Saturday, April 20, 2013

Minister or Monster

Hebrews 5:1-3 KJV
For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.

The High Priest does not answer to the pastor of the church but to every Christian. We should see ourselves as called of God to stand between God and men, offering ourselves as ministers to reconcile them to God. Everything I am about to say has its primary application for every born again believer. But there is a parallel that would be a good lesson for pastors to learn, especially those who become elevated in status due to size of church or the influence over other pastors.

No man is called, because he is better than others but precisely because he is compassed about with the same infirmities.
  • We are bound not to lord over men but to have compassion on them
  • We are to minister to them not as their betters but as sinners in the same need and
  • Our ministry is to reach not only their infirmities but our own as well
There are too many instances where the one who would be the minister has turned out to be the monster. It is exactly because he forgot that he "himself also is compassed with infirmity." 

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