I recently interviewed two ministers for a class project. The interviews turned into much more than interviews. They turned into long conversations, and, I hope, friendships. I won’t go into specifics here, only lessons. I want to share how and why these men caused me to praise God.
I decided that I wanted to interview older ministers who had stayed the course in the ministry. Between the two men that I chose, I was listening to the wisdom gleaned from over 100 years of experience in gospel ministry. Both were ordained in the 1950’s, both have continued to fight the good fight, both are running the race right on to the end. This, in itself, made the time and effort to interview these men worth it. Here were two men who endured, and remain joyful, and continue to minister into their 80’s. Neither of them sought (or gained) wealth, neither of them had the slightest desire to be famous, neither of them even sought to be relevant (in the worldly sense of the term). They were simply faithful, and remain faithful. God bless them and all men like them.
Of all the things God taught me in these interviews, the main thing was the power of endurance. More than ever I long for nothing more than to be called to a church that will have me for the rest of my life. George Bush didn’t invent staying the course, and he didn’t ruin the idea or practice of doing so. Staying the course, at least to me, still means something.
Honor is due to those who endure, not just to those who sparkle. We should honor such men much more than we do.
The other primary lesson I learned is that ministry is intricately tied to personality. God gives diverse gifts. You can’t escape it. I talked to two men who have lasted for so long, two men whose theological beliefs are essentially identical, and yet their practices were very different. They dealt with people very differently, they preached differently in some respects, and yet they both capably ministered to the flocks the good Shepherd entrusted to them.
I am a big believer in imitation. I believe that discipleship, stripped down, is imitation of Jesus through imitation of those who are like Jesus. But these interviews reminded me that, under Christ, you must, in some sense, be your own man. If I tried to follow the advice of both men I would be called schizophrenic. They were that different. But both were faithful, and I don’t judge one to be more faithful than the other. They both proclaimed the Word of God and cared for the souls of men. At the end of the day, what more could you ask? You must take those two things, which go hand in hand and cannot be separated for a pastor – proclamation and soul-care – and do them with all you might according to the gifts that God has given you, within the bounds of his Word.
Young ministers, Do not rush into the ministry without counsel, without the wisdom and prayers of godly, Christ-loving men who have run the race before you. Don’t seek the famous, seek the godly and enduring.
I felt a call to gospel ministry 12 years ago. I began preaching 12 years ago. But I was not ready to pastor a flock (I also happened to be 20 years old). Could God edify men through my preaching? Yes. Could he win the lost through my preaching? Yes. But I would not have been able to care for a flock on a regular basis. ‘Not a novice, lest he be puffed up with pride and fall into the snare of the devil.’ Paul wrote that for a reason. Seek counsel from those wiser, and holier, than you. And while you’re at it seek their prayers – not prayers for your success, but prayers for wisdom and holiness.
Nearly every morning, when I wake up and begin my morning prayers, I thank God that I woke up a Christian. It wasn’t a dream. I didn’t wake up to find the old me had reappeared in the night. Grendel had not appeared and slaughtered while the king slept. God’s mercies in Christ are new every morning, and he slumbers not nor sleeps. Take the time to look at older men and women who have endured. Study their endurance. Pray for your own: ‘Here’s my heart, O take it seal it, seal it for thy courts above.’ God’s sustaining power is amazing.
This is good advice! Martyn Lloyd Jones said, he questioned those who ran into the ministry because its normally those who resisted the idea of ministry (pastoring) that were really called…” if you can do anything else rather than serve God as a preacher than by all means do that other thing”…”those that can do nothing else but preach or serve God in this manner of minstery then it is he that is called by the Spirit” ——-these are not direct quotes just what I remember of them. In my life as a 19 year old ( my birthday today) I don’t have a job or any work. I would like to serve God but nobody at my church has come up to me and said “hey you have the rights gifts for a preacher” . To go back three years, I was in the 9th grade when GOd really worked on me and humbled me. The zeal or the grace of God through Jesus Christ was lively upon my breast…my old friends wanted nothing to do with me. For three years in High School I walked alone seeking a companion but found very little. Like what Pail said “sepereated unto the Gospel”. Although, Paul had an exceptional high calling upon his life …I mean he saw Jesus Glory and was blinded for crying out loud. What are the signs of being called by God to live as a preacher or minister?
