Practical Thoughts on an Enduring Ministry (Part 2)
February 13th, 2007
(By John MacArthur)
Yesterday, we began by looking at the first three of ten practical suggestions for sustaining an enduring pastoral ministry. Today we will consider the next three.
4. Study to know God, not just to make sermons. The key to avoiding debilitating weariness in ministry is personal spiritual renewal. If your heart first and then your preaching is passionately alive to spiritual things, then you can expect your congregation to be passionately alive to spiritual things. Such passion, of course, must come first and foremost through your concentrated study of the Word of God. And here’s the key: Don’t study to prepare sermons; study to know the truth, to rejoice in the glory and grace of God, and to be conformed to His will. Sermons should never be the primary goal of your Bible study; they should only be the overflow of it. When you study, seek an accurate understanding of who God is and what He expects—first and foremost, this is for your own devotion and holiness. And then, from the abundance, instruct your people, urging them to follow you as you follow the Truth, written and Incarnate.
5. Be thankful and be humble. As a servant of the Chief Shepherd, you need to be grateful for the flock that Christ has entrusted to you, and regularly tell both them and the Lord of your deep gratitude. Contentment begins with confidence in God’s providence. Your church may not be as big or as financially well-off as the church down the road, but you can be content if you trust that God has sovereignly placed you exactly where He wants you to be. It also helps to always remember that, no matter your circumstances, you are unworthy of what you’ve been given.
Don’t think you deserve a bigger ministry than you have. It is grace that has placed you in such a noble calling. Learn to define success in terms of faithfulness, and not in terms of popularity. The measure of your ministry is not determined by numerical growth, but by adherence to truth in life and message. While many preachers seem to work for earthly glory, godly preachers humbly labor for the glory that is yet to be given to them, in the presence of their Lord.
6. Don’t lose sight of the priority. As a pastor, your duty is to shepherd your flock—this means nourishing them on the Word of God, leading them toward Christ-likeness in tender affection, while protecting them from error. You are a pastor. You are not primarily an event coordinator, a financial analyst, a vision-caster, or even a leader. Your ultimate responsibility is not to innovate or administrate but to disseminate divine truth. Only in that way will you be training up people within your congregation to live and serve effectively and obediently for the honor of God and the impact of the gospel. A church environment dominated by the Word and the Spirit will produce a congregation that will serve alongside you so that you will be able to concentrate on what you are called to do: teaching the Word while humbling yourself before God in dependent prayer.
(To be concluded tomorrow)
Great posts on an important topic! I pray that more ministers will have a renewed sense of call — in both their ministries and their personal lives.
Very thought provoking; grateful am I as the Lord has had me think how other areas of life can be served through these posts(marriage, parenting, etc.).
God bless you.
Study to know God not just to make sermons is a true that every pastor should take as a priority. Many of us are really busy doing so many activities in the name of the health of the church, nevertheless the most important thing is to study and teach the Word of God.
One of my greatest desires is to teach just the Holy Scriptures, and everyone who is a pastor knows that this is the calling for excellence that they received.
I really want to study the Word of God, mainly to know him better every day, but also to show people what God has for their lifes.
Reminds me of what Packer said…
Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord. –Knowing God (1973), p. 34
Very, very helpful. Thank you for posting this.
“You are a pastor. You are not primarily a….vision caster, or even a leader. Your ultimate responsibility is not to innovate or administrate but to disseminate divine truth.”
I am at the point that if I hear the term “vision casting” or “vision caster” one more time I am going to get physically ill. It goes right along with those who call themselves cultural architects, those who are “creating” the future. These are nothing but smoke screens for pride, arrogance and ultimately man-centeredness.
God has called me to plant a church and in all of the church planting material I have read the emphasis is on casting the vision, marketing, demographics, etc. The emphasis is on technigue, strategy, all the mechanical parts of the process, just like the emphasis in our American church culture is on the “process” of growing churches and not on the substance of God.
The churches will never be any better than the pastors who lead them, and these points from John illuminate why so many churches are spiritually malnourished because they are being fed “vision” instead of doctrine.
I could not agree with you more. Thank you for the encouragement to be faithful. Check out my thoughts on a current issue in a large Southern Baptist Church in Florida.
