How you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
(Image) Imagine your graduation day has finally arrived. You are extremely excited. You have worked very hard for four years. You have been waiting for this day to come. At the graduation service, your friends and family are there. Your fellow graduates are there. The professors are there. The president, Dr. Mark Yarbrough, is there.
Your name is called. You walked up to the stage. Dr. Yarbrough is examining your transcript for a final check. You are standing in front of him nervously. Dr. Yarbrough finally looks up. He said, “we got some problems. First, a professor in the pastoral ministry department has reported that you plagiarize your outline and manuscript. We have decided that you have not been faithful to the task the Lord has called you to do at the seminary. Second, your parents told us you have never called or visited them during seminary. And the scholarship department has reported that you lied about your financial situation. Therefore, we have decided that your character is unsuitable for serving the church as a preacher. And finally, I can read your heart. Your motive to study at seminary is to glorify yourself with your own power by preaching your ideas instead of God’s word. I am sorry to tell you that you have lost your ThM degree.” And then you woke up. You are on your bed, dreaming. It is not graduation day yet.
(Needs) The story was totally made up. Dr. Yarbrough cannot read your heart to find out your motives to study and serve the Lord. But the Lord can. One day, at the end of this church age, the Lord Jesus will return. You will stand before the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of your life and ministry. The judgment seat of Christ is not about eternal salvation. “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph 2:9) . You already have it. You will never lose it. The Lord has paid the price to redeem you at the cross. His precious blood has cleansed all your sins. Your salvation is secure in His hands. The judgment at the judgment seat of Christ is about eternal rewards. How you live your life for Christ will determine your eternal rewards. It is a very important topic for all Christians, especially for teachers in the church, because “we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1).
(Subject) What I want to talk about today is “How you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.” We only have one life. We only have one shot. Therefore, we need to take this topic seriously.
(Text and Preview) We will be looking at three passages of scriptures today. They are 1 Corinthians 4:4-5; Luke 19:11-27; and 1 Pet 5:1-4. We will look at one basis for eternal rewards in each passage, for a total of three bases that will determine our rewards in eternity.
(Explanation) First, your motives in ministry will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. I get the principle from 1 Corinthians 4:4-5. “For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
Some of the Corinthians believers have been judging Paul’s motives in ministry. Paul said, “I have examined my heart, as far as I know, I am not aware of anything against myself. But I am not the judge. Christ is”. When the Lord returns, He will reveal the purposes of our hearts. We will receive praise from the Lord based on our motives in ministry.
(Illustration) I believe Paul gave a parable earlier in chapter 3 that illustrates this principle. He gave the parable of builders. A builder could build a building using gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. At the end of the construction, the building will be tested with fire. Only what was built with gold, silver, and precious stones will remain. What was built with wood, hay, and straw will be burned up.
Similarly, at the judgment seat of Christ, all our motives in ministry will be tested. All the purposes of our hearts will be revealed before the Lord. Any work we did with the motive to glorify ourselves instead of glorying God will be burned up. Only the work with motives that please the Lord will remain.
(Application) What is your motive for studying in seminary? What is your motive to serve the Lord? Is your motive to glory your name or to glorify Christ’s name? While you can hide your motive today, you cannot hide from the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ. If your motive is to glorify yourselves, your work will be burned up at the judgment seat of Christ.
Let’s be honest, no one has completely pure motives all the time in this life. All of us will have some self-glorifying motives in ministry. Therefore, you need to frequently ask the Lord to help you examine your motives in ministry. Every time when you embark on a project or ministry, ask yourself this question, “will this glorify Christ or glorify me?” Ask the Lord to give you a pure heart to serve Him. Ask the Lord to reveal more of His love to you so that your motive is to respond to His love and to glory Him. You serve Him because His love compels you. That is why Paul lived for Christ. He reveals his motive in the second letter to the Corinthians, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor 5:14-15).
