The following is a meditation from Pastor Kevin that he sent to the other Elders of Glory of Christ. We thought it was so insightful and encouraging that we wanted to post it here. May the Lord bless you as you carefully consider his words.
Let me encourage you this morning as I have spent some time praying for you and our church. I want to connect two points that God has impressed upon me within the last 18 hours. One insight from Tim Keller and one from 1 Peter 5:1-4.
Tim Keller was talking on the gospel and idolatry. In a nutshell, he claimed most people are not successful (achieving what we think would make them happy and give them a sense of justification) and they live under the illusion that someday they might achieve it. This gives a shred of hope to keep on going but ultimately, success eludes almost everyone.
This morning I was meditating on 1 Peter 5:1-4. "So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory."
To make a long story short, I gave some time to meditating on the reality that the chief Shepherd will be appearing and how this provides the true motivation for joyful and faithful pastoring. It also protects pastors (and all Christians) from the perceived failure of not succeeding. Brothers, when our Savior returns let it not be lost on us that he will be returning as a pastor...the chief Shepherd! What struck me was the fact that we will share this in common with Jesus, both an amazing privilege and weighty responsibility.
This insight today stands out as wonderfully freeing. When I am driven by the notion of "success" I quickly get discouraged, weary, hopeless, and angry, to name a few. I too often see the setbacks of pastoral ministry as an obstacle that annoyingly impedes my fulfillment of success.
On the other hand, when I come to grips with the common ground that I share with my Savior and that I somehow share in his shepherding identity, the way I perceive my role as a pastor and the nature of church ministry drastically changes. Suddenly, the setbacks and difficulties are not so personal and the world's definition of success weighs very lightly. I am convicted by the reality of Christ's appearing and compelled to define my role and fulfillment of it on his terms.
Brothers, why does it weigh so lightly on me (on us) that we are seeking to be Christ-like Shepherds? Scripture gives us no instruction on how many people we should be shepherding...it does say a lot on how Christ-like character must define our role and form the only credible grid for self-assessment. With this we are free. Come what may, let it be said that we were driven by the appearing of the chief Shepherd and not some concoction of "success." If this be the case, then we have full license to continue on in faithfulness, being fully confident that no matter what lies in store for us in the future, we will look back with no regrets.
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