While missionaries, evangelists and pastors are preachers, there is a tremendous difference between the office and the ability to preach. Missionaries are gifted differently than evangelists and pastors… and vice versa. The fact of the matter is that a true to definition pastor must have a heart for the position given to him by God’s Holy Spirit. To any Spirit filled believer, it is apparent that the heart of the matter is the pastor’s heart.
3 Fold Look At A Pastor’s Heart
(Jeremiah 12:10-11) “Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.” (KJV)
A Pastor Must Have A Love For God
It is a sad commentary that we even have to mention this aspect of a pastor’s heart, but we must. Though there are some so-called pastors, who would be better off selling cars, and that are causing irreparable harm to local assemblies, a vast majority are still doing their best for the Lord Jesus. Just because there are crooked doctors in the workplace, not every physician is dishonest. So it is with pastors. All to often, the world lumps us all in the same basket.
It is primary for a true pastor to have an unrivaled love for his God. Jesus mentioned this essential when He spoke about the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37-38 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” (KJV) What motivates a pastor to keep going against the current is that he LOVES Jesus Christ more than anything!
It is from this well that pastors draw from to carry out their daily ministry. When that well runs dry or is stopped up with debris from the Phillistines, then stagnation, regression, and eventual death will be seen in that pastor’s life. This is why it is so vital that every pastor, especially those that work a public job along side their pastoral duties, keep their personal fellowship close with Jesus.
(1 John 1:7) “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (KJV)
A Pastor Must Have A Love For Family
Hirelings care for one thing: self preservation. In fact, they worry very little for the families that make up the local assembly. A God called pastor will be anxious about the welfare of his families and especially his own. One of the Apostle Paul’s concerns for qualified men was that they lovingly care for their own families!
(1 Timothy 3:5) “(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)” (KJV)
This love for family will guide him as he preaches for his tone will be that of a concerned father caring for his child. Furthermore, his actions, though firm, will be respected by those admonished because of the love overshadowing the circumstance. Love for family members goes a long ways and so it is with true pastors.
A Pastor Must Have A Love For Work
We joke a lot about how preachers know that they are called to preach. However, waking up from sleep with a hunger for fried chicken and absolutely no desire to work is NOT the proper axiom. Pastors are the hardest working people on the planet. While there are some matters of labor which require more physical exertion, there is no more a demanding job than that of pastoring a congregation.
(2 Timothy 2:25) “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;” (KJV)
Pastors must work hard if they are to last. There must be a strong love for work and THE WORK! Sacrifice, is not a strong enough of term to illustrate the true nature of the demands on a pastor. Studying is hard work! Praying is hard work! Working with people is hard work! Pastors must love to labor among his congregation is he is to measure up.
Pastor, Did This Post Expose The Anatomy Of Your Heart?