(Explanation) Not only will your motives determine how Christ will reward you in eternity, your faithfulness to what Christ has entrusted to you will also determines how Christ will reward you in eternity. I get this principle from Luke 19:11-27, the parable of the minas. Jesus told this parable at the end of His journey from Jericho to Jerusalem. It goes like this. A nobleman went to a far country to receive His kingdom. Before he left, he gave one mina, which is about 100 days of wages, equivalent to about $20,000 in today’s money, to each of his ten servants and told them to engage in business until he returned. When the nobleman returned, he ordered the servants to give an account of what they had done with the one mina.
The first servant reported he had turned the one mina to ten minas. The nobleman praised him, “Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little (v17), you shall have authority over ten cities. The second servant reported he had turned the one mina to five minas. And the nobleman rewarded the faithful servant with five cities. But the third servant did not do anything with the one mina. The nobleman took the only mina he had and gave it to the first servant, who had ten minas. What is the point of the parable? Your faithfulness to what Christ has entrusted to you in this life determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.
(Illustration) I used to work in IT. There are two kinds of programmers. The sloppy and the faithful. How can you tell one from the other? A regular person will not be able to tell because it is behind the scenes. What separates a faithful programmer from a sloppy programmer is his code. A sloppy programmer writes code without proper structure and without comments. But a faithful programmer writes code with proper structure and with proper comments so that other programmers can look at the code and know what he is trying to do. A faithful programmer puts in the hard work behind the scenes that is not apparent to the end users.
(Application) Similarly, if you want to be a faithful preacher, you will need to put in the hard work that may not be apparent to the congregation. (Smile) You cannot avoid it. Some people will think you only work for one hour on Sunday when you preach in the pulpit. But none of the work you do will be in vain. The Lord knows all the hard work you put in behind the scenes, and He will reward you lavishly. In the parable, the nobleman lavishly rewards the first servant who turned one mina, about $20,000, to ten minas, about $200,000, with authority over ten cities. When you are faithful in little things, the Lord will reward you with greater responsibilities in eternity.
In today’s celebrity church culture, men praise famous preachers, but the Lord praises faithful preachers. Faithfulness means doing the hard work of exegesis. Faithfulness means do not compromise the word of God in fear of men. Faithfulness means doing the hard work of knowing God’s people and applying the Scriptures to their life. Faithfulness means praying for the flocks God has entrusted you even when no one knows it. Men praise famous preachers, but the Lord praises faithful preachers. Therefore, serve the Lord faithfully with the spiritual gifts the Lord has entrusted to you.
(Explanation) Not only your motives and faithfulness in ministry will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. Your character in life will also determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. I get the principle from 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.”
Pastors are not only called to preach the word faithfully; pastors are called to practice the word faithfully. Pastors are also called to be examples to the flock of God. Pastors are not only called to apply the word to the flock of God; pastors are called to apply the word to themselves first. When the Chief Shepherd, Christ, returns, He will judge pastors based on their character in life and will reward those who reflect the character of the Chief Shepherd with the unfading crown of glory. Character matters.
(Illustration) When I was a young man, I used to love cycling. And Lance Armstrong was my hero. After beating testicular cancer that had already spread to other parts of his body in 1996, Lance Armstrong won Tour de France, the most prestigious and difficult race in cycling in the world, in 1999. Not only that, he repeated the victory seven times in a row before retiring at the age of 33! His status was really elevated, and he became one of the most revered athletes of all time. However, in 2012, US Anti-Doping Agency reported that Armstrong cheated in the races with illegal drugs. In 2013, Armstrong publicly admitted that he doped during each of his Tour de France wins. He was stripped of his seven Tour de France victories. Character matters. Because of his character, he lost all seven of his rewards. (pause)
(Application) Similarly, your character in life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. How you love your family will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
How you treat your friends determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.
How you love your neighbors determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.
How you serve the church will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
How you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
Your character in life matters.
Therefore, you need to cultivate your character to be more like Christ starting today. Are you spending time with the Lord daily? Do you take time to reflect on your relationship with the Lord and with the people in your life? Are you constantly abiding in the Lord like a branch abiding in the vine? Does your family sense that you love them? Do your friends and classmates sense that you care for them?
