“I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.”
2 Timothy 4:1-2 NLT
While the mark of a pastor is in their discipleship and the fruit it produces, the method of a pastor is in how he he asked God’s word. It is to be his constant companion in the tilling of the proverbial soil upon which life is built. For many, this is the opposite. For many the Word of God is a sheathed and shelf piece of equipment traded in for “power tools,” and politics. But God is clear that the scriptures are to be an “every day carry” device amongst his disciples. Flashy presentations, fancy clothes, smart social networks and financial backers do not compare to the simple and industrious strength of the honest truth of Scripture. With it, at all times, we must patiently, rebuke, correct and exhort believers to be disciplined to the path of Jesus. This first applies to the ministers themselves. They must hold it in deep regard in their hearts. Not simply in a place of sacredness amongst many sacred things and practices and methods, but in a place of holiness, wherein it is an essential piece to the fabric of man functioning in God’s image. If a pastor doesn’t have this, no matter how much he may possess or how many he may care for, he has nothing and it will all be for nothing upon judgement day. As Paul notes, This is to be a solemn truth.
JOSH McGARY. COM 