Point 4: Study to know God, not just to make sermons:
This is definitely the hardest to do if you ask me. Sometimes I sit back and ask,”Do I truly believe and practice what I am about to preach?” If I do not practice I ask for forgiveness and pray that I would be convicted to move closer to God through my own sermon. Being that I believe that the sermon I am about to give is not from my own lips but from the lips of my Lord.
Praise God that He alone does the work and that He continues to work on me.
Morris, I too, have researched a lot of Church planting material. And, you’re correct. Most of the things I have read address the “how” of ministry, which I appreciate. I think that most of these authors assume we know the why. I have read some of the older books on being a Pastor, and those authors address the spiritual needs and responsibilities very well. I am currently a Youth Pastor under an awesome Pastor in a Church where the people are fed. I think so many people go to Church to be entertained now a days.
Really enjoying this thread.
Bro. Chris
Morris, I agree with you and may I suggest a great book I am reading? It is “Leading The Small Church” by Glenn C.Daman, published by Kregle.
From 1970 to 2005 [35 years!], I read the scriptures as a textbook, not saved! While I had incredible orthodoxy, there was no orthopraxy! My dominant characteristic was self-righteousness with heaping doses of contempt for any and all. Clotfelter’s Sinners in the Hands of a Good God was the introduction needed to sovereign Grace. On his page 183, he called for a response to sovereign grace, and I responded! Praise God! I responded! Now I am his and He is mine!
From 2001 until 2005, my father brought me to the Shepherd’s Conference. We both liked my orthodoxy, and it is easy to hide sin from others. When my father died in 2005, I decided to continue my attendance.
Now, when I read [Pastor] I think [husband and father]. When I consider whom to shepherd, I look at my wife of 33 years and our children. Spoiritual life and dynamics within my soul spill out towards them, but they rarely agree with much of what I say! I battle my own flesh, and the entrenched lies of pragmatic churches we have attended.
Christ and the cross, so sovereign, so real, so refreshing!
ToGodBeTheGlory!
“The churches will never be any better than the pastors who lead them, and these points from John illuminate why so many churches are spiritually malnourished because they are being fed “vision” instead of doctrine.”
Amen Morris!
This is refreshing to hear from others.
I’m glad to be reading these points from John.
Morris, thanks for your comment. I think you have appropriately analyzed the focus of a lot of instructional leadership material. However, I agree with Chris that many authors may assume we know the “why” of ministry and need assistance with the “how”.
Also, I think its important to note that John MacArthur said “You are not ‘primarily’ an event coordinator, a financial analyst, a vision-caster, or even a leader”. I agree that these things are not the primary responsibility of a pastor; however, in many cases they need to be secondary responsibilities of the pastor or the pastoral staff. Pastors must often wear many hats, and coordinating events and casting vision is often beneficial to the church as an organization. The challenge for Pastors is to delegate or perform these responsibilities while maintaining the primary goal of disseminating divine truth.
Also, I would challenge you to examine that for some pastors, the reference to being “cultural architects” and “creating the future” is not always a smokescreen of pride in themselves (though it may be) but an expression of the wonderful originality and creativity that can be inspired only by our creator God.
Lastly, I feel that John is correct by saying a pastor’s “ultimate responsibility is not to innovate or administrate but to disseminate divine truth”, but should also acknowledge that innovation and administration are sometimes neccessary in order to disseminate divine truth.
Thanks, John, for the wonderful blog and great topic.
Jon
www.TheMinistryCafe.com
“You are not primarily an event coordinator, a financial analyst, a vision-caster, or even a leader. Your ultimate responsibility is not to innovate or administrate but to disseminate divine truth.”
Amen! The sweeping influence of the seeker sensitive movement has caused a major shift in emphasis among many pastoral leaders today. Many seem to have bought into the idea that pastors are nothing more than corporate leaders and not pastoral care givers and undershepherds. We are called, first of all, to know God personally and maintain a consistent desire for spiritual growth and development, and second, to lead our flock to feast on the green pastures of His Word! Biblical truth is the dire need of the hour, and so many are being fed nothing but ‘feel good faith’ which teaches nothing about the sovereign grace of God!
Thanks for this great advice. Keep up the good work!
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