I like to suggest two applications for you. First, no matter how busy you are, spend some time alone with the Lord daily. Talk to the Lord. Hear from the Lord. Cultivate your relationship with the Lord. Second, look around you and ask the Lord whom you can show the love of Christ in this stage of your life. Take a step of faith and reach out to that person. Help him, encourage her, support him. Cultivate your character starting today because a Christlike character is not formed in one day. A Christlike character is formed slowly over a long period of walking with the Lord, submitting to His will, trusting Him, and taking small steps of faith daily to extend the love of Christ to people God has put in your life. If you do that, slowly and surely, you will be more like Christ, the Chief Shepard, over time. And when you meet Him at the judgment seat of Christ, you will be rewarded with the unfading crown of glory. Your character in life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
(Close intro Image, cast vision, repeat HP and main points) Imagine it is graduation day. But this time, this is not a dream. It is not DTS graduate day. It is your life graduation day. You are not standing in front of Dr. Yarbrough. You are standing in front of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Chief Shepheard, your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Imagine the Lord praises you because the motives of your ministry are to express your love to Him and to glorify Him. The Lord praises you because you have served the Lord faithfully with the spiritual gifts He has given you. Imagine the Lord rewards you with the unfading crown of glory because your life as an undershepherd reflects the character of the Chief Shepherd. One of the Lord’s faithful preachers, CT Studd, missionary to the Chinese, Indians, and Africans, once said, “Only one life, it will soon be past; only what is done for Christ will last.” You only have one life, one chance, one shot; make it counts for eternity. (HP) How you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.
The Old Testament depicts God calling five kinds of ministers to lead His covenanted people. They are the shepherds, the priests, the prophets, the kings, and the sages. And the New Testament depicts that all these five roles can be found in the Lord Jesus Christ as the ultimate Minister of God. The Lord is the Chief Shepherd, the great High Priest, the King of Kings, the Living Word, and the source of wisdom.
Before the Lord ascended to heaven, He commissioned the apostle Peter to shepherd His flock (John 21:15-17). Later, Peter and the apostle Paul instructed other church leaders to do the same (1 Pet. 5:1-4; Acts 20:28-30). These church leaders are called elders, overseers, and pastors (Acts 20:17, 28; Eph. 4:11).[1]
Paul frequently asked Christians to imitate him and Christ (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; 1 Thess. 1:6). He also instructed Christians to imitate God (Eph 5:1). Therefore, all Christians should imitate Christ, including pastors. Thenceforth, pastors should model their ministry after the five ministry roles of their Lord.[2] This paper aims to survey the biblical theology and ministry application of the roles of pastors as shepherds, priests, kings, prophets, and sages.
Shepherd is a prominent metaphor for God in the Old Testament (Gen. 48:15; Ps. 23; Ezek. 34). God is portrayed as the ultimate Shepherd of His flock (Ps. 23:1). He called Moses as His undershepherd to lead His flock out of Egypt and through the wilderness (Ps. 77:20)[3]. Later in the exile period, God promised through Jeremiah that He would give to His people shepherds after His own heart (Jer. 3:15).
Then in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus was revealed as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), and the Great Shepherd (Heb 13:20). He called some of His disciples as pastors to shepherd His flock. These pastors are His gift to His church (Eph. 4:11). Most commentators think the pastors and teachers are referring to the same office. The Greek word for pastors is ποιμένας (piomenas). It means shepherds. Most English translated it as pastors (NASB, NIV, NET, KJV), and a few translated it as shepherds (ESV). The English word for the term pastor was an anglicized form of the Latin/French term for shepherd[4].
God as the Shepherd care of the Israelites should provide pastors with principles on shepherding God’s flock in the New Testament.[5] The role of a shepherd is to lead the flock of God as a servant leader[6]. A pastor is to feed the sheep of God (John 21:15-17), to shepherd the flock of God by being examples to the flock (1 Pet. 5:1-3), to equip the flocks for ministry by speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:11-15), and to shepherd the flock of God by teaching the whole counsel of God to defend against false teachers (Acts 20:26-30; Tit. 1:9).
