Path to Pastoring or the Mission Field

Introduction

No missionary updates on Thursday night.

A healthy local church should test and examine an aspirant’s character, gifts, and passion for pastoral ministry.

We have a great privilege and responsibility.

What is the relationships between the missionary and the local church:

The missionary is trained in the local church Acts 13:1

The missionary is known by the local church Acts 13:1

The missionary is called through the local church Acts 13:2

The missionary is sent by the local church Acts 13:3

The missionary is accountable to the local church Acts 14:27-28

The missionary is to reproduce a local church. Acts 16:5.

Book Recommendation: Bobby Jamieson, The Path to Being a Pastor: A Guide for the Aspiring, 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 9–10.

PART 1: FINDING THE PATH

Say “I Aspire,” Not “I’m Called”

1 Timothy 3:1 “1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.”

Prefer the word Aspire to Call

In my background and tradition many people spoke about a calling that was contrary to desire. That is not how the Bible speaks of it.

My goal is for you to trade in the question, Am I called? in exchange for two different questions. First: Are you qualified to serve as a pastor/missionary? Second: Should this be my full time voction.

“Calling’ attributes to God something that you cannot be sure of until it happens. ‘Calling’ implies you know God has done something before he has done it.”

Aspire Humbly

Romans 12:3 “3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

In my view, saying “I aspire” is more biblical, more humble, more accurate, more fruitful, and more freeing.

It is not necessarily proud to aspire to be a missionary. Still, pride waits at the door.

Pride will pervert every good desire for godly authority that it can get its hands on

Invite evaluation. Proverbs 27:5-6 “5 Open rebuke is better than secret love. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

Seek Wisdom

Proverbs 4:7 “7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

We will give an account for all those saints who called you to be their pastor, and whoever came into the fold under your watch. Hebrews 13:17 “17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

I do not fully understand but I know this is heavy.

Seeking Counsel is a means to finding wisdom

Seeking counsel is simple: find wise people and get them to share their wisdom with you

The best counselors know the limits of their wisdom

A good counselor will help you learn how to make a wise decision yourself.

Make the Biblical Qualifications Your Compass

these lists are remarkable for being unremarkable

Making the biblical qualifications your compass puts pressure on your character, where it belongs, and takes pressure off your circumstances, where it doesn’t.

Can you tell me the passages? 1 Tim 3:1-7, 1 Peter 5:1-5

Titus 1:5–9 (KJV)

5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

PART 2: WALKING THE PATH

Learn to Pastor from Faithful Pastors and Healthy Churches

Phil 4:9 “9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

Sometimes a man’s desire to pastor is stoked by experiencing a lack of health in a church. That is one way that God brings good from evil (Gen. 50:20)

The best way to learn the art of ministry is by closely observing a healthy church body.

Every pastor or missionary is a sheep before he is a shepherd

Start Setting an Example

1 Peter 5:3 “3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”

The day you start serving as a pastor/missionary is the day everyone starts watching you.

Live a life that others may safely and profitably imitate

If everyone in your church studied Scripture the way you do, would they know God better and obey him more?

If everyone in your church prayed the way you do, would their prayer life be richer or poorer than it is now?

Do the work now

1 Thess 5:14 “14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.”

Scripture also expects all Christians to teach and counsel each other. Romans 15:14 “14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”

So what are you waiting for? You can start now. Here are four ways to begin.

Disciple.

Extend hospitality. Most scriptural exhortations to hospitality require material support for Christians with whom you have no prior relationship. Hebrews 13:2 “2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

Do evangelism.

Counsel. Learn to care for people.

Want to Be a Leader? Then Lead Something

1 Tim 3:4-5 “4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)”

Part of what it means to pastor before you pastor is to lead something else before you lead the church. Want to be a leader? Then lead something. If you can, start with a family.

So here is a test: Can you persuade a worthy woman to marry you? Would it be in a godly, mature Christian woman’s best interest to submit to you for the rest of her life (Eph. 5:22)?

Authority flows to those who take responsibility. For what are you responsible? For what else can you take responsibility?

Master and Be Mastered by Scripture

Psalm 119:99 “99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.”

The real test of whether you are mastering Scripture is whether it is mastering you.

The point of studying Scripture is to submit to Scripture.

The point of reading Scripture is to be read by Scripture.

