinthians 1:12). The Corinthian believers knew Paul, and they had no good reason to doubt his integrity.
Not only did the claims of the false apostles contradict Paul’s character, they simply didn’t make any sense. If Paul was plotting to defraud the Corinthians, as the false teachers charged, the point of his plot was not immediately obvious. As we’ve already noted previously in this series, he took nothing from them. The idea that he would run a scam that netted him nothing was absurd, and Paul rebuked the Corinthians once again for their naiveté, writing sarcastically, “Nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I took you in by deceit” (2 Corinthians 12:16). That was, no doubt, what the false apostles were saying about him.
There wasn’t a hint of corruption in Paul’s ministry—no troubling dots to connect, and no lingering questions that demanded answers. The utter absence of the seeds of scandal in Paul’s character further testifies to his integrity. The conspiracy theory the false apostles concocted rested heavily on the Corinthians’ gullibility and lack of discernment because there wasn’t anything in Paul’s ministry to support their claims.
To get around the glaringly obvious difficulty that Paul had not taken any money from the Corinthians, the false teachers insisted that he had not yet sprung his trap. Paul had already described in detail the collection he was taking for the poor saints at Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8 and 9). That, according to the false apostles, was the point of Paul’s scheme; the money that was collected at Corinth would never reach Jerusalem. Instead, they claimed, it would go to line Paul’s pockets.
After all, that is what they would have done if they were in his place. The false apostles projected their own greedy attitude onto Paul and assumed that he was acting as they would have. They inadvertently exposed the corruption of their own hearts, exemplifying the truth that “to the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled” (Titus 1:15).
In his own defense, Paul needed only to remind the Corinthians of the facts—that other brothers, whose godly character the Corinthians knew well, had also helped with the collection for the Jerusalem church, and they would have had to be complicit in the deception as well (2 Corinthians 8:16-24). Their godly reputations confirmed Paul’s integrity and condemned the false apostles as liars.
An essential goal for any spiritual leader is to gain people’s trust through genuine integrity. Just as with Paul, a leader’s conduct must be trustworthy and consistent with his words. But once a leader proves to be hypocritical in any area of ministry, no matter how seemingly insignificant, he loses everything he has labored for in ministry and sees his credibility destroyed.
But integrity isn’t just vital for shepherds. In a world that’s eagerly looking to call into question and destroy the credibility of God’s Word, as believers we need to diligently guard our own reputations. We need to lead faithful, consistent lives, knowing that our conduct is a testimony to the truth of Scripture—often far stronger than any verbal testimony we can offer. How we live and behave shapes the reputation of the Lord and His truth in the eyes of the world. What does your character say about the transforming work of the Lord in your life?
We need to commit ourselves to living lives marked by integrity and honesty, and join Paul in renouncing “the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2).
Integrity is a nonnegotiable characteristic of a true shepherd of the flock of God. If he is going to lead biblically, he must do so without dishonesty, deception, or duplicity. His character must be consistent, his motivations pure, and his conscience clear.
The apostle Paul understood that integrity is vital for godly shepherds and he repeatedly testified to his own honesty, often confirmed by his clear conscience. To the Romans he wrote, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 9:1). He assured the Galatians, “(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying)” (Galatians 1:20). To Timothy he wrote, “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Timothy 2:7).
When his character was under attack from false apostles who had infiltrated the Corinthian church, Paul did not shy away from defending himself, declaring, “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you” (2 Corinthians 1:12). The Corinthian believers knew Paul, and they had no good reason to doubt his integrity.
Not only did the claims of the false apostles contradict Paul’s character, they simply didn’t make any sense. If Paul was plotting to defraud the Corinthians, as the false teachers charged, the point of his plot was not immediately obvious. As we’ve already noted previously in this series, he took nothing from them. The idea that he would run a scam that netted him nothing was absurd, and Paul rebuked the Corinthians once again for their naiveté, writing sarcastically, “Nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I took you in by deceit” (2 Corinthians 12:16). That was, no doubt, what the false apostles were saying about him.
There wasn’t a hint of corruption in Paul’s ministry—no troubling dots to connect, and no lingering questions that demanded answers. The utter absence of the seeds of scandal in Paul’s character further testifies to his integrity. The conspiracy theory the false apostles concocted rested heavily on the Corinthians’ gullibility and lack of discernment because there wasn’t anything in Paul’s ministry to support their claims.