The most important duty of the pastor as a shepherd is to feed the flock by teaching and preaching the word of God to help the flock understand God’s word and how to apply God’s words in their life. This is accomplished primarily on the pulpit and complemented by other teaching ministries like Sunday school, special conferences, and retreats.
The pastor should lead the flock by example. That means pastors are called to live with the people. The pastor must know the flocks, and the flocks must know their shepherds. Only by doing life together, the pastor can model life for the flocks. This means pastors should allocate time outside of Sunday to spend time with God’s people. “The most important asset of spiritual leadership is the power of an exemplary life.”[7]
Pastoral care ministry is part of being a good shepherd. Therefore, a pastor should include visitation in his schedule. For example, he could visit the flocks at their home and workplace to get to know their work. Hospital visitation is at the heart of a pastoral care ministry.[8] A pastor should allocate time to visit the sick and the dying in the hospital. These are special moments to shepherd the patients and their families. We can offer a word of comfort from the scriptures and pray for them. Often, simply being there will bring comfort to people because they know we care for them.
Pastoral counseling is different from pastoral care because pastoral counseling is done within a specific time arrangement to address specific issues of a sheep of God. “Pastoral counseling is individual sheep-tending, fulfilling our calling as undershepherds in the care of one (or a couple) of sheep in need of specific attention, and doing so after the example of the Good Shepherd.”[9]
In Old Testament, priests are men descendants of Aaron, who God chooses as spiritual leaders for His people. Priests are anointed leaders who bring the sacrifice of the people to God, teach God’s word (Lev. 10:11), inquire about the will of God (Ex. 28:30; Ez. 2:63), and pronounce blessings to God’s people (Num. 6:22-27). The prophets and the priests complement each other, “as the prophet stood to represent God, the priest entered God’s presence to represent man.”[10]
The leader of the priests were the high priests, who were a shadow of our Lord (Heb. 8:1). Christ is the Great High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:10, 6:20). He offered Himself as the blameless sacrifice to redeem our sins. Christ is currently serving the church as the Great High Priest in the heavenly by making intercession for believers (Heb. 7:25).
In the New Testament, all believers are priests (1 Pet. 2:4, 9; Rev. 1:6). Therefore pastors should be careful not to replace the priesthood of all believers. We should not return to the error of the Roman Catholics, where the priests became a mediator between men and God.
How should a New Testament pastor think about his role as a priest? Paul wrote he was a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God. He further wrote, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience… and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel…” (Rom. 15:16-20). The priestly ministry of a pastor is to preach the gospel. And be a model to believers on how to live as a priest in New Testament. So, a pastor should not think of himself as a priest above regular believers but as a priest with the other believers, proclaiming the gospel. Therefore, a pastor does not stand between the believers and Christ but helps connect believers to Christ. We are ambassadors of Christ; our role is to reconcile people to God on behalf of Christ (2 Cor. 5:20).
Besides preaching the gospel, the pastor’s priestly service should include intercession ministry. One of the primary roles of a pastor is to be a prayer warrior (Acts 6:4). Paul exemplifies that with his prayers in his letters (Eph. 1:15-23; Phil. 1:3-11).
A pastor is a ministry of the gospel. It means our preaching should not only be pastoral to edify the church but should also be evangelistic to convert unbelievers.
When a pastor precedes a communion service, he displays the gospel to the congregation. First, the separation of the beard and the wine represent the death of Christ. Then, when the pastor breaks the unleavened bread, he reminds the congregation that Christ, the one without sins, died on the cross for us.
Similarly, when a pastor performs baptism on believers, he proclaims the gospel to the congregation. The full baptism immersion symbolizes the believer’s dead, buried, and resurrection with Christ.
A pastor should make intercession prayer a priority of his ministry. We are to pray for the flocks of God in prayer meetings, during sermon preparations, in worship services, in our private prayer time, during pastoral care visits, and at weddings and funerals. The High Priest is praying for the church. We, as His ministers, should imitate Him.
