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The Seven Characteristics of a Faithful Minister |
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Posted By: blessings2you
My heart breaks and my eyes at times fill with tears as I read many of the blogs of newer Christians and the struggles they are going through. Many times these struggles are just part of "growing up" in the faith and diminish with time and experience. But, many times I see believers going through situations which quite honestly should be handled at the local church.
The most critical time of growth for a new believer is the first few months after getting saved. Far and away the time period when most new believers quit is soon after the emotional experience of the new birth wears off. At this time they are confronted with the cold and hard reality of situations which did not change when they got saved. Whether domestic problems within their home, issues at school or work related problems; amazingly, they remain in place just waiting to hinder or distract the new believer.
Now this may seem harsh and critical, but believe me it is not. The predominant duty of a pastor is to shepherd the flock. The pastor of an assembly should be willing and able to sit down with anyone within the church and help them with a problem, provide comfort when needed and strong exhortation when called for. Although a pastor may be called upon to perform clerical duties (weddings and funerals and such), carry out administrative duties and perhaps work a secular job; the predominant function of the pastor will always remain one of ministering to the needs of the flock through preaching, teaching, counseling and of course prayer.
I vividly recall discussing this subject with a pastor of a rural church in Mississippi a couple of years ago. The pastor was very upset with me for suggesting he spend a few hours per week at the church counseling the members if they asked for the time. His argument was that he had to work a full time job and that he lived an hour away from the church. All he wanted to do was preach the sermon on Sunday and attend special functions that came up on a few Saturdays per year.
The gentleman never budged from his position even though it meant that entire side of his job description was not being done by him or anyone else. Amazingly, he did find the time to scout out locations for building a new church. To him, that was far more important than spending time helping individual believers overcome problems or receiving guidance in their lives.
The entire second chapter of 2 Timothy is devoted to showing the seven characteristics of a faithful minister. I sincerely wish that everyone involved in Christian service would study this wonderful chapter, but especially anyone who functions as an overseer of an assembly of believers. Most of the first chapter of 2 Timothy is devoted to Paul reminding Timothy of his responsibilities associated with his gift ministries he received through the laying on of hands.
The book of 2 Timothy is a very simple book structurally. The first two chapters relate to persevering in present testings and the final two chapters to enduring in future testings. The seven characteristics of a faithful minister in chapter two are essential for a minister to persevere and remain faithful to his/her calling in this present age of distraction and perversion.
BE STRONG IN GRACE-verse 1
"You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."
Paul had previously written in 2 Corinthians 12:9 and 10 after telling of his "thorn in the flesh":
"And He (the Lord) said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
To be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus is to take pleasure in our weakness so that our strength and power may be in Christ and now in ourselves. Paul looked at all the horrible things happening to him as a sign of his own weakness. Compare that to today's "macho" mentality that men especially are not supposed to show any signs of weakness. I guess somebody forgot to tell Paul that.
FAITHFUL TEACHER OF OTHERS-verse 2
"And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
A faithful minister must be able and willing to teach others what he knows and has learned. Paul taught Timothy and expected him to then teach those he served. A faithful minister must be ABLE to teach which implies having the ability to communicate. To a huge degree, Christian service involves the ability to share with others all you have been blessed with.
SINGLE-MINDED SOLDIER-verses 3 and 4
"You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier."
A faithful minister cannot be distracted by the affairs of this life. Jesus said "no man can serve two masters". If a minister wants to be faithful he must seek to free himself from the entanglements of this world. There may be no way around working a job, but a faithful minister must not allow that job to overtake his life and interfere with his ability to serve God's people.
ENDURING FARMER -verse 6
"The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops."
Later Paul speaks of suffer trouble as an evildoer even to the point of being imprisoned. He speaks of enduring all things for the sake of the elect. A farmer does have to learn endurance and patience or he will fail. It takes an unbelievable amount of endurance to be a successful farmer as well as a faithful minister.
DILIGENT WORKMAN- verse 15
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
This well known verse immediately follows Paul telling Timothy to remind and charge others to "not strive about words to no profit." Immediately after this verse Paul tells Timothy to shun profane and idle babblings for they will increase to more ungodliness. It certainly appears that the way to stay away from striving about words and shunning profane and idle babblings is to rightly divide the word of truth.
SANCTIFIED VESSEL-verse 21
"Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter; he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work."
By fleeing youthful lusts and diligently pursuing righteousness, faith, love and peace with a pure heart one can sanctify himself and become a vessel of honor ready to used by the Master wherever needed.
GENTLE SERVANT-verses 24-26
"And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
In humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth.
And that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will."
There you have the seven characteristics of a faithful minister. Every person whose life is a gift to the body of Christ needs to strive to manifest these seven characteristics in all they do in service. A minister's life is not his own if he really is doing what he has been called to do. Personal agendas and personal goals need to take a backseat to the overwhelming desire to please the Master and be a blessing to His people.
