This desire is both necessary and legitimate, as Paul reminded Timothy: 'If any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires [to do]' (1 Tim. 3:1). It must be a willing desire (1 Pet. 5:2), not coerced in any way. It must be an enlistment, not a draft. It must be a strong and prevailing desire. Spurgeon notes: 'We must feel that woe unto us if we preach not the Gospel; the Word of God must be unto us fire in our bones, otherwise, if we undertake the ministry, we shall be unhappy in it, shall be unable to bear the self-denial incident to it, and shall be of little service to those among whom we minister.' This desire must also be based on a proper recognition of the work, not the romanticized notions of youth overtaken by the glory-lust of the pulpit.
The focus desire is threefold in nature. First, there must be a longing to used in self-denying service to edify the people of God. In other words, a man must be absorbed with the end for which the ministry was instituted (Eph. 4:11; Acts 20:28 ff; 1 Pet. 5:2ff; Heb 13:17). If a man is not captured with the vision of building up the people of god, he should abandon the notion being called. God does not call men who love to preach but can't stand the people.
The second focus of the desire must be a longing to be used in a Spirit-filled ministry of calling out God's elect. The concept that God would use the preacher's voice to be as it were the voice of Christ (John 10:27), and that He would use the preacher's voice to be His voice in creating faith (Rom. 10:14-17), ought to be a great desire. If the candidate for ministry is not consumed with a longing to preach to a valley of dry bones, knowing the Word of the Lord can make them live (Ezek. 37), then he should resign his candidacy for the ministry. Spurgeon pulls no punches in his comments on this subject: ' It is a marvel to me how men continue at ease in preaching year after year without conversions... Brethren, if the Lord gives you no zeal for souls, keep to the lapstone or the trowel, but avoid the pulpit as you value your heart's peace and your future.'
The third focus of the desire is a longing to discharge a growing sense of God-given stewardship. God is the one who bestows the gifts and gives the stewardship (1 Cor. 4:1-2). there are times when the compulsion to discharge pure delight. There are other times when the compulsion to discharge comes simply from the wight of the stewardship (1 Cor. 9:16-17). Bridges (Jerry Bridges): 'This constraint rises above all difficulties, takes pleasure in sacrifices for the work's sake, and quickens to a readiness of mind, that (were it not restrained by conscious unfitness and unworthiness) would savor of presumption.'
This desire for pastoral office must not only have proper focus, but it must be immersed in the context of a local church. Ideally, the local church should be a biblically structured, biblically healthy, biblically functioning church. This is an important factor for two fundamental reasons. First, it is within the context of a healthy, biblically functioning church that a man's fitness for the ministry can be most accurately recognized. Secondly, the potential ministerial candidate gains a realistic and accurate view of the work of ministry in such a context.
Finally, the desire for the pastoral office has proper channels of expression. The man who begins to sense God's call must express this desire first and foremost to God in the secret place of prayer. As the man grows in his own desires, having had those desires sifted and sanctified by prayer, he may approach his overseers. The man must be in subjection to his elders (Heb. 13:17), and it is to them he must look first and foremost for wisdom, guidance and confirmation. He may also seek counsel from other trusted, mature friends and counselors, thereby following the wisdom of the Proverbs (12:15, 13:10, 19:20).*"The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task" (1 Ti 3:1).
Soli Deo Gloria!
For His Glory,
Fernando
*Borgman, Brian. My Heart For Thy Cause. Great Britian: Mentor, 2002. Print. P. 39-41
No comments:
Post a Comment