It is my privilege, to bring you a brief charge and to remind you what are your most basic duties as a minister of the Gospel.
I turn to the words of our Lord Jesus to aid me in giving you this charge. When the Pharisees asked Jesus, what was the greatest commandment? He replied.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And He followed up with, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39)
These, He said, are the greatest commandments!
If these are the greatest commandments then they must contain the heart and soul of what it means to be a disciple of Christ and as well as what it means to be a shepherd of His flock.
Can it be any simpler then this:
~We are called to be examples of what it means to love God and to train others to do the same.
~And we are also called to lead by example how to love people.
Dear pastor -as a minister of Christ your first duty is to guard your own heart so that you might love Him with all your heart and mind. Solomon put it so well.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)
Do not let your ministry become a profession where you carry out your religious duties. Do not let the challenges and frustrations of working with difficult people steel your joy and love for Christ. Do not let the humanistic values of this world turn your ministry into a means to be come popular. Do not let the pride of bring called a Minister turn you into a controller of others.
Rather, cultivate a heart that loves Jesus and delights to do His will and longs to l to become a servant leader like Him.
1. Watch closely to make sure your heart does not grow cold towards God. The best antidote is to have daily personal devotions where you feed your own soul from the Word of God. Find others who you can pray with and share your struggles with. Find mentors in the faith, who can inspire you and challenge you to not lose your first love.
2. Watch for signs of a divided heart, by being sensitive to when other things start drawing your affections away from Christ. The most dangerous one is the ministry itself; which can easily become your first love rather then Christ. Remember, “No one can serve two masters.” (Matthew 6:24) How easy it is to let pride, power or money steal your love for Jesus. Anything, that you love, or trust or serve other then Jesus Christ the Son of God, can become an idol that will seek to destroy your ministry.
3. Watch for signs of a bitter heart; see to it that no root of bitterness springs up in you and defiles many. Bitterness grieves the Holy Spirit and when pastors are conquered by it they lead many astray. Learn to ask God to search your heart daily and reveal to you if there are any wrong attitudes in you and confess them.
Now Jesus moves beyond just loving Him with all of our hearts to require us to love Him with our minds as well. Christianity is not to be emotional manipulation of others by preachers but it is feeding the flock the truth of God that sets them free. You are being set aside as a teacher and preacher of the Word of God.
This means you must believe the Bible to be God’s Word and fully trustworthy in matters of our faith and practice.
It means you trust it and obey it in your own life and you study it regularly to be able to faithfully preach it to others. You are growing in knowing God and thus becoming better at making Him known. By living in obedience to it you will come to see that your messages you preach will bring transformation to the lives of others.
We are not only to love God but we are also to love people.
Now just a few words about loving people. I am convinced that if you do not love the people you are called to serve you will fail to represent Christ. Christ loved His church and gave His life for it and in many ways we are called to give our lives to the flock.
However, I want to urge you not to sacrifice your relationship to your wife and family for the church. You are called to be an example of what is a godly husband and father. Make sure you take a day off and spend quality time with them so that they might not come to resent the church but to be devoted to it as you are.
Over the years ,I have learned these lessons about loving people.
- Let people know you accept them while not condoning their sin. Be an example of grace.
- Be with people during their distress and grief and bring the comfort of the Christ. Visit people in there homes and work places.
- Do not try to change people but teach them how Christ will change them.
- Learn to be a good listener
- Talk to God about people in prayer before you talk to people about God .
- Be a peacemaker by demonstrating your own willingness to forgive others and teach others how to be reconciled to each other.
My prayer for all pastors:
I pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to be upon you to grant you God’s wisdom and an extra measure of the fruit of the Spirit for the ministry God has called you to.
Be assured that I will be praying for you and that I stand ready to assist you in any way that I can.
Your brother in Christ,
Rev. Tat Stewart