The Best Pastoral Advice I Have Received (and Given) throughout My Ministry
For nearly 25 years of ministry, I have tried to surround myself with spiritually minded, Bible-believing, pastoral-hearted shepherds who love the Lord and tend to the flock of God. Throughout those years I have sought their counsel, gleaned from their wisdom, and learned from their experiences. The practical theology one can learn at a syrupy Waffle House table while Sweet Home Alabama is playing in the background is a profound reality. During those unassuming moments, God sharpens iron, He uses the wisdom of one pastor to mold and shape the convictions of another.
It would be impossible to articulate or categorize all the truisms that have been implanted in my heart over the course of two and a half decades, but there are some spiritual “nuggets” that have conclusively shaped my pastoral and ministerial philosophy. I have not only received the following counsel with a grateful heart, but on some occasions, I graciously give it with a ready tongue.
1. Minister out of your prayer life and your personal walk with God.
E.M. Bounds said it best, “Men are looking for better methods, but God is looking for better men.” Personality, charisma, and charm will only take a man so far. Personal holiness, private devotion, and closet prayer are the prerequisites for effective ministry. The authenticity of one’s ministry is measured by his personal desire to pursue the presence of God in those private moments of life.
2. Don’t Gain the whole world and lose your family in the process.
Adrian Rogers said, “Don’t call a man a failure who is able to get his entire family in the ark.” Noah had no converts outside of his wife, sons, and daughters in law. But that was enough in the economy of God to successfully repopulate the entire planet. When we lose our families for the sake of ministry, we have by all rights, Scripturally forfeited our qualification to be in the ministry.
3. Don’t try to make the Bible say something it doesn’t say.
The men in my life who have biblically guided me have been guided themselves by the Scripture. They have refused out of context, unscriptural, opinionated messages of men. They are so convicted about the Bible being the Word of God that they do not only declare “preach the Word” to others, but they actually preach the Word themselves. They have instilled in me a strong conviction to rightly divide the word of truth.
4. If you want power in your preaching, live right.
Even though he is in heaven, I can still hear my grandfather saying this to me now. He knew and believed that the power of God only rested upon men who, like Enoch, lived righteously and walked with the Lord. True conviction in a man’s preaching is only established by the measure of conviction by which that man lives.
5. Stay teachable.
Those two words were written in the back of my Bible at my ordination. It has been echoed to me by other men down through the years. Those who believe they have nothing else to learn and nothing more to glean have probably come to the end of their ministries, and more than likely to the end of themselves. Arrogance and ignorance are dangerous allies.
6. People can be hard to deal with, but when you genuinely love them, it makes it a little easier.
Ministry is filled with all kinds of situations, all kinds of opinions, all kinds of personalities, and all kinds of people. If we look at folks as a nuisance rather than a necessity, we will be quick to dismiss and disregard them at every turn. But when we genuinely love people the way Christ loved people, we will be eager to forgive them, help them, and be patient with them even on their most frustrating days. The pastor must remember, as God does, that we are all dust (Psalm 103:14)
7. You will never change folks by trying to be the Holy Spirit in their lives.
I have had to learn this one from my own failures and mistakes. There have been times I wanted to coerce people to live righteously, attend church, fix their marriages, discipline their children, and on and on. But I have come to realize down through the years that I am NOT the Holy Spirit; and if folks make decisions only for the sake of the pastor their decisions will either be short-lived or misaligned. You can guide people to God, but you cannot be a replacement for Him.
8. Get up early and put in a full day’s work.
I come from a long line of hard workers and early risers. I am grateful that my father and his father knew the value of a hard day’s labor and passed that virtue on to their children. They didn’t expect anyone to hand them anything, and they put in a full day’s work. Such a work ethic should be a standard approach for ministry. Get up early, set the trajectory of your day through prayer, meditation, and Bible reading. Do whatever you do throughout the day for the glory of God. Study, call, pray, visit, learn, watch, read, write, follow through, meet…there is no place for laziness in the work of the Lord.
9. Don’t worry about building God’s church, just be around when He wants you to lay a brick.
We frustrate ourselves and those around us when we assume the responsibility of building the church. The Lord did not say that we would build His church, neither did He say that He would build our church. Rather, He said He would build HIS church. The greatest joy of such divine construction is just to be around when He wants you to carry some lumber.
10. Sometimes the best thing to do is leave the office and go fishing.
Enough said. Sometimes you just have to lay the pen down, close the books, turn off the phone, unplug from the world for a little while and go sink some worms. With that thought….
