The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. (Psalm 145:8)
Let those words sink in because most of us live like the exact opposite is true. Check out this 2-minute explanation …
John Piper has written a book that I think every pastor should read: Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. You can read my review of this book here. Below are just a few quotes that caught my attention.
âWe pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. ⊠The professionalization of the ministry is a constant threat to the offense of the gospel.â
âI defined spiritual leadership as âknowing where God wants people to be and taking the initiative to get them there by Godâs means in reliance on Godâs power.â âŠÂ So the goal of spiritual leadership is to muster people to join God in living for Godâs glory.â
âThe Son of Man has not come seeking employees. He has come to employ Himself for our good.â
âIn this fallen world, the tide is always going out. That is, the affections of our people have for God Himself (as distinct from His gifts) are continually prone to shrink. Our job is to tilt the world, by the power of the Spirit and the Word, so that the tide rolls in again.â
âA pastor who feels competent in himself to produce eternal fruit knows neither God nor himself.â
âSalvation is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Love is a gift of God (1 Thessalonians 3:12). Faith is a gift of God (1 Timothy 1:14). Wisdom is a gift of God (Ephesians 1:17). Joy is a gift of God (Romans 15:13). Yet as pastors we must labor to âsave someâ (1 Corinthians 9:22). We must stir up the people to love (Hebrews 10:24). We must advance their faith (Philippians 1:25). We must impart wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:7). We must work for their joy (2 Corinthians 1:24). We are called to labor for that which is Godâs alone to give. The essence of the Christian ministry is that its success is not within our reach.â
âAre not our people really yearning to be around a man who has been around God? Is it not the lingering aroma of prayer that gives a sense of eternity to all our work?â
âFew things frighten me more than the beginnings of barrenness that come from frenzied activity with little spiritual food and meditation.â
âThe domestication of God is a curse on preaching in our day. We need to recover reality and the language of majesty and holiness and awe and glory.â
âHe knows that the only way he can deliver Godâs message to Godâs people is by being rooted in it and by saturating his sermon with Godâs own revelation in the Bible. The Bible-oriented preacher wants the congregation to know that his words, if they have any abiding worth, are in accord with God’s words. He wants this to be obvious to them. That is part of his humility and his authority. Therefore, he constantly tries to show the people that his ideas are coming from the Bible. He is hesitant to go too far toward points that are not demonstrable from the Bible.â
âOur salvation and the salvation of those who hear us week after week depend in large measure on our faithful attention to personal holiness and sound teachingâ [see 1 Timothy 4:16]. ⊠Oh, how earnest we should be in attending to ourselves and the soundness and helpfulness of our teaching!â