11/05/21 A BASIC, BUT OFTEN NEGLECTED TRUTH

11/05/21 A BASIC, BUT OFTEN NEGLECTED TRUTH

The value of pastoral leadership is not that he is inherently wiser or that he is chosen by God because of his personal wisdom or that he has been "gifted" by God with infallible revelation, as were the New Testament Apostles.

His value is based on the fact that he is a faithful follower of Christ and learner of God's word and he is submissive to God's Spirit. He must be a man who is Divinely called, chosen and constantly led, taught and gifted to preach, teach, counsel, lead by the Holy Spirit for the work of the ministry. He is expected to have a deeper, wider, higher grasp of Biblical truth and spiritual insight than the people he is leading and serving. It is a mistake to trust a fool, but it is also a mistake to discount the knowledge, understanding, wisdom of a totally dedicated, faithful, obedient man of God.

Some folks are stunted in their spiritual growth because they have pastors who refuse to grow in grace and knowledge and wisdom. Each believer is responsible to find personal enlightenment in God's word and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, but often they rely on the pastor to do their studying, praying, serving for them. Likewise, too few pastors are faithful in their own walk with God, much less are they capable to feed and lead the people in their congregation.

It is expected that the pastor should have greater knowledge, insight, understanding, wisdom, BECAUSE he not only has been given that responsibility and capability by God, but if he is a faithful servant of God, he invests more time, effort, energy into his calling.

Because of his calling, the pastor is Divinely enabled and he has far more time than other believers to study the Bible, faith, Christian history, doctrine, ministry and also more time to pray.

If your pastor takes his calling seriously, but you do not regard his leadership with the proper respect, you are robbing yourself, your family, your church and the unsaved world around you.

Remember, there are some things God gives us privately (in our personal time with God), and some things God gives us corporately (when we gather in worship and study). Also, there are some things God gives us through spiritual leaders and some things God gives us through personal pursuit. The Christian life is body life with other believers and spiritual leadership. God expects believers to follow spiritual leadership and He expects ministry leaders to equip themselves for their responsibilities.