105 The Calling To The Mnisterial Office: A Unique Burden

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Thomas F. Fischer, M.Div., M.S.A., Editor

The Calling To The Ministerial Office:
A Unique--But Joyful--Burden

Thomas F. Fischer, M.Div., M.S.A.

Number 105

Of the numerous factors that interplay on ministerial health, perhaps the most important and fundamental is a solid, biblically-based foundation of ministry. As one considers the office of the ministry from a scriptural perspective, one notes a certain uniqueness about it. Such unique aspects of the Ministry are...

1) The Office Of The Ministry Is Not Something That Is Man-Made.

It is not something that shifts with the sands of time, culture and multitudinous subjective expectations of pastors and parishioners. Instead, as a specific office established within the Priesthood of All Believers, it is the specific office which God has, by grace, created and to which God entrusts the fundamental offices of grace: teaching, feeding and Christian oversight.

Not created by man or the church, it is man's and the church's highest honor and responsibility not to add, subtract or alter the Office in a way contrary to God's specific Word and revealed will.

2) Though The Pastor Is A Member Of The Priesthood of All Believers, The Office Of The Ministry Is Different From The Priesthood Of All Believers.

St. Paul acknowledged the distinctive of this office. "Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?" he asked in I Corinthians 12:29.

Obviously they are not. There really is something unique about the Office. There is something unique about the divine call. Though the Christian pastor is--and always remains--a member of the Priesthood of All Believers, the divine call imparts greater responsibilities to faithfully heed the command of God to preach and teach publicly and to lead the flock over which he has been given charge.

3) The Office Of The Ministry Is A Unique Blessing.

The calling of the ministry is always a specific calling of service to do what he who has been ordained to do. Not simply a "functionary," the one called to the Office of the Ministry is to carry out the Lord's distinctive calling and do only as the Lord has said.

Furthermore, the individual called to the Office of the Ministry is not simply a priest as others in the universal priesthood. He is a specially called "priest among priests," one called by God to publicly act with Word and Sacrament to the universal priesthood.

He is not holier, nor is he given any power other than the power to exercise the Office of the Keys publicly. Given such privilege to share and proclaim the Word is, to say the least, a unique blessing of grace to whomever it is given..

4) The Office Of The Ministry Is A Unique Burden.

This uniqueness, rooted in the distinctive public calling to teach and preach in the church, makes what pastors do so joyful and yet so painful. The calling is sweet; but the ministry of grace can, as St. John experienced in his apocalyptic vision, be sour, bitter, and disheartening. Perhaps no one, other than the Lord of the Church, feels the burden of the local church as the pastor does. Perhaps no one senses the pain, the ongoing struggle, and the essential and necessary daily repudiation of Satan's working in the church.

5) The Office Does Not Add To Christ's Ministry; It Simply Bears And Proclaims It.

The Office of the Ministry adds nothing to the work of Christ for salvation. As the writer of Hebrews proclaimed, that price has been completed once and for all. Jesus' call to pastors was not to die on the cross for others. Nor was it to add to the sacrifice of sin for which Christ had already died.

The Office is simply one of proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is here. It is the Office through which God's Holy Spirit works today in His Word to bring people to the rebirth of faith. Those who by human effort try to add to it, do nothing but detract from it and from its author, Jesus Christ. St. Paul in I Corinthians 4:1 taught,

"So then, men out to regard us a servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God" (NIV).

6) Those In The Office Have The Explicit Requirement To Uphold Their Calling Faithfully.

As called servants "entrusted with the secret things of God," those who are called to the Office of the Ministry have a calling not only to serve faithfully, but to faithfully guard, preserve and share what has been entrusted to them, namely the "secret things of God," i.e. the preaching of the mystery of salvation that a Holy God forgives, dies for, and saves sinners.

Indeed, as Paul wrote in I Corinthians 4:2, "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful" (NIV). That which is entrusted is not simply given to the entire priesthood. Though the entire priesthood of believers is also to be faithful to what has been entrusted to it, it is the Office of the Ministry which has been specifically called by God to be the public Guardian of this trust, the "trustee" of the "secret things" of the mystery of faith on behalf of God for the benefit of the people.

7) As The Office Proclaims The Foolishness of God, The Office And Its Message Will Be Ridiculed By The Wisdom Of Men.

