Don’t misunderstand, I’m not looking for sympathy. But I have a hard deal. I’m not complaining, but there are times when I am overwhelmingly affected by the weight of the calling that is before me. I am continually convinced that no one can truly pastor God’s people simply by human strength and wisdom. Often times, this reminder is simply enhanced by my own limitations. It is common for pastors to seek out helpful resources on preaching, counselling and leadership. Yet the truth seems to be that many of these resources, even from “Christian” booksellers often rely more on the wisdom of the world rather than the wisdom of God; more of the leadership of man than the Holy Spirit. As John Piper reminds us in his great book Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, so much of what pastoring is to be about, when rightly understood, is antithetical to the world’s approach to leadership. Piper writes:

“We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake.”

There has been a surge in the “pastor as CEO” model where many churches are built on the charismatic personalities of certain men and modelled after business structures. Growth, growth, growth is the goal and not necessarily spiritual growth. I do not strive to be one of those “pastors”. Health far exceeds this as the priority. I really want to make myself invisible. I know that this is counterintuitive to the world’s approach to leadership, but at the end of the day, I am not striving to point people to myself but to Christ. John describes John the Baptist’s ministry in exactly this way: ‘There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.’ John 1:v6-8

Later, the Baptist describes himself as not even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandal verses 19-28 and he makes it very clear that his ministry is that of pointing to another, pointing to Christ. Though many came out to hear John’s message and receive baptism, his message was that he was not the one they should be listening to! In other words, John wanted to be made less so that Christ might be made more. John didn’t want people looking to him. Instead, he wanted people looking past him to Christ. He wanted to become in a sense, invisible.

This is a hard truth. We, by nature, have a tendency towards pride when anything in our lives involves being in a spotlight, no matter how dim the spotlight might be. For the most part, people don’t handle public attention well and pastors like all are prone to pride, to buy into the lie that people have come to hear what we have to say rather than being pointed to Christ through the Word and by His Spirit. This is a difficult task to say the least. In a sense, ministry requires that, though I stand before the pulpit, I must ultimately stand behind Christ. Though I must speak publicly, I must strive not to draw attention to myself but the object of my message, which must always be Christ.

In former times, many armies had flag-bearers. These men, inevitably carried the flag into battle. Sometimes they might have a gun or sword in the other hand, but oftentimes, they had a trumpet. A flag and a trumpet marching into battle was often all they had. We immediately assume that these men lagged behind, shying away from the heart of the battle yet the exact opposite is true. The flag-bearer often led the charge, holding the flag high. When the surging soldiers would grow weary, when fatigue began to set in, they would look to that flag leading the way and remember what it is they were fighting for. If the flag-bearer fell in battle, another soldier immediately picked up the colours and surged forward. The flag-bearer was a vital part of battle.

Please pray that I would not only have this heart, but this courage to remind God’s people what they are rightly battling for, and that I might lead the charge, whilst rightly disappearing all the while. Please pray for those in pastoral leadership around and near you!

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