BY GOD’S CALL THE MINISTER IS A MAN APART

“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God”

(1 CORINTHIANS 4:1).

The Christian Church is God’s witness to each generation, and her ministers are her voice. Through them she becomes vocal. By them she has spoken always to the world, and by them God has spoken to the Church herself.

 

The testimony of her godly laymen has ever been a mighty aid in the work she seeks to accomplish. But her laymen can never do, and assuredly are not called to do, the work of her ministers. By gift and calling the minister is a man apart.

 

To be effective the preacher’s message must be alive; it must alarm, arouse, challenge; it must be God’s present voice to a particular people. Then, and not till then, is it the prophetic word and the man himself a prophet. To fulfill his calling the prophet must be under the constant sway of the Holy Ghost; and further, he must be alert to moral and spiritual conditions. All spiritual teaching should be related to life. It should intrude into the daily and private living of the hearers.

 

Without being personal, the true prophet will yet pierce the conscience of each listener as if the message had been directed to him alone. Really to preach the truth it is often necessary that the man of God know the people’s hearts better than they themselves do!

 

Thus, a minister is driven to God for wisdom. He must speak the mind of Christ and throw himself on the Holy Spirit for spiritual power and mental acumen equal to the task.

 

  1. W. Tozer