A Good Pastor

A church once called a new pastor, who thought he was prepared to preach three times a week, but suddenly realized the task was harder than he imagined. After preaching 20 messages, he ran out of motivation to study and to come up with topics to preach, so he started over and preached the same messages again. He did this three times in a row, and knew the church had to realize what he was doing but no one ever said anything. Finally, he asked the deacon  about the lack of concern with his repetition. The deacon replied, "We didn’t really want a pastor and you were as close to not having one as we could find." It's often said that pastoring is more than preaching sermons, but it's certainly not less. Preaching sermons is more than going to the next verse the next week or having an information dump of all the historical and archeological information you found in the books. There should be an aim for the message and the people you are preaching to, a motivating factor to preaching.

In Titus 1:1-2 Paul introduces the letter to a pastor by giving some instruction to us on some of the motivating factors of his ministry. He wasn't just trying to make it through every verse of the Bible. Nor was he preaching on his favorite topics. Having a preaching method is certainly better than many, who have no method at all. Some preach like the apostles – they start the message with no discernible plan and the sermons are "scattered abroad…every where preaching the word." Somethings wrong if you never put any thought into how you are preaching, why you are preaching, and what you are preaching. When Paul preached, he had a purpose. He was motivated to glorify Christ, declare the truth, and to move God's people to trust in Christ and live after godliness.

Paul preached with a view towards God's people, "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect."  Paul believed in the sovereign grace of God and knew that God would save his elect. The doctrine of election didn't dampen his missionary but set it ablaze. God's sheep were lost and God ordained his people would receive Christ through faith. Paul was an instrument of the Lord's to declare the good news of the gospel, the word of God, the incorruptible seed, the means by which God the Spirit regenerates the soul (1 Peter 1:23-25). Paul preached the truth with confidence knowing God will save his people.

Paul preached with a view towards application, "the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness." The message wasn't merely for information. Paul knew the truth and godliness go hand in hand. You don't really know the truth if it doesn't change your life or the way you live. When Paul preached the doctrines, he also pressed upon the hearers godly living which adorns the doctrines. 45 minutes of facts is a lecture. Christian preaching glorifies Christ, is rooted and grounded in the truth, with an eye towards moving God's people.