{"id":77,"date":"2017-03-23T23:08:54","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T23:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/?p=77"},"modified":"2017-03-23T23:08:54","modified_gmt":"2017-03-23T23:08:54","slug":"driving-miss-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/2017\/03\/driving-miss-message\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving Miss Message"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Imagine how you would describe the job of a race car driver. \u00a0Would you say “Drive Fast” or perhaps “Drive faster than everyone else.” \u00a0Simple, to the point, accurate. \u00a0Also a bit incomplete.<\/p>\n

Imagine our new hire following his job description on I-95. \u00a0He would be a menace to all around him and not accomplishing what he was supposed to. \u00a0Yet he did drive fast; faster than everyone else.<\/p>\n

The problem was that driving fast is not the point of a race car driver. \u00a0The point is to win the race. \u00a0Driving fast is a method, not a goal. \u00a0The goal is to win on the track. \u00a0Driving fast is just a description of how to best fulfill that mission.<\/p>\n

Without a clear view of that mission, the instruction to Drive Fast could result in failure.<\/p>\n

Now consider this key verse for pastors.<\/p>\n

\u00a0“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. ”
\n(2 Timothy 4:2)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is an important instruction from Paul to Timothy. \u00a0Paul even warns a few verses later that the day will come when many won’t want sound doctrine, preferring to have their ears tickled.<\/p>\n

So how does this relate to my race car driver?<\/p>\n

The job of a pastor according to Scripture is to equip the saints for service.<\/p>\n

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
\n(Ephesians 4:11-12)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is the only time in the New Testament where the word Pastor is used. \u00a0The job here is clear, to equip the saints for the work of service.<\/p>\n

I fear that sometimes pastors are driving fast, but they are not trying to win a race, they are merely barrelling down I-95, scattering people left and right. \u00a0They are preaching the Word. \u00a0They are ready in season & out of season. \u00a0They are rebuking and exhorting their hearts out. \u00a0They go home feeling good that they “drove really fast today.”<\/p>\n

But did they win anything? \u00a0 Sometimes our hearers are deeply educated but lightly equipped. \u00a0They will win at Bible Trivia and pass the theology test, but haven’t made a Disciple in years. \u00a0They can recite the four spiritual laws but are still not mature leaders who are training other leaders. \u00a0They have been in church for years, learning, but\u00a0producing no disciples, and haven’t even brought a friend to church in recent memory.<\/p>\n

Preaching the Word for a pastor is like Driving Fast for a race car driver. \u00a0Both are essential and neither is the point. \u00a0The point, the goal, for the pastor, as well as every Christian is Make Disciples. \u00a0Not merely educated believers, but equipped-for-service believers.<\/p>\n

Without a clear view of that mission, the instruction to Preach the Word\u00a0could result in failure.<\/p>\n

It is\u00a0beautiful when we put aside our pride at being “Preachers of the Word” and pour ourselves into the race that has been set before us:\u00a0 to equip the members of the Body for their<\/em> service. \u00a0To see them not only become Disciples, but to become Disciple makers. \u00a0Some of them even becoming Pastors & Teachers. \u00a0Oh, the joy of that winner’s circle. \u00a0Paul looked at Timothy and saw the wreath he had won. \u00a0 He had preached the Word, but in a way that achieved the goal. \u00a0He had finished the race.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine how you would describe the job of a race car driver. \u00a0Would you say “Drive Fast” or perhaps “Drive faster than everyone else.” \u00a0Simple, to the point, accurate. \u00a0Also a bit incomplete. Imagine our new hire following his job description on I-95. \u00a0He would be a menace to all around him and not accomplishing … Continue reading Driving Miss Message<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-on-mission","category-perils-of-shepherds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94,"href":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions\/94"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beanscorner.org\/zion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}