PASTOR’S DAY
Josimar Salum
It is common nowadays to criticize pastors who are church leaders. The reasons are varied and tend to touch on the sublimity of pastoring, trivializing the sublime vocation of God in the life of a man of God. Certainly there are pastors and pastors, but today being in Brazil pastor’s day I want to speak ONLY of those who heard the words of Jesus: “Feed my sheep.” John 21:16 KJV
Pastors of God are men who ‘pasture the flock of God that is among us, taking care of them, not by force, but willingly; not out of filthy greed, but with a ready mind; nor as having dominion over the inheritance of God, but being an example to the flock.’ 1 Peter 5:2-3 KJV
God’s pastor is “blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, honest, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not a striker, not greedy for filthy lucre, but temperate, not contentious, not covetous; who governs his own house well, having his children in subjection, with all modesty, who knows how to govern his own house taking care of the church of God, who also has a good testimony from those outside and thus does not fall into disgrace and in the snare of the devil.' 1 Timothy 3:2-5, 7 KJV
There are those who make these qualities a checklist to disqualify some men, forgetting that we are all only in the ministry because of God's 'empowering' Grace. Even our Father God has children in rebellion against Him, and all of us like Him are challenged to have the same heart as His expressed in the story of the prodigal son, with love, mercy and grace in action.
Pastor, my friend, and woman of God who also exercises the shepherding of Ephesians 4:11, do not allow anyone to despise you in any way, for our Lord is the one who called us, gave us the gift and qualified us to obey the most sublime and worthy of all the services (ministries, businesses) in the world: “Feed My Sheep.”
#ASONE
Photographs: my father Josias and my father-in-law Antônio Roberto, now with the Lord, pastors par excellence.
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