To get around the glaringly obvious difficulty that Paul had not taken any money from the Corinthians, the false teachers insisted that he had not yet sprung his trap. Paul had already described in detail the collection he was taking for the poor saints at Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8 and 9). That, according to the false apostles, was the point of Paul’s scheme; the money that was collected at Corinth would never reach Jerusalem. Instead, they claimed, it would go to line Paul’s pockets.
After all, that is what they would have done if they were in his place. The false apostles projected their own greedy attitude onto Paul and assumed that he was acting as they would have. They inadvertently exposed the corruption of their own hearts, exemplifying the truth that “to the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled” (Titus 1:15).
In his own defense, Paul needed only to remind the Corinthians of the facts—that other brothers, whose godly character the Corinthians knew well, had also helped with the collection for the Jerusalem church, and they would have had to be complicit in the deception as well (2 Corinthians 8:16-24). Their godly reputations confirmed Paul’s integrity and condemned the false apostles as liars.
An essential goal for any spiritual leader is to gain people’s trust through genuine integrity. Just as with Paul, a leader’s conduct must be trustworthy and consistent with his words. But once a leader proves to be hypocritical in any area of ministry, no matter how seemingly insignificant, he loses everything he has labored for in ministry and sees his credibility destroyed.
But integrity isn’t just vital for shepherds. In a world that’s eagerly looking to call into question and destroy the credibility of God’s Word, as believers we need to diligently guard our own reputations. We need to lead faithful, consistent lives, knowing that our conduct is a testimony to the truth of Scripture—often far stronger than any verbal testimony we can offer. How we live and behave shapes the reputation of the Lord and His truth in the eyes of the world. What does your character say about the transforming work of the Lord in your life?
We need to commit ourselves to living lives marked by integrity and honesty, and join Paul in renouncing “the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2).
Monday, March 18, 2013
Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Selflessness
From John MacArthur's series on Marks of an Excellent Shepherd:
False teachers take advantage of people. They manipulate and intimidate their followers, hoping to strip them of anything and everything they can. Their selfishness drives them to always pursue a higher profile, broader influence, and all the material perks that come from fame. Micah 3:2-3, 5 graphically depicts false teachers as greedy, grasping, and self-centered:
You who hate good and love evil,
Who tear off their skin from them
And their flesh from their bones,
Who eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Break their bones
And chop them up as for the pot
And as meat in a kettle. . . .
When they have something to bite with their teeth,
They cry, “Peace,”
But against him who puts nothing in their mouths
They declare holy war.
True men of God are the opposite; they are selfless and sacrificial. Instead of looking for what they can obtain, they look for ways to expend themselves for the benefit and blessing of God’s people.
One of the many slanderous accusations the false apostles made against Paul was that his treatment of the Corinthians had been selfishly substandard. And it’s in the midst of Paul’s self-defense against those lies (2 Corinthians 12:12-19) that he reveals another mark of an excellent shepherd: selflessness.
In 12:13, Paul rhetorically asks the Corinthians, “In what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches?” As he previously indicated in verse 12, Paul had ministered in the same way in Corinth that he had in other churches.
The only way the Corinthians were treated differently was that Paul “did not become a burden to” them (v. 13); the only thing they did not get from him was a bill. Although he had a right to their support (1 Corinthians 9:1-18), Paul chose not to accept it, preferring to distance himself from the money-loving false apostles.
They, of course, took everything they could get from the Corinthians and hated Paul for making them look bad. To salvage their reputations, they attempted to put a negative spin on Paul’s selflessness. They argued first that he refused to take money from the Corinthians because he knew his ministry was worthless. A second and more sinister allegation was that Paul did not want the Corinthians’ money because he did not love them and thus did not want to be obligated to them. But as Paul has already shown, those allegations were completely false. In 2 Corinthians 11:7-9 he wrote:
Did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge? I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you; and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
Resorting again to sarcasm (cf. 11:19-21; 1 Corinthians 4:8-10) to bring the Corinthians to their senses, Paul exclaimed in verse 13, “Forgive me this wrong!” The false apostles’ claim that he had mistreated the Corinthians by not taking money from them was ludicrous. The only thing they had been deprived of was the burden of supporting Paul and his companions.
On Paul’s first visit to Corinth he founded the church (Acts 18); his second was the painful disciplinary visit described in 2 Corinthians 2:1 (cf. 13:2). When he visited Corinth for the third time he would still refuse to be a burden to the church. Paul’s selfless pastoral love for the Corinthians meant that he did not seek what was theirs, but sought them. He did not want their money; he wanted their hearts. He wanted their lives for the kingdom of God, and for them to live in righteous obedience to the Word for the glory of God.
