Are You My Pastor?

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”
(Colossians 1:24-29 ESV)

In these verses, we see the heart of a true pastor. Paul, a minister, who had never physically visited the church at Colosse, had a great burden for them. His love for them is so strong that he can say that he rejoices over them even in his sufferings. He realizes that even though he suffers affliction, he is sharing (filling up what is lacking) in the same afflictions Christ suffered for the church. I have to question, what afflictions did Paul face in comparison to the afflictions that Christ faced? I submit to you that it was the affliction of people misunderstanding who Christ is. At first, Paul hated Christ, but now he knows Christ is the only means by which man can be reconciled to God. This was not Paul’s idea of what his life would be about. Remember who he was before? He was Saul, The Christian Killer. And now he is Paul, The Minister.

What is Paul a minister of? The True Gospel. His charge was “to make the word of God fully known” and to reveal the “mystery hidden for ages and generations” to the saints. From there God makes known to the saints this mystery which is the riches of His glory and that is “Christ in you”. The call of a biblical pastor is a call that proclaims Christ, warns about Christ and teaches the wisdom of Christ to everyone in hopes to present everyone mature or complete in Christ. For this cause, a pastor will grow weary (toil), striving (struggling) with the superhuman power of God as His power works through the pastor. I must ask, is this your pastor?

Unfortunately, too many pastors are not like this. The superhuman power of God is not working in them mightily simply because they do not seek “to make the word of God fully known”. They resort to trickery, programs and trends to soften the reality of the separation between God and man. They do not proclaim Christ, they do not warn of pending judgment and they do not teach the wisdom of Christ. Instead, they teach a man centered gospel and their toil is not through the superhuman power of God. They are confused, worn out and ineffective. God’s justice, wrath and jealousy are not preached and the reality of these attributes of God slips away and they are forgotten. Even to the point where, if these attributes where taught, someone would stand up and say, “That does not describe the God I serve”. What a tragedy.

Paul is not such a minister. In fact, he was made a minister of truth. In Colossians 1: 21-23, Paul gives the whole Gospel beginning with the hatred of man towards God. He points out that the people of Colosse were shut out of the fellowship and intimacy of God and that they were enemies of God in their minds. But then he goes on to teach them about their reconciliation in Christ. How did this reconciliation come about? He did it by the death of the fleshly body of Christ. Why did Christ do this? He did it to “present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight. This is a beautiful picture. The word present here means to present a person for another to see and questions or to bring into one’s fellowship or intimacy. This word, present, is also used in the infinitive mood. This means that the meaning of the word is used to reflect a purpose or result. In other words, Christ death had a purpose or result and that was to present you holy, unblamable and unreprovable in the sight of God. Isn’t that amazing?

Even as great of a minister Paul truly was, when he presented someone as being “perfect” in Christ, the truth of that perfection had nothing to do with Paul. The word used for present in verse 28 is subjunctive meaning the action described may or may not occur, depending upon circumstances. What circumstances? The perfecting power could only come through Christ. Paul had a desire to “present” every man perfect in Christ, but that may or may not occur depending on if Christ was in that man. Paul knew that his toil and struggling came through the power of God. The unfortunate thing is that too many pastors today try to do things in their own power. This leaves them powerless and worn out and the “perfection” they so desire to see in every man does not occur because the Word of God is replaced with the “wow factor” designed to attract evil men. For this reason, many churches struggle. Counseling sessions increase and giving decreases. The pastor that was once serving in the power of God begins to serve in his own strength as he feverishly tries to hold it all together. The Holy Spirit is then grieved and He shrinks back almost leaving entirely. Is this your pastor?

The only cure then is to return to God’s word alone so that reconciliation will happen. Throw out the programs, throw out the “wow factor” and get on our knees and become open and honest with the Lord. Confess to Him our alienation and our enmity between Him and us. Repent of our wrong view of who God is and what He desires and turn to Him as He is in all of His magnificent glory. And when He reconciles us unto Himself, fellowship and intimacy will be restored and revival will become our biggest “problem”.