Feel like I have been raking leaves over a gold mine. There is so much I do not know.

Take Every Teaching Opportunity You Can Get

1 Timothy 4:15 “15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.”

Godliness and character + ability to teach

Teaching in any context will help you teach better in others.

Apprentice in the Craft of Preaching

2 Tim 2:15 “15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Years ago, I heard someone ask John MacArthur how long it took him to prepare a sermon. He answered, “My whole life!”

Outline sermons as people preach

Ask people about their preparation

I do—you watch—we talk. I do—you help—we talk. You do—I help—we talk. You do—I watch—we talk. You do—someone else watches.

Seek feedback whenever you preach and teach.

Read for Life

2 Timothy 4:13 “13 The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.”

The better your intake, the better your output.

Reading is a learned skill. You can get better at it just like you can writing or speaking.

A good book is the best insurance policy against wasted time.

Give Yourself to Prayer

Psalm 109:4 “4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.”

Yes all Christians should pray but as there is something that is distinct in our preaching ministry there should be as well in our prayer life.

Pastors must labor privately in prayer. Acts 6:4 “4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”

Scripture is bursting with exhortations to pray and examples of prayer.

Banish Pornography

1 Cor 6:18 “18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”

Pornography undermines your fitness for the office of pastor/missionary.

A man who deliberately derives pleasure from watching others commit grievous sin is a man who lacks self-control (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:8).

If you have been sinning sexually by viewing pornography, I have three words of counsel for you.

Confess your sin to God. “

confess your sin to others, and enlist their help.

Wage a multifront war for sanctification, attending to your head, heart, habits, and hardware.

Your head: When you give in to temptation, what lies are motivating or enabling that act? What aspects of God’s character are you ignoring? What promises of God are you failing to trust?

Your heart: What are the sins behind the sin of pornography? What forms of folly and pride are weakening your defenses against temptation? What sins of the heart are creating conditions in which lust can ripen? For instance, anxiety and stress can prompt you to crave a mindless release, and discontent leaves you vulnerable to a promise of instant pleasure.

Your habits: Each day, give yourself to prayer and meditating on God’s word. And cultivating self-control in other areas of your life will help you master lust.

Marry Wisely

Proverbs 12:4 “4 A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.”

If you are single, what are you looking for in a wife? How is your search shaped by your desire to be a missionary?

Marry wisely. That means marrying a woman who is not only godly but also likeminded. Can a woman not just join but thrive in a church you would see as faithful and healthy?

Lay Down Your Life for Your Wife

Eph 5:25 “25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

Do you want to give yourself away for Christ and his people?

Care for your wife in such a way that she will be just as happy to give you away as you are to be given away.

Parenting enrolls you in full-time training for your character and competence as a leader.

Pastor Your Children

Eph 6:4 “4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Scripture’s instructions to fathers are simple, but that does not make them easy. Deut 6:6-7 “6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

Parents and pastors have the same mission, though their starting points and contexts differ. The business of both is making disciples.

God’s Blueprints for the Church

1 Cor 3:10 “10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”

The first question you need to settle is, does Scripture tell us how a local church should be ordered and structured?

Membership, Ordinances, Offices, Worship, Mission, etc.

Serve Outside the Spotlight

Matthew 23:11-12 “11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

The antidote to hypocrisy is humility.

Pastors not only are servants; they get treated like servants.

When the sons of Zebedee asked Jesus for glory, he promised them suffering instead. Mark 10:38 “38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

If You Can, Make the most of your formal training

2 Timothy 2:15 “15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Treat schoolas a supplement, your local church should be the primary context and means of your training

Improve Your Trials

James 1:2-3 “2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

The New Testament is brimming with teaching about the sanctifying effects of trials

Trials train us, but not automatically. To profit from trials, you must improve them

Filter

1 Tim 3:6 “6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.”

How have you been filtered? How are you being filtered? How might you yet be filtered before God deems your ministry fit for public consumption

My advice to you is simple: filter. Be willing to submit to processes that seem inefficient. Quicker methods will not produce the same depth of character.

Let your church set your pace.

Let your church set your pace.What about Spurgeon? Didn’t he become the pastor of a large, center-city church when he was nineteen? Yes. And the first sermon he preached as pastor of New Park Street Chapel in London’s Southwark borough was his 673rd.