Paul illustrated his point in using the analogy of parents caring for their children, pointing out the axiomatic truth that “children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children” (12:14). The Corinthians were, of course, Paul’s spiritual children (1 Corinthians 4:15), and he willingly sacrificed himself for them. He would, he wrote, “most gladly spend and be expended for” their spiritual well-being (2 Corinthians 12:15).
Paul was not reluctant or hesitant to sacrifice for the Corinthians; he was thrilled and overjoyed at being able to give himself for their benefit. He was willing to expend himself for his people until he had nothing left to give. To the Philippians he wrote, “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all” (Philippians 2:17, cf. Colossians 1:24). He followed the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said of Himself, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
The excellent shepherd isn’t interested in what he can get from his flock, but what he can give them. He’s happy, even eager, to be poured out for the sake of his people. He knows he’s not the focus of the ministry—he’s a vessel for it, as the Lord works through him in the lives of his congregation.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Marks of an Excellent Shepherd: Faithfulness
From John MacArthur's Series on Excellent Shepherds:
Based on the enormous volume of available material, pastoral ministry would seem to be very complicated. Pastors face a bewildering number of choices as they seek to lead their people. They read books, attend seminars, follow programs promoted by church-growth gurus, and pattern their leadership style after successful pastors. But all too often, the programs, methods, and gimmicks fail to achieve spiritual results, cheating both pastors and congregations of the true blessings of God.
In actuality, however, pastoral work is confoundingly simple. The principles and directions for successful ministry that are laid out in Scripture are sufficient to fully equip the man of God (2 Corinthians 3:5-6, cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Instead of studying demographics and marketing techniques, or searching for cultural hot buttons to push, church leaders need to understand and obey biblical truth. Methods and trends come and go, and today’s sensational new programs will be tomorrow’s failed experiments. But the principles of godly truth and virtue that characterize an effective minister are timeless. Power and effectiveness in the ministry come from a heart that is right before God and passionately concerned about His plan and His people.
Nowhere is there a better model of a godly spiritual leader than the apostle Paul. His success in the ministry was the overflow of his godly life. He was a man who was focused on the right goals, driven by the right passions, and motivated by the right desires.
In the face of assaults on the Corinthian church by false apostles, Paul was forced to defend himself by presenting his apostolic credentials. And in the midst of his passionate and humble self-defense (2 Corinthians 12:12-19) we see the true marks of an excellent pastor—each one in contrast to the characteristics of false teachers.
The first mark is faithfulness. Unlike the false teachers in Corinth, who sought wealth, fame, and power, Paul’s goal was to be faithful to the Lord. Because he was determined to be loyal to God’s will no matter the cost, he performed the work of an apostle “with all perseverance” (2 Corinthians 12:12). Despite all the hostility, opposition, and persecution from the world he faced throughout his ministry, Paul remained faithful.
Paul ministered faithfully in the midst of constant duress and relentless persecution. As he wrote in his first inspired letter to the Corinthians, “I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). He lived every day knowing it could be his last; the mob in the next town he preached in might take his life, or one of the numerous Jewish plots against his life (Acts 20:19) might finally succeed.
God’s spokesmen have always faced opposition and hostility. He warned Jeremiah, “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. . . . They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:17, 19).
The Lord charged Ezekiel, “And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 2:6). John the Baptist was the greatest man who had lived up to his time (Matthew 11:11), yet he suffered imprisonment (14:3) and martyrdom (14:10).
And while most pastors and church leaders today won’t ever face physical persecution or the threat of death, they still endure opposition. To begin with, they’re facing off against a sinful culture bent in defiance of God’s Word. The world hates those who bear the message of truth and light because they hate the Truth and Light (John 3:20).
On top of that, biblical shepherds are charged with leading and protecting flocks full of sinners—each one with his or her own sinful habits and patterns to break and spiritual growth to nurture and stimulate. It’s a joy and privilege to shepherd God’s people, but it’s also difficult, sometimes discouraging work. And from the world’s perspective, there’s little reward for faithful shepherds’ labor.
The truth is the world has nothing of lasting value to offer them. Instead, God’s true servants seek an eternal reward. Jesus told His followers, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” (Matthew 5:11-12). At the end of his life, Paul triumphantly wrote to Timothy, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).