I pray anyone and everyone who wants to be faithful in their service to the Lord will plaster these seven things upon the walls of their heart. I pray anyone who has a gift ministry will remember that 2 Timothy 2 is the greatest chapter in all of God's Word describing the attitude and character of our service to others. Always remember that Christian service in the highest vocation of all.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-By 2.5 License
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Posted: 05/13/08 11:41am - Total Views: 405 - Category: Ministry
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A letter to my Minister...Written on Tuesday, February 12, 2008,
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tchable |
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Posted by:
tchable 
(Posted: 05/13/08 1:03pm)
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Amen brother ... keep preaching ... keep teaching.
Blessings from NC
TchAble
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reborn |
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Posted by:
reborn
(Posted: 05/13/08 2:49pm)
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All I can say it is very hard to find a Church with a pastor that is this committed. I remember in the past when I first got saved and started going to Church for some reason I felt as though there is more to this than just being saved? Instead I choose to shrug it off. The reason I did this was because In my mind I said to my self if there was more to this than just reading your bible and going to church someone would have spoken to me? It felt great to be newly saved at first. But after word that is when some serious difficulties started to happen, But it was not so severe at the time until a person I new in Church walked up to me and lovingly told me Raul The Lord put it on my heart to tell you something important, He said you are going to go threw some hard trials but hang in there the Lord will be with you. I had just a little bit of concern and said what could be so hard about a trail. Well lol I found out.
I do notice in my first church experience people were just not interested in sharing there experience. It seemed to me they were scared of giving a little bit to much of them selves. The pastor of my church was a very hard worker and very busy. I sure wish I had more than I received first time around but little did I notice that it seemed everyone around me was going threw very hard times. At first I always wondered why so many would weep when they prayed? And how they all just put on this brave face and smile at church but for some reason you always new they were going threw some serious difficulties. To my very surprise even the pastor was going threw some hard times.
I believe it would have made a big difference if some or one person invested a little time with me to talk to me about the Christian walk. But I had to find out mostly on my own. What can a person do when you are in Church were people just don't have that much to give because of there own problems. hard to blame them in my opinion. But I must admit it would have been nice  .
Raul.
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doulos |
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Posted by:
doulos
(Posted: 05/13/08 9:31pm)
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Amen B2Y! That's a good point! Our commission is to go and make disciples, not just new converts. This means we need to help people through that time of initial growth. The work isn't done when we've led someone through a sinner's prayer - far from it! Itinerant evangelists may come into town and bring hundreds to Christ but the work is still left to the local churches to actually disciple the new believers. I wouldn't put that responsibility fully on the pastor's shoulders though; we are just as responsible to reach out to the new people in our churches. And for the person who brought the new believer to church or rather, Christ; his or her work has only just begun as a "spiritual parent".
A friend of mine, an evangelist who converted from Islam and now has a ministry in the Middle East tells me that seven out of ten new converts from Islam are lost because of a lacking in discipleship. Due to the hardships of persecution, most simply fall back to the "easy way". For the rest of us without the persecution, we simply backslide without the discipleship ...and that's the same difference - that's probably the lukewarm Christian in church...
If we do not take care of new converts, teaching them and praying with them; many will struggle without understanding and some will fall away. The initial period of starting a new life with Christ is sometimes also the most difficult because the enemy launches a full on attack to discourage the soul and reverse the conversion. Spiritual warfare is therefore also an important and too often neglected aspect of discipleship and teaching.
Conversion does not also automatically get rid of the spiritual baggage a person may have (often through no fault of their own). Remember that even when Israel crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, they still had to fight the enemy and quell insurgence to secure the land ...and they had many battles yet to fight...
I'll ditto tchable... keep teaching, keep preaching... thank you for another great blog!
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allforhim |
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Posted by:
allforhim
(Posted: 05/14/08 3:01am)
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My heart breaks as well, on a daily basis over so many whom are struggling. May we fill in the gap and reach out to those whom are hurting and struggling in their walk. We are the church! Amen B2U!
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ptl2008 |
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Posted by:
ptl2008 
(Posted: 06/19/08 8:17pm)
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That is a very rare minister you have described brother.. In my over 50 years in church I have come across just ONE who was similar to your description...He was an American pastor who came to Singapore in the 1950s. Not only did he love the members, he gave his all for them... was available 24 hours 7 days a week although he had a wife and 3 children. Disciplined and well prepared in his preaching. Visited the sick and administered Holy Communion and encouraged them. Visited them in hospital, in bereavement, in loss and comforted them. Provided counselling and had discipleship sessions (not like now where pastors would outsource this most important duty to people who teach wrong doctrines and values without even knowing about it as themselves had not been taught) with new converts and the Holy Spirit was in our midst to revive and perform miracles. Gone are those days, sadly. He passed away two years ago and the same day he passed away in the United States the news spread like wildfire in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia where he laboured for many years. Thank God and Praise the Lord for such an example and blessing. May many more come under God's conviction to be His servants today.
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Member Biography |
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I served as an ordained minister for many years with a Biblical research and teaching ministry. Although I am no longer affiliated with the group, my love for "working the Word of God" and teaching it is as strong as ever. I belong to no specific denomination or organized group....
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