On Being a Pastor | Derek Prime & Alistair Begg

Derek Prime & Alistair Begg. On Being a Pastor: Understanding Our Calling and Work. Moody, 2006. 320 pp.

Our Secret and Personal Life

Behind our public life there needs to be a hidden life where our roots are firmly fixed in God Himself (Psalm 1:3). As we turn our attention to our devotional life, we have in view that most private part of our daily life when we go into our room, close the door, and spend time with our Father in secret (Matthew 6:6). We will rightly teach others the importance of this daily practice. It is all the more vital for us, because we may lack those who care for our souls as we do for others. We firmly believe that the latter ought not to be the case, and we will return to that subject later when we consider pastoral care. But where it is so, then we need to be all the more watchful for the growth and development of our own spiritual life. . . .

Love for God Must Be the Priority of Our Life

In concentrating upon our devotional life we have three areas of our more secret and personal life in view. First, there is what we may describe as our walk with God. . . . Walking with someone implies being in step with that person and sharing his friendship and fellowship. A preeminent purpose of our devotional life is to keep ourselves in step with God, to check, as every new day opens and closes, that we are in harmony with Him. In our devotional life we share our life with God as a man does with his closest friend (cf. Revelation 3:20).

Second, we have in view the sustaining of our spiritual life. Like those whom we endeavor to help, we do not live by bread alone. Our never-dying souls, having been redeemed and made alive spiritually, cry out for spiritual nurture by prayer and Bible reading. Our inner being needs to be renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). Our union with our Lord Jesus Christ is our most valuable possession, and as we meet with Him by means of prayer and meditation upon His Word, He renews our spiritual life. A branch of the vine is healthy only as it is in vital touch with the life of the vine (John 15:5).

Third, we have in view the development of our own Christian character. A pastoral objective is to see others grow in their likeness to their Lord and Master, and we must not neglect that priority ourselves. Christian character develops aright as we add to “faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love” (2 Peter 1:5-7). All these virtues are exemplified in our Lord Jesus, even as the fruit of the Spirit is. A key aspect of our devotional life is our meditation upon the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and deliberate self-examination to ensure that we are making it our aim to be like Him. So often when we tell God that is what we honestly want, He answers us in surprising ways. . . .

We are naturally concerned to be successful shepherds and teachers; but our overriding concern must be to live a godly life rather than to achieve what others may consider success. . . .

Avoiding Professionalism

Taking care of our secret life with God is the clue to avoiding the snare of professionalism, especially if we have been set apart to give the whole of our time to the work of an undershepherd. By professionalism we have in mind the snare of reading the Scriptures principally with a view to their application to others, rather than first and foremost to applying them to our own lives; or praying for others publicly in a way we do not pray for ourselves in private; or doing things that are expected of a shepherd and teacher simply because they are expected, rather than out of joy because we know they please God. . . .

God’s Requirement is Quality Rather Than Quantity

Some lessons we learn slowly, and one that we have found particularly difficult is that God wants quality of life from us rather than quantity of service, and that the latter is no substitute for the former. More important than all our preparation for ministry and our careful administration of church life is that we should live our lives for the will of God and reflect His Son’s grace and character in all our dealings with others.

The most powerful influence we can have upon people is example. The strength of our example of which we ourselves are seldom, if ever, aware comes from the reality and sincerity of our inner and secret life with God. Moral failures, which can so tragically ruin a man’s testimony and terminate his ministry, invariably stem from neglected daily fellowship with God. Walking daily in the light increases sensitivity to the first approaches of temptation and sin and strengthens our capacity to resist it by the power of the Spirit. . . .

Four Aspects of Our Devotional Life

1. Worship

It may seem artificial to divide our devotional life into various parts, since one aspect continually flows over into another, but it is helpful to do so to establish what ought to be included. The right place to begin is worship. . . .

Worship is what we were originally created for, and then recreated for in Christ. It is tragic if we feel obliged to lead God’s people in public praise and worship but are devoid of heartfelt praise and worship when we come before Him in secret-and yet that can be the case. . . .

2. Prayer and Meditation

Prayer clearly has a unique place in our devotional life. We worship God by means of prayer; and it is by prayer that we share our life and our innermost desires with Him. The picture of a child coming to a father is the one we should always have before us, and we must not allow anything to rob us of prayer’s simplicity (Matthew 7:7-11). As undershepherds we gather to ourselves all kinds of cares with regard to Christ’s flock, and it is in prayer that we rightly off-load our anxieties onto the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:7). . . .

3. Bible Reading

Each aspect of our devotional life involves the Scriptures in some way. Love for Christ our greatest priority expresses itself in our obedience to His words (John 14:15, 21, 23). Walking with God means keeping in step with Him by daily obedience. Psalm 1 explains what it means to walk with God, and it links meditation with obedience to God’s Law. The spiritual food that His Word provides nourishes our spiritual life. It is through His Word that we gain glimpses of Christ’s glory so that our characters are transformed “into his likeness with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The professionalism we have warned ourselves of must be avoided especially when we read the Scriptures. We can so easily handle them with others in view, rather than for our own benefit. There will always be the next preaching and teaching opportunity for us to think of and for which to prepare. We must aim to read the Scriptures for ourselves first, rather than for others. What we discover for ourselves, we can then share with Christ’s flock with integrity. . . .

4. The Reading of Christian Books

Christian classics and books that stimulate devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ and personal holiness have an invaluable place in our devotional life. Their potential in our lives is greater than that for other books. One of our principal difficulties as shepherds and teachers is that rather than being ministered to, we tend to be ministering always to others. An effective way of putting this right is to let others minister to us through their writings. . . .

Only good can come from taking stock of our devotional life, for upon it depends our walk with God. Shepherds and teachers are the enemy’s prime target, and his most powerful and sustained attacks will be upon our walk with God. If possible, he will encourage us to keep up all our outward and public activities to the neglect of the inward nurture of our souls and the cultivation of the secret place. . . . He knows that out of touch with God we lose our sensitivity to His guidance and become vulnerable to temptation and moral failure.

Happily, the converse is true: As we keep watch over our walk with God, we enjoy the peace He promises, the consciousness of His presence when we most need it, the assurance that we are where He wants us to be, the guidance of His Spirit, and the power to withstand all Satan’s fiery darts and to accomplish successfully our God-given tasks and privileges.

Taken from On Being a Pastor by Derek Prime & Alistair Begg, © 2004 by Derek Prime & Alistair Begg. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL. All rights reserved.

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