God’s will to have kings to lead His people in the Old Testament. The kings of Israelites were anointed as a sign of being commissioned by God to lead His people (1 Sam. 10:10; 16:13; 24:6). The kings were supposed to fear God and lead God’s people by keeping the laws (Deut. 17:14-20). King David was the model of a God-fearing king. The significance of King David’s childhood as a shepherd is that he became a King with a shepherd’s heart. It matches the image of God in the Old Testament as the Shepherd and King of His people. “The divine Shepherd metaphor is often combined with the Lord’s royal reign.”[11] The kings led the people of God in offering sacrifices to worship the Lord (2 Sam. 24:25; 2 Sam. 6:17), blessed the people of God (2 Sam 6:18), administered justice, appointed leaders, stewarded the nation’s resources, and protect the nation by leading the nation in battles against the enemies. The propensity of the nation of Israelites is directed related to the king’s faithfulness to God.
God made a covenant with David that one of his descendants would be king forever (2 Sam. 7:13). Later, the prophets frequently portrayed David as the Messiah in shepherd and king imageries (Ezek. 34:23-24). The Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of these prophecies. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 17:14).
Pastors should be king in the sense that pastors are called to lead the church of Christ (1 Tim. 5:17). They are to provide oversight to the church. However, pastors are warned not to dominate the church but to be an example to the flock (1 Pet. 5:2-4). The title of overseer speaks of the leadership responsibility of the pastors (Acts 20:28). Pastors are called to manage God’s household as a steward (Tit. 1:7) and mobilize the saints for ministry (Eph. 4:11-12). The pastors are chief warriors of God (2 Tim. 2:3). They are to lead the church in battles against the spiritual forces of evil (Eph. 6:12).
A pastor needs to be a good leader. He is to lead by example, preaching God’s word, mobilizing the saints for ministry, identifying leaders, delegating resources, and being a good steward of the resources God has entrusted to Him.
The most senior pastor needs to lead the elders in humility and vision. He is the first among the equals. He is to lead with a vision but, at the same time, be humble in listening and collaborating with other pastors to create a unified team of leaders to lead the church.
Pastors need to keep their eyes open for gifted men who have a passion for serving the Lord in the congregation. Pastors should be willing to invest in younger men to train them as future pastors for the church. We also need to identify, encourage, and train the women in the congregation who are gifted and called to be leaders among the women.
Pastors need to lead by example. Like King David, our topmost priority is to fear the Lord and obey His words as an example for the flock. We are not to lead coercively but with humility as servant leaders.
We need to learn the art of delegation. Our role as leaders is to identify the saints’ gifts and mobilize them for ministry. Therefore, we ought to regularly ask the Lord who can we delegate various ministries to create opportunities for God’s people to serve in the church using their God-given gifts.
As leaders of the church, we need to watch out for attacks from the enemy. We must watch out for divisive issues and people in the church, attacks from cults, and temptations from the world that could affect the church’s spiritual condition. Once we identify a potential or existing danger, we ought to lead the church in combating the issue with the armors of God.
An Old Testament prophet is a witness for God, a pleader, a comforter, and a herald. [12] The prophet’s life was first transformed by the word of God before the prophets could proclaim the word of God to His people. When the prophets faithfully proclaim the word of God, it has the effect of fire and hammer to people’s hearts (Jer. 23:29). The true prophets of God were called to expose false prophets. Most prophets paid a high price to expose the people’s sins (Hos. 1-3; Heb. 11:36-38). Prophets are also called men of God (Deut. 33:1; 1 Sam. 9:6; 1 Kgs. 13:1). They are to live a holy life dedicated to God.
The Lord Jesus was the Prophet of God who preached God’s message during His earthly ministry (Luke 2:47; 24:44). Not only that, but He is also the Logos (John 1:1), the Living. The Lord Jesus spoke what He heard from God the Father (John 8:28). He preached creatively with metaphors, parables, and stories. He quoted Old Testament in His messages and spoke with authority (John 14:10) and conviction. The Lord Jesus is God’s ultimate prophet and preacher (Heb. 1:2).
