pastors

This post is solely concerned with Samuel's promise to the people in I Samuel 12:20-25. He pledges to pray for the people and to teach them. That's it. 

Let's not get beyond ourselves with analysis of this statement or the circumstances that surround the event. Context is important. So is the historical movement. Not to mention the spiritual quake shaking the flow of God's desire. No, instead I want to take a quick look at Samuel's conclusion of his prime duties in his last years of life as the pastor of the flock known as Israel.

I will pray for you.

I will teach you.

What a simple job description! What a horrible burden on the people! 

Samuel had learned that leadership is hard. Families are difficult. People are constantly failing your expectations. Samuel learned that he could not save anyone, but that each could come to a point of personally being right with God. He took that terrible burden off himself and placed it where it should be for every man who represents Jesus Christ: on those who hear.

I will pray for you. Our intersessions with God for others make a bit difference in the spiritual flow of life. It is a key to the position and should never be cheated.

I will teach you. This is the Word, and this is the plain meaning of the Word. Now do it! This is not easy in a charisma oriented media flashy mushy doctrine world. But that is what Samuel promised to do for the people. 

The rest is gravy, pastors. All the rest of it is secondary: business skills, oratory excellence, size or age of the congregation, even the degrees you can earn. Your denomination and theology are almost nothing in the heavenly sphere. All of this gets in the way of prayer and teaching. 

So pastors, do yourself a favor: stop whatever you are doing now and spend a half hour with a pad and a pen. Listen to God and let him tell you the people with concerns that need your intervention. What would God say to them? How do you know from God's Word? Then after that half hour, teach what you have learned that others will come closer to the Lord and known that He has spoken. Do this in a spirit of humilty and grace. But do it, and make it a habit to merge the two practices of prayer and teaching. 

Oh, and what if you spend a half hour and nothing comes? Then perhaps you need to spend more half hours until you once again recognize the voice of God leading you.