What Pastors Should Really Be Doing

Well a couple of interesting posts recently on the subject,

Pastors should spend less time in cafes drinking coffee from Carey Leadership Blog and

7 Things the Church Expects from the Seminary. Which should actually be titled 7 Things the church expects its pastors to be able to do. To which I say, good luck with that.

Lots of things I'd like to respond to in them but today I don't have the energy. Instead I'll give you 4 things pastors (and anyone else) should base their ministry on based on Mark 1:9-13 the start of Jesus' ministry.

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” 12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

So

1. We should minister out of the love and acceptance of our Father in Heaven - not our own needs and agendas. (v11)
2. We should be following the leading of the Spirit - not the latest techniques from the USA. (v12)
3. We should understand our vocation is constantly at risk of being derailed by the temptations of Satan - and so our enemy is the devil not the people who annoy us and inside us as much as outside. (v13a)
4. We should embrace the unpredictability and uncertainty of the company of wild animals and angels - not seek to control our lives so that God's work is limited to only what we can imagine and control. (v13b)

Let me know what you think, :-)