False teachers work for earthly rewards; true preachers work faithfully for a heavenly reward. Paul was determined to remain loyal to his calling despite the hostility from the world, knowing that “momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Excellent servants of the Lord aren’t hindered, swayed, or overwhelmed by difficult circumstances—they faithfully press on with their focus fixed on their heavenly reward.
Based on the enormous volume of available material, pastoral ministry would seem to be very complicated. Pastors face a bewildering number of choices as they seek to lead their people. They read books, attend seminars, follow programs promoted by church-growth gurus, and pattern their leadership style after successful pastors. But all too often, the programs, methods, and gimmicks fail to achieve spiritual results, cheating both pastors and congregations of the true blessings of God.
In actuality, however, pastoral work is confoundingly simple. The principles and directions for successful ministry that are laid out in Scripture are sufficient to fully equip the man of God (2 Corinthians 3:5-6, cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Instead of studying demographics and marketing techniques, or searching for cultural hot buttons to push, church leaders need to understand and obey biblical truth. Methods and trends come and go, and today’s sensational new programs will be tomorrow’s failed experiments. But the principles of godly truth and virtue that characterize an effective minister are timeless. Power and effectiveness in the ministry come from a heart that is right before God and passionately concerned about His plan and His people.
Nowhere is there a better model of a godly spiritual leader than the apostle Paul. His success in the ministry was the overflow of his godly life. He was a man who was focused on the right goals, driven by the right passions, and motivated by the right desires.
In the face of assaults on the Corinthian church by false apostles, Paul was forced to defend himself by presenting his apostolic credentials. And in the midst of his passionate and humble self-defense (2 Corinthians 12:12-19) we see the true marks of an excellent pastor—each one in contrast to the characteristics of false teachers.
The first mark is faithfulness. Unlike the false teachers in Corinth, who sought wealth, fame, and power, Paul’s goal was to be faithful to the Lord. Because he was determined to be loyal to God’s will no matter the cost, he performed the work of an apostle “with all perseverance” (2 Corinthians 12:12). Despite all the hostility, opposition, and persecution from the world he faced throughout his ministry, Paul remained faithful.
Paul ministered faithfully in the midst of constant duress and relentless persecution. As he wrote in his first inspired letter to the Corinthians, “I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). He lived every day knowing it could be his last; the mob in the next town he preached in might take his life, or one of the numerous Jewish plots against his life (Acts 20:19) might finally succeed.
God’s spokesmen have always faced opposition and hostility. He warned Jeremiah, “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. . . . They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:17, 19).
The Lord charged Ezekiel, “And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 2:6). John the Baptist was the greatest man who had lived up to his time (Matthew 11:11), yet he suffered imprisonment (14:3) and martyrdom (14:10).
And while most pastors and church leaders today won’t ever face physical persecution or the threat of death, they still endure opposition. To begin with, they’re facing off against a sinful culture bent in defiance of God’s Word. The world hates those who bear the message of truth and light because they hate the Truth and Light (John 3:20).
On top of that, biblical shepherds are charged with leading and protecting flocks full of sinners—each one with his or her own sinful habits and patterns to break and spiritual growth to nurture and stimulate. It’s a joy and privilege to shepherd God’s people, but it’s also difficult, sometimes discouraging work. And from the world’s perspective, there’s little reward for faithful shepherds’ labor.
The truth is the world has nothing of lasting value to offer them. Instead, God’s true servants seek an eternal reward. Jesus told His followers, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” (Matthew 5:11-12). At the end of his life, Paul triumphantly wrote to Timothy, “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).
False teachers work for earthly rewards; true preachers work faithfully for a heavenly reward. Paul was determined to remain loyal to his calling despite the hostility from the world, knowing that “momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Excellent servants of the Lord aren’t hindered, swayed, or overwhelmed by difficult circumstances—they faithfully press on with their focus fixed on their heavenly reward.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Every Pastor's Job Description
From John MacArthur:
Many of my favorite people are pastors. I grew up the son of a pastor and the grandson of a pastor. And after more than four decades of my own pastoral ministry, and many years of training young men for their own, I think I have a good understanding of a pastor’s heart—both his joys and his struggles.
These days, my heart aches for pastors.
It aches because today their job is as difficult as it has ever been. We live in an anti-authority culture—one that has lost all respect for people in positions of authority and influence. The modern mindset is to tear down everybody and everything. It’s a destructive culture, driven by fierce pride and runaway self-esteem. It seems very few pastors are run out of their churches over bad sermons or ineffective ministry—usually, they’re run out by a person or a group contending for power and authority.
