"So You Want To Be A Pastor?" (pt.1)

2 Timothy 2:24-26) And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (ESV)

I vaguely remember an older saint speaking to me one Sunday evening after the worship service and saying, " I believe the Lord is going to call you to preach." My response (unknowing what I was saying) was, "well I hope He does." As I look back, I really did not know what I was saying nor what the Lord has in store for me. Being called by God to serve Him who wouldn't want to do that?
Now after 6 years in pastoral ministry, I look back and really did not know what in the world I had said. I only saw the ministry as a job in which everyone liked you, you wore a nice suit, and got to teach the Word of God. What better way to earn a living, yeah right. Boy, was I fooled. I thought the ministry was a glorious way to live, no one ever warned me of what I was in store for after God called me to preach.
The Apostle Paul reminds the young preacher boy (Timothy) what was expected of him. He tells Timothy, he was not to "quarrel but rather kind to everyone." This is not an easy thing to do. Often times you have to "bite" your tongue even when you know something is to be true. No matter what, the man of God must "must not be quarrelsome." Reminds me of a saying from one of my favorite preachers, "if you believe in grace, you ought to have some grace (David Miller)." I do not mean we ought to back down from the truth of God's Word but it must be done in a gracious way. Paul said, "speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)."
Please do hear what I am saying, serving the Lord as a pastor is such a privilege. But, it can also be very demanding, emotionally draining, and also a spiritual roller coaster. If a young man were to be called under my ministry I would discourage him all I could from going into the ministry. I would tell him if he could do anything else, go and do it. If not, preach the Word and don't please man but rather God. Galatians 1:10) For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
So after reading this, "so do you want to be a pastor?" Let me know what you think!