The Faithful Minister – Part 1

“For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain.”

– 1 Thessalonians 2:1

 

You can’t give what you don’t have. The effectiveness of a pastor, preacher, teacher, or minister of any kind in service to God is rooted in their personal experience. A minister of God, to be effectively used by God, and to be seen and received as credible by those they minister to,  must walk the talk. When Paul was inspired by the Spirit to write the Thessalonians he was able to refer to himself as evidence of the reality of what he taught them. Every minister should be able to do that. Parents who tell their children “Do as I say, not as I do,” are never effective. A ministry that operates on that same premise will be shallow, hollow, empty and ineffective. In this four part series The Faithful Minister we will look at seven characteristics of ministry that is faithful to God’s calling.

 

It is true that when we look in scripture at the people God uses we see His propensity to use unlikely people. God uses people that by worldly standards would not likely be used. Abraham lied. Jacob connived. Moses had an anger problem. Joshua was fearful. Gideon was timid. Samson wasted his heaven sent gifts. King Saul thought he knew better than God. David was an adulterer and premeditated murderer. Solomon disregarded God’s scriptural warnings and allowed his wives to turn his heart from God. John the Baptist dressed weird. Peter was impulsive. The apostles were competitive and spiritually dull. Saul of the New Testament hated Christians. God worked with and used all these people. And when we look outside the Bible throughout history we continue to shake our heads in wonder at the people God chooses. God does this to assure He gets the glory. He doesn’t want our faith to be in ourselves or people, but in Him alone. But it would be a mistake to look at the exceptions in order to build a rule that excuses those God uses from His prescribed scriptural standard of ministry. We should not glorify deficiencies, oddities, quirks, or exceptions so as to excuse us from living the ministry standards God requires.  

 

A minister is a servant. Our attitude to serving God Most High should be that we are indeed serving God Most High! We serve in the sight of God. We serve a risen Savior; Lord Jesus. That should be reflected in a desire not to lower the standard of ministry but to elevate our efforts to abide by God’s prescribed high calling for ministers. We should want to serve Him faithfully. We should serve faithfully.

 

This is not to say the minister is perfect. Paul admitted to his imperfection saying, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; . . . .” (Phil. 3:12).  No matter who we are, we are who we are, by God’s grace (1 Cor. 15:10). God wasn’t finished with him. Even the great apostle had room to grow. He wasn’t all he could be; yet. He was vastly more than he could have ever hoped to be without the Lord. And he was “perfect” (telieos) or mature in his commitment to see God’s work completed in him and through him (Phil. 3:15). Faithfulness was and is the ingredient God gives to attain that objective.

 

The first twelve verses of 1 Thessalonians 2 are a gold standard for ministers. This is what a minister should look like. Remember, minister means servant. Whether you are serving the Lord as an usher, Sunday school teacher, small group leader, disciple maker, counselor, youth pastor, worship leader, assistant pastor, senior pastor, or a parent, etc., these characteristics should be prayerfully considered. Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:14). Pray the Spirit lead you to apply these ministry standards of faithfulness to your life.

What follows are the characteristics of a faithful minister as seen in Paul’s personal testimony. If you are or want to serve the Lord, take heed.

 

First, a faithful minister practices what they preach (2:1). Paul wrote, “For you yourselves know, brethren,  that our coming to you was not in vain.” Paul did not instruct or require from others what he himself was not willing to live out. Paul’s ministry was effective with the Thessalonians. It was not “vain” (κενός kĕnŏs, ken-os´) or empty, worthless, void, ineffective. Paul’s life backed up what he was inspired to teach the Thessalonians. Paul’s ministry was full, substantial, valuable and effective. And this is true first because Paul was faithful to practice and live out what he preached. He lived in the Spirit and grace of Christ what he preached in the Spirit and grace of Christ (cf. 1 Thess. 1:5; 1 Cor. 15:10; Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:29).

 

Hypocrisy is offensive to God. Jesus had some very strong words for the religious hypocritical leaders of His day (cf. Matthew 23). In the early church hypocrisy was seen as lying to God (Acts 5). It was strongly condemned and judged. If we willfully present ourselves as something we are not we are acting hypocritically. It would be better to honestly admit that we aren’t all that we should be but are working in the Spirit to improve. God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5-6).

 

When we speak of practicing what we preach we are speaking of personal experience. Experience is important. Being a brain surgeon fresh out of Harvard Medical School is well and good, but if you were looking for someone to operate on your brain, would you want a new graduate with no experience (you would be their first real case), or perhaps a brain surgeon from even a lesser recognized school but who had 30 years of successful experience doing the operation you need? A rookie has more to learn from experience. A veteran has learned from experience. Book learning is valuable, but to experience the truth of a book in the realities of life is even more valuable. Yes, experience is important.

 

Similarly, for example a minister who is joyfully married with children is going to have a leg up on a minister who is single with no children when it comes to marriage and family counseling. There are just too many emotions and experiences involved with marriage and family relations to ignore or know about merely from a book or from observing from outside such relationships. 

 

But what about Jesus, He was single? The Church is His Bride. What about Paul, Timothy, Titus, Barnabas, James and John? The Bible doesn’t mention them as being married. No, but it doesn’t say they weren’t married either. We simply don’t know whether or not they were married. Generally speaking, being able to practice what you preach and preach from a position of having practically worked out what you teach, is better than if one is simply speaking from theory. Whether or not Paul was married is not the issue here. His ministry was credible because he did live out and practice what he preached to the Thessalonians.

 

With this in mind Paul counseled Pastor Timothy that when choosing leaders he should not choose a “novice” (νεόφυτος nĕŏphutŏs, neh-of´-oo-tos) or a newly planted or new convert (1 Tim. 3:6). The danger in putting someone into ministry too soon according to Paul was that they would be lifted up in pride making themselves vulnerable to the devil’s attacks. A person should be introduced to ministry through the instrument of discipleship or mentoring. Then by the leading of the Spirit and the development of their spiritual gifting they are prepared for ministry. When is someone ready for ministry? When they are humbled and have a servant’s heart. They are ready when through fruitfulness in ministry the Spirit makes their readiness evident to the Body of Christ. When there is a peaceful consensus amongst those overseeing the candidate that it is God’s will (cf. Col. 3:15).

 

Another aspect of this point is that Paul was willing to sacrifice privacy so that those around him could see how he lived. Paul comments, “you yourselves know . . .” (2:1; 3:3) and “you know” (1:5; 2:2, 5, 11; 3:4; 4:2). How was Paul able to say that they knew something about the way he lived? How did they know about him? He made himself accessable and visible to those around him. It doesn’t mean Paul was acting merely for their benefit. Perhaps he took some of them along with him for local ministry efforts while at Thessalonica. Or they simply observed the way he lived among them.

 

Ministry is often said to be lived in a fishbowl. Some in ministry even complain about this. But it is essential.  If those around the minister are to follow their example, they must be able to see that example. This accessibility is used by the Lord to enhance ministry as people observe the minister and see the genuineness of their faith.

 

The one contemplating ministry of some kind, especially pastoral ministry, should be aware of this sacrifice of privacy. They need to be willing to count the cost to themselves as well as to their family. A spouse and family members should be included in the decision making process to go into ministry since they will, like it or not, in reality be living in that same fishbowl. It’s not easy being accessable and observable. But if others are to see the example of the minister, it is necessary. Ministry will cost you your privacy.