36
Pastoral Ministry
Dependability
Ministers need a steady experience, not one that flames up on
special occasions, then grows dim—The ministers of Jesus Christ
must teach, both in the church and to individuals, the fact that a profes-
sion of faith, even by Seventh-day Adventists, unless it proceeds from
heartfelt piety, is powerless for good. Religious light is to shine forth
from the church, and especially from the ministers, in clear, steady
rays. It is not to flame up on special occasions, and then grow dim,
and flicker, as if about to go out.—
Testimonies for the Church 5:531
.
If a minister is not reliable, other gifts cannot make up for it—
Brother C can speak in a manner to interest a congregation, and if this
were all that is necessary to make a successful preacher, then a class
of brethren and sisters would be right in their estimation of him. But
he is not a thorough workman; he is not reliable.—
Testimonies for the
Church 1:448
.
Humility
Keep Jesus prominent and self out of sight—Your danger will
ever be in despising counsel and in placing a higher value on yourself
than God places upon you. There are many who are always ready to
flatter and praise a minister who can talk. A young minister is ever in
danger of being petted and applauded to his own injury, while at the
same time he may be deficient in the essentials which God requires of
everyone who professes to be a mouthpiece for Him. You have merely
entered the school of Christ. The fitting up for your work is a life
business, a daily, laborious, hand-to-hand struggle with established
habits, inclinations, and hereditary tendencies. It requires a constant,
earnest, and vigilant effort to watch and control self, to keep Jesus
prominent and self out of sight.—
Testimonies for the Church 4:376
.
It takes time to learn to properly shepherd God’s flock—How
long did it take Moses to learn the lesson of meekness, and become
fitted to be a general to lead the armies of Israel out of Egypt? He
went through a long discipline. For forty years he tended sheep in the
land of Midian, learning how to be a good shepherd to the flock. In his
position of shepherd he was called upon to care for the weak, to guide
the wayward, to seek for the wandering. This was an essential training