The CALL Extended to the “man of God”
- How do we know when a preacher of the Bible is truly preaching the Word of God?
- How can we know when a preacher truly is a man of God?
Have you ever looked back over your life and saw how you were duped, tricked, lied to, and yes, right to your face? This makes you feel like you were violated, mistreated, smashed, and crushed. This is not how “preachers” are to be. The apostle Paul wrote a couple of letters to Timothy, a young preacher Paul was mentoring, and in his second letter, Paul writes:
“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
(The 2nd Letter of Paul to Timothy 4: 1-2 NASB)
who is to judge the living and the dead,
and by His appearing and His kingdom:
preach the word;
be ready in season and out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”
When a church calls a preacher, they look at his current congregation, his past churches and their growth, his financial record, his family, and now (in today’s society) we even look the help of the KSP to see if he has a criminal record. The pulpit committee calls the pastor’s references listed on his CV or resume, they visit the churches where he currently serves or has served, they interview the man (possibly several times), and then they pray over their decision for hours, days even. Once the process is complete, they extend the “man of God” to consider the call to serve and lead within their congregation. There is deep trust in the process and in the one who has received the call.
However, what does one do when the “man of God” you have called reveals he was not the “man of God” you thought him to be? How do you process through this? How do you come to terms with that? & How does a church move forward, realizing the truth, and step forward in faith, trusting the time-tested process of calling the “man of God” to become your pastor and preacher?
Paul continues in his second letter to young Timothy:
“For the time will come when they [the world] will not endure sound doctrine;
(The 2nd Letter of Paul to Timothy 4: 3-5 NASB)
but wanting to have their ears tickled,
they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship,
do the work of an evangelist,
fulfill your ministry.”
As we absorb Paul’s writing to this “man of God,” we begin to ask: How do we know when a preacher truly is from God? And the answer to the question comes in the series of additional questions we ask ourselves as we look closely at the person we are calling to serve at the local church. We Ask:
- Does his preaching bring us back to The Beatitudes Jesus preached in The Sermon on the Mount?
- Has he lived a life (thus far) that promotes a gentle humility?
- Does he display meekness?
- Does he live (out) compassion and mercy?
- In his daily life, has he promoted peace?
- When he preaches, does he call the congregation to love our neighbors and to live (out) that type of love?
- Has he displayed a following of Jesus or a following of the world?
We also ask ourselves, the congregation who extends the call:
- In extending the “man of God” the call to pastor our church, are we following the Holy Spirit’s leadership or are we satisfying a need to fill the pulpit and the parsonage?
These questions step all over us who have ever served on a pulpit committee or raised our hand to vote for/against calling a pastor. They also stop us, causing us to question ourselves, as we ask the Lord for His leadership in future decisions we will be called to make. See how the apostle Paul ends this portion of his letter to Timothy by reflecting on his own ministry call.
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering,
(The 2nd Letter of Paul to Timothy 4: 6-8 NASB)
and the time of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course,
I have kept the faith;
in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day;
and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”