That difficulty is compounded by the intimidation of massive media ministries and celebrity preachers on TV, the Internet, and in flat-screen churches all over the country. Pastors today are told they need to embody an entrepreneurial spirit—that they need to grow their churches the way you would grow a business. They hear a lot about needing to impact the culture and engage the community, and they get all kinds of pragmatic advice on how to accomplish that. They’re told they need to reach beyond the church and revolutionize society. In fact, it seems much of the modern pastor’s work is supposed to take place outside the church.
That’s a discouraging, disheartening message for men who love the church and have given their lives in service to God’s people. It’s also unbiblical. Pastors have one job. They’re not called to be cultural evangelists, entrepreneurs, or revolutionaries. They’re called to faithfully feed the flock of God. They’re called to be shepherds.
Consider the apostle Peter’s instruction to church leaders in 1 Peter 5:1-2.
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness.
The solemn duty of every pastor is to feed God’s sheep. And as a pastor, the day you let your eyes move beyond the people sitting in your church is the day you’ve lost your purpose.
The focus of pastoral ministry is not the people outside the church, and it’s not drawing unbelievers to the church. The focus is on the people inside the church—the flock the Lord has sovereignly drawn together and entrusted into the care of a shepherd. The pastor has been set apart, as the apostle Paul put it, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13).
Pastors are not called to the culture, and we’re not called to the unconverted. We have been mandated to feed our flocks so they can grow spiritually. We’re called to serve the redeemed people of God as an agent of sanctification and protection. The measure of a man’s effectiveness in ministry is not the number of people in his congregation every week—it’s the Christlikeness of his congregation.
Over the next few days we’re going to take a closer look at what Scripture says about the marks of an excellent pastor.
...
Regardless of your role in your local congregation, I know the next several days will provide you with rich insight into God’s Word and lasting spiritual encouragement.
Many of my favorite people are pastors. I grew up the son of a pastor and the grandson of a pastor. And after more than four decades of my own pastoral ministry, and many years of training young men for their own, I think I have a good understanding of a pastor’s heart—both his joys and his struggles.
These days, my heart aches for pastors.
It aches because today their job is as difficult as it has ever been. We live in an anti-authority culture—one that has lost all respect for people in positions of authority and influence. The modern mindset is to tear down everybody and everything. It’s a destructive culture, driven by fierce pride and runaway self-esteem. It seems very few pastors are run out of their churches over bad sermons or ineffective ministry—usually, they’re run out by a person or a group contending for power and authority.
That difficulty is compounded by the intimidation of massive media ministries and celebrity preachers on TV, the Internet, and in flat-screen churches all over the country. Pastors today are told they need to embody an entrepreneurial spirit—that they need to grow their churches the way you would grow a business. They hear a lot about needing to impact the culture and engage the community, and they get all kinds of pragmatic advice on how to accomplish that. They’re told they need to reach beyond the church and revolutionize society. In fact, it seems much of the modern pastor’s work is supposed to take place outside the church.
That’s a discouraging, disheartening message for men who love the church and have given their lives in service to God’s people. It’s also unbiblical. Pastors have one job. They’re not called to be cultural evangelists, entrepreneurs, or revolutionaries. They’re called to faithfully feed the flock of God. They’re called to be shepherds.
Consider the apostle Peter’s instruction to church leaders in 1 Peter 5:1-2.
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness.
The solemn duty of every pastor is to feed God’s sheep. And as a pastor, the day you let your eyes move beyond the people sitting in your church is the day you’ve lost your purpose.
The focus of pastoral ministry is not the people outside the church, and it’s not drawing unbelievers to the church. The focus is on the people inside the church—the flock the Lord has sovereignly drawn together and entrusted into the care of a shepherd. The pastor has been set apart, as the apostle Paul put it, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13).
Pastors are not called to the culture, and we’re not called to the unconverted. We have been mandated to feed our flocks so they can grow spiritually. We’re called to serve the redeemed people of God as an agent of sanctification and protection. The measure of a man’s effectiveness in ministry is not the number of people in his congregation every week—it’s the Christlikeness of his congregation.
Over the next few days we’re going to take a closer look at what Scripture says about the marks of an excellent pastor.
...
Regardless of your role in your local congregation, I know the next several days will provide you with rich insight into God’s Word and lasting spiritual encouragement.
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