Pastors have a similar role as Old Testament prophets because God called them both for a special ministry of the word, as massagers of God (Isa. 6:9, Jer. 1:5; 1 Tim. 2:7). Pastors are called to preach the word of God that cuts to the heart of men and women (Acts 2:37) by exposing the sins of men. Our aim is not to please men but to please God who tests our hearts (1 Thess. 2:4). We should preach with authority to convict sinners and bring people into repentance to reconcile sinners to God (2 Cor. 5:19). Like the prophets who paid the price to expose the sins of the Israelites and gentiles, pastors should be willing to pay the price to expose the sins of the church and the world.
Like the prophets, pastors should also be men of God (1 Tim. 6:11, 3:1-7; Tit. 1:5-9). Pastors should live a godly life as an example to the flock (1 Pet. 5:3).[13]
The primary application of pastors as prophets is at the pulpit, for the prophet is primarily the messenger of God. The prophets need to know what God wants in His people and proclaim the message to the people. For example, a prophet called sinners into repentance and established a relationship with God. A prophet should also know the condition of the people’s hearts, speak God’s word into their lives, and properly apply the scriptures to their lives.
A pastor should be prepared to pay the price when he exposes sins in the church and the world. It means we may face criticism from people, lose future speaking opportunities, lose the pastorate, or at times face prison or death in certain parts of the world.
As preachers, we should be godly men. Therefore, we are not only concerned about our exposition of the Scripture and our passion for preaching, but we should be even more concerned about our characters. A pastor must be above reproach in character. He is not perfect, but he should be an example to the flock of God. That means a pastor should make his spiritual formation a priority.
In the Old Testament, the function of priests, kings, and prophets as leaders in the people of God is evident. However, one role in Old Testament that is not mentioned much is the role of a sage. Israelites considered the status of sages to be equivalent to the prophets and priests (Jer. 18:13). Commenting on this verse, Waltke wrote: “For wisdom, man needs both the priest with his תּוֹרָה, the prophet with his דָּבָר, and the sage with his עֵצָה.” The sages are the authors of the book of proverbs and Ecclesiastes. King Solomon was the most famous sage. They were others, but we know almost nothing about them (1 Kings 4:31; Prov 30:1; 31:1). Bruce Waltke wrote a paper to show that “the sages and the prophets were true spiritual yokefellows sharing the same Lord, cultus, faith, hope, anthropology, and epistemology, speaking with the same authority, and making similar religious and ethical demands on their hearers.”[14] “Working in a context previously established and defined by the priest and prophet, the sages pointed their hearers to the ethical demands of the law.”[15] They taught people how to live with wisdom by the fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7).
Christ is presented as the One greater than Solomon (Matt 12:42) in the New Testament. Furthermore, Paul wrote that all the treasures of wisdom and understanding are hidden in Christ (Col 2:3). Therefore, it is not surprising that the Jews in Nazareth were amazed by the Lord’s wisdom in his teaching (Matt 13:54).
The sages functioned very much as Christian pastors in our ministry between Sundays.[16] Therefore, it is wise for pastors to search the Old Testament wisdom books for principles and insights on how to minister as sages. Pastors need to regularly ask God for wisdom in ministry (James 1:5). We need to make our relationship with Christ our top priority because all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ (Col 2:3).
As sages, pastors need to have the wisdom to take care of their personal life. Before the pastor care for the flocks of God, he should care for themselves and their family. It takes a lot of wisdom to know when to rest, how to protect the time with our spouses and children, who we should look for to shepherd our soul[17], when to say no to a ministry opportunity, and many other challenges that could deplete our energy.
As preachers, we need a lot of wisdom to know how to apply the Scriptures to people’s life. First, we need to know the flock enough to understand their struggles, doubts, and needs and then ask God to give us the wisdom to apply the Scripture in sermons.
Second, we need to depend on God constantly for pastoral care and counseling wisdom. Life is complicated, and ministry is messy. Applying the Scriptures in difficult life situations requires heavenly wisdom from God. We also need the wisdom to know when God stopped speaking in the Scriptures. Sometimes the Scriptures just do not have the answers for a life situation, and we need to have the wisdom to tell others we do not know the answers. Still, we know the One who does, our job is to direct them to seek comfort in trusting the sovereign and loving God even without knowing why they had to suffer in life.
