Most of the young men I’ve encountered who aspire to serve God in vocational ministry gravitate toward the pragmatics of ministry performance: preaching improvement, church growth, cultural engagement, etc. While it is good and necessary to pursue excellence in these areas, the paradox of Christian ministry is that our “peak performance” in leading, shepherding, and preaching comes fundamentally from a rich spiritual life, not from ministry skills.
True spiritual fruit in becoming a better preacher, leader, shepherd, and cultural exegete depends entirely on the health and vitality of a pastor’s spiritual life. Only when we are vitally connected to Christ can we be vitally helpful to others.
- Darrin Patrick,
Church Planter
(HT:
A29)
1 comment:
Fantastic quote. I need to be reminded of this so often. I remember hearing a J. Oswald Sanders sermon a long time ago where he said something or other about how the number one way that Satan will attack pastors will be by keeping them from spending spending real time with God.
Thanks, Zach.
Andrew Faris
Someone Tell Me the Story
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