During class I would read the Bible and read the Bible…about once every year
pretty much but still does this tell whether I know the will of God? Roma’s 12:1-2.
My high school trial just could be an average “getting to know who you are phase” but still after I graduated and summer rolled by….I know not whether to go to college, get some kind of apprentice training, flip hamburgers, or seek counsel about serving God as a minister of some sort….everyday its routinely ….reading …reading ….reading ….but my feet are still planted at my house and I observe those who have gone before me like polycarps, Augustine’s, Luther’s, Calvin’s, the spurgeons, purotans, Whitefield’s and I ask ” am I lacking something? Do I need to pray more? I knows its not by works but Jesus will say ” well done good and faithful “servant” to those who didn’t bury their “talent”. I see in myself slothfulness and weakness ….but then is those pride? Is my thinking that I’m poor in spirit pride? There’s many questions I ask my self and nothing is really helping to figure what I’m to do with my life. I don’t want to waste it. “Count the cost ” Luke 14:18.
I don’t want to be a hearer only but a doer. Those who loose their lives shall gain their lives. Jesus shares many trying truths with us and command us but where do I fit in all this? What part of the story am I in?
AT Church there is a man that teaches and say he hears or feels God speaking to him to go places. Is this a lack of faith in my part? Ive had problems with lust…am I being punished for a sin? But I believe I’m overcoming these indwelling sins then another trial comes.
Martynn Lloyd Jones said, those who are unsure or always questiong and doubting are not fit for the minstry ….. ( I may of misquoted him here) something like that.
How do you know for certain if God wants for you to be for example a baker or a carpenter or a singer or a preacher or a farmer. I’m not trying to question Gods providence or the boundaries he set me in by no means ..I’m more so questioning what I’m supposed to be doing! Redeem the time for the days are evil! Any advice? Much appreciated. I see myself like a man traveling along a path and I meet many travelers along the way who converse with me, ask me questions on where I’m heading as any traveller would, and each one shares a useful token of wisdom for the later paths ahead. I come to a fork in the road with many voices ringing in my head sayings things like, ” go straight, no don’t listen to him go left, okay you all wrong go right and a quirky voice at the latter end of the chatter says turn around. I then being a respectable person not wanting to get lost and all sit down and say out loud, ” do I just trust God and go on the path that suits my fancy or should I wait for a passersby? I then sit idly ……wait
….wait
…wait
then silence.
The issue isn’t God speaking to you and telling you to go places. You have far too much there for me to cover on a blog. First, you need to talk to a competent local pastor who can counsel you. You need to sit down with someone and talk face to face. You can pick up the yellow pages if you need to or just start googling churches, but you need to talk to get some pastoral counsel.
Second, you need to do something. That’s the title of Kevin DeYoung’s book: http://www.amazon.com/Just-Do-Something-Liberating-Approach/dp/0802458386
Sitting around doesn’t help. The Great Commission isn’t just go into all the world and make disciples. It literally says, ‘As you are going about the world, make disciples.’ You need to take an honest assessment of your gifts and talents and find a way to use them for the good of man and the glory of God. And that may mean flipping hamburgers for the time being.
Third, the will of God isn’t some mystical thing that we need signs to uncover. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 is God’s will for you: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus, for you. If you are rejoicing in Christ, and communing with God, and living in thankfulness, then God is leading you into his will. The old proverb says it perfectly: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Fourth, and related to that point is this: if you consider being a ‘preacher,’ you need to consider 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 (the qualifications for elders). That’s the litmus test. You must have an inward sense that you have been gifted, but you must also meet the biblical requirements.
Thank you!