Man of God

Part 1

One was a prophet, the other a pastor. One was mentored by the prophet Elijah, the other by the apostle Paul. One performed countless miracles, the other none (that we have record of). One foretold future events, the other preached Christ. One was fearless, the other timid. Both cried often.

The titles the Holy Spirit employed in referring to those who were to oversee local congregations embodies both the form and function of pastoral ministry. They were to be elders (form), they were to be shepherd-teachers (function). This is who they were and what they were to do.

But what kind of men were they to be? What character qualities were they required to possess?

When God says that a man who serves in the role of pastor must function as a shepherd-teacher,(1) he is designating the essential activities the man is to do. However, when our Sovereign Lord calls such an overseer "a man of God" he refers to what the man essentially is to be. One has to do with office; the other has to do with character. One has to do with what we do, the other has to do with who we are. With God being always precedes doing.

I don't feel qualified to offer any advice on this subject. The Lord knows my many short-comings, weaknesses, failures and sins. My constant awareness of who I am and what He has done for me through his righteous Son–keeps me at the foot of the cross. I am what I am by the grace of God. There are times I wish I could begin my ministry all over again. But God knows what I aspire to be–He knows I aspire to be a man of God.

And I desire the same for each of my ministerial brothers in Christ. I desire this for your pastor. I pray this for your pastor. Isn't it time that we stopped criticizing our pastor and instead started interceding for him–praying that he would be indeed a man of God in every respect?

In a conversation recently with one of my sisters, I asked her if she had ever heard our mother criticize one of our pastors. I suspected I already knew the answer. She said, "Never!" Then she went on to ask me if I had heard about one of our pastor's who had left the ministry years ago because of an affair. I hadn't heard. I asked if she had heard this from mother. She hadn't. She heard it years later–after mother's death.

If we owe our pastors anything, we owe them our prayers. This is not a plea for naivete. I'm not suggesting that pastors are perfect and never need to be confronted in love. But I would suggest that one of the greatest needs of the Church as she enters the next millennium is that her God-called men would be men of God in every sense of that term. And if this is to be realized, every lay person must constantly pray for this to be so.

The Church doesn't need more talented pastors, whose names are sprinkled with a litany of degrees (yes, I have two of them; I'm not denigrating education). Its crying need is not for ministerial CEOs, managers, movers and shakers. Its desperate need is for men of God.

Personally, I'm a little more than sick of the overemphasis in our midst on academic degrees, personality tests, managerial skills and fleshly charisma. Where are the denominational officials and church boards whose fundamental requirement for a pastor is whether or not he is a man of God? A gifted man of God to be sure, but a man of God. When will someone in position of influence stand up and say, "Enough is enough"?

During two transitions in recent years my wife and I have gone "church shopping." I understand we may not be the typical shoppers, but, just the same, it has been a frustrating experience.

We weren't looking for a church, or pastor, who crossed every "t" and dotted every "I" like we do. We weren't looking for a big church or a little church–size wasn't a criterion. Church architecture wasn't a consideration. Clearly at this point in our lives the quality of nursery care wasn't a factor either. Neither was the contemporary-traditional singing controversy a deciding factor–though I have my preferences. What did matter? It boiled down to this: Could we sense when we listened to the pastor preach that he had a heart for God ... that he was serious about God ... that he was a man of God. Everything else was incidental, but this was fundamental for us. And if I may be so bold–I believe it is with God as well.

What character qualities should identify a God-called man as a man of God? What does a man of God look like? Why was it that Moses, David, Elijah, Elisha, Timothy and others were called men of God? What makes a man of God a man of God? The Bible has the answer.

Among the several passages alluding to this subject, one is particularly noteworthy: 1 Timothy 6:11. Here, writing to Pastor Timothy, Paul the apostle identifies six virtues which characterize every man of God. He doesn't infer that every pastor has achieved each of these qualities in its fullness. But the Holy Spirit does say through the apostle that each pastor is to pursue each of these Spirit-virtues. "But you, man of God, ... pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."

Righteousness.

Righteousness as it is used here means practical righteousness, righteous living.

Just a few days ago I received a letter from our Indonesian representative, David Jerry. David translates my articles into the language of his people for distribution. He is a brother who has a heart for God and desires the best for the Church in his native land. He wrote: "I hope you will write something about pornography and the sin of lust that is really a hindrance to Christian growth, especially among men. In Indonesia we can rent VCDs containing pornographic scenes, either softcore or hardcore. And every day Christian young men and adults are being bombarded by such unholy pictures." He pleads, "Please help us in this aspect with strong biblical teachings."

I must say, my heart has been aching since reading this. But we all know it is true not only in Indonesia, but all across our own country. And many of our pastors are being effected by the Sodom we're living in. The temptations to be less than righteous are everywhere.

But thank God for those who are keeping their eyes fixed on Jesus. Not all of God's men are living careless lives. Some are implementing practical measures to guard against Satan's snares.

Here is what one man is doing. Jerry Bridges, acclaimed author of The Pursuit of Holiness, once remarked in an interview, "One of the most important things I do is ask God to keep me on a short leash. I want a tender conscience to keep me from straying in my thought life or to prevent me from rationalizing about little things." Bridges clearly is a man who takes practical righteousness seriously. He's constantly praying for God to keep him on a "short leash."

There's certainly no hope of living a clean life if we don't depend on God to help us do so. Bridges continues: "I believe the battle is won or lost in the little things. If we let little things go, the big things will devour us, maybe even wreck our witness and destroy our relationship with God."(2)

Godliness.

William Barclay says of this word that it "is the reverence of the man who never ceases to be aware that all life is lived in the presence of God."(3)

The pastor is not only to be a man of God during the hour of worship each Sunday morning, he's always to be a man of God: at home, in the market place, in board meetings, on vacation, in private and in public.

The thing that prompted the Shunammite woman to suggest to her husband that a room be added to their house for the prophet Elisha to stay in when visiting, was what she saw when he visited in their home–not what she saw in "church."(4)

The renowned Charles Spurgeon after listening to that great man of faith, George Müeller, said, "When I listened to Mr. George Müeller ... it was just such an address as might be given to a Sunday school by an ordinary teacher, yet I never heard a sermon that did me more good, and more richly profited my soul. It was Müeller in it that made it so useful.... In every word he uttered, his glorious life of faith seemed to fall upon both ear and heart. I was delighted to sit and listen to him; yet, as for novelty or strength of thought, there was not a trace of it in the whole discourse. Holiness was the preacher's force; and you may depend upon it that, if God is to bless us, our strength must lie in the same direction."(5)

Robert Murray M'Cheyne was one of Scotland's godliest sons. Isabella Dickson, who later became Andrew Bonar's wife, said of M'Cheyne before her own conversion: "There was something singularly attractive about Mr. M'Cheyne's holiness. It was not his manner either that struck me; it was just the living epistle of Christ–a picture so lovely I felt I would have given all the world to be as he was ..."(6)

Could it be that for the typical Christian, as well as for the typical pastor, we have had far too few examples of righteousness and holiness cross our path until we don't have the slightest inkling as to what this is all about? Shouldn't it drive every one of us to our knees?

– Soli Deo Gloria –  

1. See 2 Timothy 2:24; 1 Peter 5:2.
2. Quoted in Pastors at Risk by H.B. London & Neil B. Wiseman
3. The Daily Bible Study Series; Vol. 12.
4. See 2 Kings 4:8f.
5. The Soul Winner by Charles H. Spurgeon.
6. Robert M. M'Cheyne by Andrew Bonar.