Pastoring in the 21st Century
I am a collector of quotes. As I read a book, I note significant passages and add them to my collection. At present, I have approximately 20,000 quotes on my computer (yes, backed up!), the fruit of more than forty years of reading, all filed by subject.
One of the largest sets of quotes in my collection is on the subject of pastoring, words of wisdom and encouragement that I share daily with the members of our ministry and often on our X account.
A favorite quote on pastoring in my collection comes from the knowledgeable life of Pastor Stuart Briscoe:
“The qualifications of a pastor are the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child and the hide of a rhinoceros.”
“The mind of a scholar” to keep the pastor serious about the study of God’s Word in order that pastor may know the approval of God in carrying out the ministry:
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Timothy 2.15
“The heart of a child” to keep the pastor humble and teachable, pure in heart, and so, in the heart of the Kingdom of God:
“He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” Luke 18.2-4
“The hide of a rhinoceros” to keep the pastor in the ministry, in the calling of God when the reprisals, attacks, and even persecution become more than one can take in one’s own strength:
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1.2-4
American pastors in the 21st Century are faced with the most challenging task faced by church leaders in our nation’s history. Cultural changes and their impact on the church in general and believers in particular are unprecedented. The times in which we live require pastors of Christlike character, commitment and conviction.
Pastors today must be made of deeper, stronger, and tougher stuff than even they realize.
Calling on the lives of the Great Cloud of Witnesses who have led God’s church before us, here are twenty history-making qualities required of pastors who want to be approved by God, live and minister fully in the ways of the Kingdom, and be complete, lacking nothing as they fulfill their service to God – to His glory, the good of God’s people, and the salvation of many.
The HUNGER of a Jonathan Edwards for the Word of God, giving heart and mind to study, know, and be continually transformed by God’s revelation;
The PASSION of a Brother Lawrence for God, seeking to fill every moment of every day with Christ;
The PATIENCE of a Moses, faithfully, day-in and day-out shepherding God’s people, always loving, forever hoping, even when their progress is nowhere in sight;
The HUMILITY of a Francis of Assisi, joyfully serving the greatest and the least as worship unto God;
The RESOLVE of a Martin Luther, living with a commitment to God that says “Here I stand, I can do no other; so help me God;”
The PEACE of a Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was able to share Holy Communion with fellow believers even as he went to die;
The PRAYER LIFE of a Charles Hyde, whose legacy to the church was a life of prayer, evidenced in the knee-worn boards by the side of his bed where he fervently sought God;
The MISSIONARY HEART of an Elisabeth Elliot, who went back to preach the Gospel to the very people who had martyred her husband when he and his team had gone to give them the Good News of Jesus;
The FIRE of a Leonard Ravenhill, on his face before God, calling down fire from heaven in prayer, and then walking and preaching in the holiness and power of that fire;
The ORTHODOXY of an Augustine, seeking and holding to The Faith once for all delivered to the saints;
The FAITHFULNESS of a Monica, whose life and prayers led her all her family into the kingdom, among them, a giant of church history and Western Civilization, Augustine;
The DISCIPLINE of a Benedict of Nursia, living not by feelings, but by the needs of true discipleship;
The PASTORAL LOVE of a Richard Baxter, tenderly, forcefully, and wisely shepherding God’s people;
The TEARS of a Jeremiah, weeping over a hard-hearted people;
The INTENSITY of a John Wesley, day in and day out, like a dynamo, doing the work of the Gospel, always inviting the Holy Spirit to do His work in Wesley;
The VISION of an Apostle John, seeing this world in light of eternity;
The WORSHIPPING HEART of a Charles Wesley, always a song of praise lifted to God;
The OVERCOMING STRENGTH of a Samuel Lamb (Lin Xingiao), who endured two decades of hard labor in Chinese labor camps but refused to back down, continuing to pastor his people and evangelize the nation;
The CONVICTION of a Telemachus who was willing to back up his beliefs with his life by jumping into the arena where the battle for people’s souls – and that of a nation – was raging;
The FREEDOM of a Perpetua, Jan Hus, William Tyndale, Polycarp, and all who make up the great cloud of Christ’s witness-martyrs.
Finally, may ministers of the 21st Century possess the WISDOM of the Word of God that teaches us to learn from those who have preceded us. Their wisdom and their lives have not only stood the test of time but have enabled and encouraged ministers throughout history to stand strong when tested in their time.
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