Devotionals

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT By Henry Jaegers

by Henry Jaegers
06/06/18
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SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:
By Henry Jaegers

and he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:11-13)

Do you ever wonder what it means when a man tells you that he is called to preach? Over the years I have met many pastors who claim to hold to that call but never could tell you what it is they are called to do. It is not enough that a man has the ability to preach a sermon because anyone can do that with the available books and materials there are for him to read and copy. But the real test of a man called by God is a man who obeys the simple commission we have before us. To train or equipped the Saints unto the purpose of performing a ministry. Suppose every church required every pastor who is seeking to be their Shepherd were to give a testimony like we have set before us. Before the pastor could be called he had to prove first of all that he was a Christian and that he knew what the ministry was all about.

The verse before us tells us that there are these offices of the church which are gifts to the church by God for the purpose of training God's people to be effective ministers. And what church would dare to lay these qualifications upon a man of God if they themselves could not give such a testimony? It seems very strange that we have accepted such low standards in allowing men to get into the church, claiming to be called of God who has no evidence that they were ever Christians to start with or they had any qualifications for training others to do any more than they themselves have done. These are harsh words indeed but the call of God to his servants requires nothing less. Jesus disciples spoke the word of truth from God and suffer the consequences of being faithful.

I believe that every man who claims to be called of God should be able to give a testimony regarding one, what my life was like before I found Christ, two, How did that change occur?  Three, how has my life been different since I became a Christian. If a man who claims to be called by God to preach the word of God cannot answer these questions then we have a right to question his call into the ministry. If the church requires this as a requirement for leaders of the church, should they require less from the man they call as their pastor? Something to think about.