Lastly, there are times the church needs changes to conform more to the biblical patterns. Once we have identified an area that needs improvement, we will need wisdom from God to know when and how to make these changes.
God has called five kinds of ministers in the Old Testament to lead His people: the shepherds, the priests, the kings, the prophets, and the sages. These five ministers culminated in our Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. He is the Chief Shepherd, the Great High Priest, the King of Kings, the Living Word, and the source of wisdom. Since all Christians are called to imitate Christ, the pastors of the flock should also imitate Christ. Therefore, all pastors should model their ministries after the Chief Shepherd. In the paper, we have provided a brief biblical theology of each of the roles, tracing the biblical development from Old Testament to Christ, the Chief Shepherd, and the pastors, His undershepherd in the New Testament. We have also provided practical ministry applications following the biblical theology section for each role. I benefited tremendously in my understanding of pastoral theology and ministry applications because of this study. I hope the same for you.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Senkbeil, Harold L. The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart. Lexham Press, 2019.
Senkbeil, Harold L., and Lucas V. Woodford. Pastoral Leadership: For the Care of Souls. Lexham Ministry Guides. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2021.
Thomas, Griffith. The Work of The Ministry. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1911.
Waltke, Bruce. “The Book of Proverbs and Old Testament Theology.” Bibliotheca Sacra 136 (1979).
[1] Gregg R. Allison, Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church, Foundations of Evangelical Theology Series (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 212.
[2] Thomas C. Oden, Pastoral Theology: Essentials of Ministry, 1st ed (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1982), 60.
[3] Timothy S. Laniak, Shepherds after My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions and Leadership in the Bible, New Studies in Biblical Theology 20 (Leicester, England : Downers Grove, Ill: Apollos ; InterVarsity Press, 2006), chap. YHWH, Moses and the “flock” of God in the wilderness.
[4] Laniak, Shepherds after My Own Heart, Introduction.
[5] Phil A Newton, 40 Questions about Pastoral Ministry (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2021), 21.
[6] Daniel L. Akin and R. Scott Pace, Pastoral Theology: Theological Foundations for Who a Pastor Is and What He Does (Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Academic, 2017), 224.
[7] John MacArthur et al., Pastoral Ministry: How to Shepherd Biblically, The John MacArthur Pastor’s Library (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc, 2005), 23.
[8] Hughes and O’Donnell, The Pastor’s Book, 523.
[9] R. Kent Hughes and Douglas Sean O’Donnell, The Pastor’s Book: A Comprehensive and Practical Guide to Pastoral Ministry (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2015), 470.
[10] John Johnson, “The Old Testament Offices as Paradigm for Pastoral Identity,” Bibliotheca Sacra 152 (1995): 187.
[11] Akin and Pace, Pastoral Theology, 211.
[12] Griffith Thomas, The Work of The Ministry (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1911), 7.
[13] Thomas, The Work of The Ministry, 23.
[14] Waltke, “The Book of Proverbs and Old Testament Theology,” 304.
[15] Johnson, “The Old Testament Offices as Paradigm for Pastoral Identity,” 188.
[16] Eugene H. Peterson, Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work (Grand Rapids, Mich. : Leominster, Eng: W.B. Eerdmans ; Gracewing, 1992), 166.
[17] Harold L. Senkbeil, The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart (Lexham Press, 2019), 238.
RESPONSE PAPER TO CARE OF SOULS
___________________
A Paper
Presented to
Dr. Erik Salwen
Dallas Theological Seminary
___________________
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Course
BC5101 Pastoral Counseling
___________________
by
Ken Suanjong Yeo
October 2020
response paper to care of souls
The thesis of the author is that the church must recover its historical understanding and role in caring for people’s souls as well as integrating modern therapeutic psychology to have a fuller ministry to people’s life.
