Pastoral Ministry

Some people have goals for every five-minute segment of the day, while others balk at that approach to life and deliberately claim to have no goals at all. While goal-setting can be taken to a manic extreme, it is healthy to have goals in the important areas of life in order to avoid aimlessness. Derek Prime and Alistair Begg, in their book Being a Pastor, cite the following six goals for those in this kind of ministry:

1. Feed the flock – John 21:15-17

2. Proclaim the whole will of God – Acts 20:27

3. Present everyone perfect in Christ – Colossians 1:28-29

4. Prepare God’s people for works of service – Ephesians 4:12

5. Equip God’s people to be fisher’s of men – 2 Timothy 4:5

6. Keep watch over oneself until the task is complete – 1 Timothy 4:16

Whether you are officially a “pastor” or function pastorally in the church under some other title (or no title), these six goals are worthy of your attention and action. Feeding the flock with everything God gave in His Word so that they should be everything God made them to be, prepared for all ministry, including outreach beyond the church, and all the while making sure you are not disqualified from the race. There’s a goal!

Just a thought to throw into the mix of life as a preacher. I just had a fairly busy weekend – preaching three times in two churches. That means not only preaching, but being mentally distracted in the lead up to the different meetings. As any preacher knows, it can be a draining experience. This is why many pastors take Monday as their day-off. I understand that.

However, it’s worth asking the question, who needs the day off? As hard as my weekend was, my wife’s was harder. She had to handle preparing four children for church, being aware of them at church, dealing with bedtimes without me home, etc. Busy time for me is busy time for her.

Maybe you have Monday off? Perhaps that is the perfect opportunity to look for ways to bless, serve and encourage others who work hard when you work hard. For many preachers, Monday can’t be a day off because preaching isn’t your primary source of income. Perhaps there are other ways to show appreciation to a spouse who lost part of their weekend because you were serving others during your weekend? For me, this morning will not be the usual relaxing admin catch-up that I almost enjoy on Mondays (brain dead work), it will be handling homeschool and lunch so my wife can enjoy a morning to herself. She deserves that after the weekend I just put her through!