[Friday Friends – in lieu of a personal friend submitting a post here at The Breadline today, I’ll share the gist of a great post by an acquaintance, Jared Wilson.]
Over at his blog at TGC site, Jared writes about THREE THINGS PASTORS CAN’T DO TOO MUCH, and makes some excellent points. I suggest you click through to read the whole thing. In summary, the three things a pastor can’t do too much are these:
(1) Over-read. Not just books in general, says Wilson, but the Bible itself. He says, “But most I meet don’t read enough, and many I meet hardly read any. But I’m less concerned about books than I am the Scriptures, and in particular, whatever biblical text a pastor is fixin’ to preach on.”
(2) Over-pray. Indeed, the Scriptures themselves call us to “pray without ceasing” so how can a pastor pray too much! Wilson writes, “Prayer is essentially acknowledged helplessness — prayer is faith actualized, an emptiness and needfulness expressed — and we are never not in need of God’s grace, presence, and power. Therefore we can’t pray too much!” Although life and ministry seems to be getting busier than ever, I am constantly trying to make more time for prayer. We all should.
(3) Over- think. Wilson’s third point surprised me, but it’s right on. It could be taken in more than one direction, and still be important, but here is the way Wilson goes in his third point with our need to think:
I just mean we ought to consider our flock more. Definitely more than we currently do. We ought to consider their hearts, their minds, their motivations, their fears, their idols. We ought to think about the people in our care as sacred beings made in the image of God, beset by all kinds of temptations, plagued by all kinds of worries, burdened by all kinds of sins, wounded by all kinds of memories, traumatized by all kinds of violations, and so on and so on. The minute we don’t consider the flock as “sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless,” is the minute we drift away from compassion for them.
Jared Wilson concludes: “Read, pray, and think — three things you can’t do too much. Overdo it, brothers.” Check out the whole thing (not that long) at Wilson’s blog.
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The Bible directs Christians to gather and meet together so that we can “stir one another up to love and good works” – and encourage each another. It’s clearly more than an expectation; it’s a command for believers to obey. So, where and when are you planning to do this? Let us make every effort to assemble, often, in order to stir (and be stirred) according to the Lord’s designs. You’ll be encouraged too.
The Breadline 