Benner defined soul care as “The support and restoration of the well-being of persons in their depth and totality, with particular concern for their inner life”[1]. Although historically the majority of the theologians have the dichotomy view (spirit or soul and body) of humans with some minority have the trichotomy (spirit, soul, body) view, the majority of the contemporary biblical scholars view a human being as one whole person. Spirit, soul, and body are not different separable faculties of man, but they are different ways of seeing the whole person. This book focuses on the care of the whole person with the focus on his or her inner being, which is normally described as spirit or soul in the bible.
The purpose of soul care is spiritual formation, that is to help the believers being cared for to grow into the image of their savior Jesus Christ.
Throughout the church history, all major streams of Christianity, including but not limited to the Desert Fathers, the Romans Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox, the Reformers, the Puritans, and the Anglican all practiced soul care in some shapes or forms. The church was the dominant soul caregiver in western culture from the beginning of the church to the 18th century. However, the enlightenment in the 17-18th century led to the decline of the church’s influent in society including the soul care of the people. The therapeutic culture slowly became the dominant soul caregiver in the society, replacing the church. Many churches in the western world even adopted therapeutic culture, replacing the rich historical soul care practices of the church.
Many leading psychologists believe that spirituality is an important aspect of the health of the soul of a person. However only some psychologists think it has to be the God of the Christians bible that can meet the needs, others believe that other religions can also meet the spiritual needs of a person. Some psychologists even think spirituality does not have to be religious at all.
Different Christian traditions tend to emphasize different aspects of the Christian faith, however, most of them agree on certain beliefs, eight of them are listed in the book, these are the distinctions of Christian Spirituality over the other religions.
All psychological quests are spiritual quests in the core. Humans are made in the image of the triune God and long to quest for what we do not have, and these quests can only ultimately be satisfied by a relationship with the triune God.
Dialogue is an intimate relational conversion between two persons who respect, care, and love each other. Its primary purpose is not for the transfer of information but is for building trust and relationships.
Dreams are gifts from God, we ought to carefully analyze our dreams to discern what God is trying to tell us about ourselves. Dreams are primarily not to tell us future events or what decision to make. Its primary purpose is to help us to ask the right questions about our life.
There are many different forms of Christian soul care, each form has its own limitations and advantages. They do not compete but complement each other.
Christian soul care has great demands on the counselor, he or she must first view this as a calling to serve God in His kingdom, rather than a job. They must take good care of their relationship with God before taking care of others.
By giving and receiving soul care, we could become more whole and are blessed by being able to participate in the growth of others.
This book advocates for the view of looking at persons as a whole, instead of dichotomy or trichotomy. I am from the tradition of trichotomy, I was aware of the dichotomy view, but before I study at DTS, I have never heard about looking at persons as a whole person. This is the second time I heard about it at DTS. This book once again brought up the benefits of looking at a person as a whole. Although I am not completely convinced of the whole view of a person, this book will certainly make me think about this topic harder as I continue to pursue to know God and to know myself.
I am a preacher and thus focus most of my time in preaching and teaching the word of God. The book gives me a good overview of the soul care or counseling world as it relates to the church. It alerted me to think and pay attention to the soul care of God’s people and the role a pastor can play in it. The book has helped me to think about the need to allocate some of my resources to the task of soul care.
This book put a lot of emphasis on the importance of dialogue in soul care. I particularly like the differences between debate, discussion, conversation, and dialogue. The author emphasized that dialogue is not primarily for information transferred, it is for building trust and relationship. It is a simple concept, I think I can use it in many situations. For example, I can see that I will need to have a dialogue with my wife, my son (family soul care), with my mentor, and with people who I provide soul care to. I see the needs of the church’s small groups to have dialogues to build trust and relationships in a safe environment.
I am not a believer is dream interpretation, because I think dream interpretation is a very unreliable way to know about ourselves or to know about God. This book has informed me about the possibility of using dreams to ask questions to ourselves. Although my view on dreams has not been changed by this book, I will probably pay more attention to dreams as a result of reading this book.
Bibliography
Benner, David G. Care of Souls: Revisioning Christian Nurture and Counsel. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books, 1998.
[1] David G. Benner, Care of Souls: Revisioning Christian Nurture and Counsel (Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books, 1998), 23.