It is precisely because of this message of Christ crucified that the Gospel is a stumbling block for others (cf. I Corinthians 1, et al). A source of pain and guilt for unbelievers, the preaching of the Word of God is nothing less than a putridly offensive message to them. To relieve the pain, they would rather attack the messenger than receive the Word of grace. Thus, the Office will be attacked unjustly, viciously, and repeatedly. Jesus indicated to the disciples that this was to be expected. But He also indicated that when it occurred, they were really attacking Jesus, not the preacher.

8) The Key Essential Of The Call To Public Ministry Is To Uphold The Office In All Circumstances.: As ones entrusted with the secret things of God, those called to the Office of the Ministry will inevitably be as sheep among wolves. As shepherds, they will be tested. Will they give up their lives for their sheep? Or will they, like the hireling, run away at the first opportunity regardless of the cost to the flock.
: A common clich�' among churchmen is, "Jesus was already crucified. So you don't have to be, too." I'm not quite so sure. In fact, I think it's a pious lie. Though its use is usually well-intended and is meant to encourage pastors in difficulty so that they don't take themselves so seriously, et al, it's still a gross theological misrepresentation of the calling to ministry.; If the call to the priesthood of all believers is to take up the cross and follow me, as it is, and if the call to faith is that we give up our lives so that we can find it in Christ, does it not follow that the pastor is called to a greater sacrifice?; In light of this, perhaps other scriptural encouragement ought to be offered from Matthew 10, I Corinthians 15:56, the Pastoral Epistles, the Apocalypse and other relevant scriptures to give pastors a healthy, biblical perspective of the suffering they bear in this Office. Having a biblical understanding would, perhaps, then draw them to the comfort from that same Word of God which so directly describes the prophetic predicament of suffering, rejection, failure, and grief.

9) The Character Of The Office Is One Which Overcomes Fear With Godly Faith And Trust.

As they uphold the office against attacks, criticism, ridicule, slander and defamation, those called to the Office of the Ministry must be guarded by a fearless yet fierce godly tenacity and conviction. "Fear not those who can kill the body but not the soul," Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 10:28. "Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (NIV).

Like the prophetic and apostolic martyrs, the faithful called servant of God can expect extreme discomfort and suffering, sometimes unlike what they have experienced before. But, like the martyrs of the church of every age who bore their "cross" and refused to disown the Author of their calling--even though "brother betray brother to death"--the ordained servants of Christ have been empowered by God's to remain faithful and strong even in weakness.

In Luke 9:18ff, immediately after Peter's confession of Christ as "The Christ of God," Jesus' spoke of the sacrifice He would give. But His words specifically directed to the called band of disciples pointed to their future sacrifice--and possible death--for the sake of the Gospel.

Indeed the call is not just to believers to take up the cross. Instead, addressing this chosen apostolic band and extending His calling to them to public ministry, Jesus indicated that it was for the called servants as well. To both groups the same exhortation is given, "take up [your] cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).

If all Christians are called to willingly suffer for their private ministry to their Lord, then it certainly follows that those called to the Public Office are called to a willingness to publicly suffer as a consequence for their public ministry for the Lord.

10) Whatever Is Encountered By The Office, The Call Never Changes: Preach Anyway.: The calling to the holy Office is not to be subject to approval seeking, honor, and recognition. As Paul stated in defense of his call to the holy Office, "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10 NIV). Nor is the Office, as Paul, the pastor-mentor, told his "son" Timothy, to be subject to the correct "seasons."
: "In the presence of Christ Jesus...I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry" (II Timothy 4:1-5 NIV).; Though there are times when God's servants must shake the dust off their feet in judgment at those who stubbornly resist the Word, as long as it is God's will for His called servants to remain, they must remain--and remain faithfully--to preach "in and out of season" and to patiently "correct, rebuke and encourage" especially those who turn aside to "myths" and other errors.
: Since suffering will come, the ordained servant of Christ is to "keep your head" in all situations. Even in hardships, the calling and work is unchanged: "discharge all the duties of your ministry."; Those who have been most faithful in the discharge of their calling may experience the greatest hardship. But, in "the presence of God and of Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead" (I Timothy 4:1), they will bear before their Master a confident witness: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness" (II Timothy 4:1-8 NIV).
: Is there any greater finish for the unique calling of God given to the called and ordained servants of God? Not at all! And what is the final reward? Nothing earthly, nothing worldly, nothing that is part of the "wisdom of the world." Whether or not these are received, the real reward is simply--and magnificently--a crown of righteousness, stored for us and to be given--purely by unmerited grace--by the Lord we proclaim and serve.; "Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing [absolutely nothing] move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (I Corinthians 15:58 NIV); Thomas F. Fischer

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This page was revised on: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 11:03:21 PM