The most encouraging message I’ve heard on pastoral ministry was titled “Endurance Needed: Strength for a Slow Reformation and The Dangerous Allure of Speed.” This sermon was preached by Mark Dever (Senior Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church) at the 2016 Together for the Gospel (T4G) conference.
In this sermon, Dever contrasts the joys of the spotlight (doing ministry which places great emphasis on the gift of the preacher — things that we can see and know now) versus the joys of the elder’s chair. (The elders’ chairs are often in older churches. They are lined up at the front of the sanctuary, sometimes on the platform, facing the pews. They symbolize the elders’ loving and faithful oversight of the congregation that God has entrusted to their care — a ministry that emphasizes the power and promises of God and is therefore marked by faithful endurance.)
“The joys of the elder’s chair” include:
The joy of resting in the sufficiency of Scripture.
The joy of seeing people converted (1 Tim. 4:16).
The joy of knowing your congregation well enough to see God’s work in their lives.
The joy of watching the assembly sing God’s promises and relish and live off the hope that they are given.
The joy of knowing that the state of your members is more important than their number (e.g., Acts 15:36)
The joy of hearing others preach better sermons than you
The joy of being more excited about God’s work than your own
The joy of knowing that the weight of the world is on God’s shoulders, not on your own
The joy of longing for heaven together
The joy of waiting together on the promises of a faithful God (Hab. 2:3)
Dever asserts, “A vision that sees only what can be accomplished immediately artificially constricts our view of the action of God. And that can lead to discouraged Christians and churches and pastors.” So, don’t be misled. Don’t be discouraged. Focus on the power and promises of God as you faithfully serve the flock of God.
Scripture teaches that the whole posture of the Christian life is one of waiting for Christ’s return (Rom. 8:22-23; James 5:7; Titus 2:11-12), and that we should live this day in light of that Day. For pastors to endure, what we need are not the joys of the spotlight, but the joys of the elder’s chair.
“If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Tim. 2:12a).