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Are You a Full-time Pastor Where You Work? — 15 Comments

  1. Thanks pastor, for sure christianity should not be a gown you wear at certain occassions, It should be a lifestyle rooted in your bloodstream!

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    • "Christ was just as truly doing His Father’s business when toiling at the carpenter’s bench as when working miracles for the multitude". –Ellen White, Heavenly Places, Page 214
      Pastor William, you offered a terrific EGW quote to support your point that we are doing God's will at our regular jobs as "Pastors", just as Pastors who do God's will as shepherds of a Church and doing evangelism.

      A couple questions for clarification: 1) In your understanding of the ministry of Jesus Christ, do you make any distinction between Jesus "toiling at the carpenter's bench" and Jesus after His baptism and Holy Spirit anointing "from that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt 4:17), while going about "working his miracles for the multitude"?

      More in the area of human comparison, Ellen White makes the point that Elisha, already knowing that he was called to ministry, was doing God's will in doing the work at hand on the farm, while waiting for his assignment to ministry. Elisha appears to have made some distinction between working on the farm, and leaving the farm immediately following Elijah placing his mantle on Elisha's shoulder. Did God, Elijah, or Elisha the recipient indicate that working on the farm was a ministry equivalent to the ministry he was asked to leave the farm to do?

      2) All of Christ's followers are asked to be "light", "salt", "ensamples", part of a "holy nation", "a royal priesthood", "disciples" etc. Do those symbols suggest that a Christian only have to live a Christlike life on the job, not necessarily vocal? Does living a Christian life on the job satisfy "go ye into the world and preach the Gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father....?

      God bless in your ministry.

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      • Thanks, Hurford, for asking some important question. And I suspect you didn't ask them because you don't know the answer. 😉

        However, for those who read this later, I will reply to your questions:

        1) Yes, of course, there is a difference between ministering in our secular employment and ministering full-time. But I believe it is not a difference in quality of ministry, but a difference in function. It reminds me of Paul's analogy of the body of Christ to the physical human body. The function of every part is important to the whole.

        2) Your second question is very important, partly because I've too often heard "lifestyle" used as an excuse to not confess Christ with our lips. But the Paul reminds us "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Ro 10:9) So it is evident that our words are an important part of our ministry. And there's good reason for that. Atheists and agnostics may live very good lives. If we don't share what we have experienced of God's goodness, how are those watching us supposed to "glorify our Father who is in heaven"? (See Matt 5:16)

        And then there is Christ's serious reminder that"whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. 9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. (Luke 12:8-9) We may deny Christ by our lifestyle, but we may also deny Christ by failing to bear witness to His goodness and His grace so that others may be drawn to Him.

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        • Dear Sister Inge, thank you for replying to "important" questions. Thank you for the reminder that Jesus Christ often commissioned those who received His blessings to go and "tell what great things God has done for you. He strongly affirmed that His will is an imperative of witnessing to what we witnessed in our hearts and lives.

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        • On question 1, I hope you don't mind my requesting further clarification of your response.
          As you did in question 2, you faithfully used the Scriptures as part of your response in question 1: God sees the every function of the "body" of Christ as important, as illustrated in Paul's analogy of the function of eyes and ears in the physical body. Do you believe that God is saying that the eyes are just as vital as the heart or the brain or the skeletal structure? If the human can will continue living even if the eyes or feet are severed, is God making a particlar point we need we need to understand?

          Does the story of Cain and Abel correlate with question number 1? Does God see equal importance to Jesus Christ being a carpenter, as His being SAVIOR OF THE WORLD?

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  2. Yes of course we have to be a shining light to our fellow friends it might be neighbors,colleagues at work,our community Jesus has to shine through us.

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  3. I know that Christ has commissioned all of his followers, disciples, to go and preach , teach and baptize no all the world, but have not thought about just doing your everyday job was being a minister. Thanks for pointing this out, for we ALL are , as the children's song says, a sermon in shoes.

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  4. Indeed, we don't need to be a Pastor to be a Pastor. We don't need to say a word to convert someone - action speaks louder that words... Live by examples. People (unbelievers) are watching and if you're a "salt" (believers) - God uses you for them to get and have that taste back (faith) that they have been longing for...

    Remember this as well: “Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.” MH p. 149

    God uses everything in His power to convert someone in need of Spiritually!

    Prayer is a powerful conviction for someone who is disperately longing for salvation!

    The question remains; as a Christian or a believer or Seventh-day Adventist bear a name of being saved? Not likely! But those who willingly "deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow Him..." will surely have a part of the Kingdom of God. So help us all till He comes to take us home!! Happy Sabbath everyone, and I pray that the blessings of the Lord continues in everyone's heart.

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  5. Thank you Mr Earnhardt for the reminder that people are watching us all the time and that we are witnessing to Christ all the time. This includes the harassed and frustrated Mum or Dad in reprimanding their children, (the kids will know whether you are being fair or not); Nurses emptying that smelly bedpan and the teacher mechanic to folks who don't know what he/she knows.

    But please explain though what UPS is. I really hate the use of initials that don't tell what they are. Jesus was patient with folks like me.
    Godbless today, Mrs. A Stolz

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  6. Thank you Mrs. Solz, UPS stands for United Parcel Service, which is a worldwide delivery company. In the last several years they stopped going by "United Parcel Service" and started just going by UPS, as they go way beyond a parcel service to also being a logistic service.

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    • Brother William, may I offer another Bible based perspective to your sharing regarding the pastoral relationship of believers?
      David prayed: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He leads me... He restores me....Leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake....Walks with me in the valley of the shadow of death...Anoints my head...."id

      David was saying the Lord is my "Pastor" (the same Hebrew and Greek roots in caring for His sheep).

      Jesus said: "I AM the Good Shepherd,and know my sheep, and they follow me". He is the Shepherd of His sheep, which includes all who are saved. From this perspective, the Pastor in a Church is the "lead sheep" in the congregation and not the Shepherd, Who only is Jesus Christ.

      However, as He is the Light, and calls us to be Light, so He calls us to care for His sheep, not as the Shepherd, but as caring sheep, shepherding those who will follow Him.

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    • Brother William, even if you did not have experience with caring for sheep, you must have done some research on the relationship of sheep in a flock. Which means you understand what I mean by "sheep, shepherding those who follow Him".

      To continue with the illustration of Light. In Jesus Christ saying that He is "Light of the world", that He surely means literally. As it was in the Creation of Genesis 1-2, so in the New Jerusalem "there will be no need for the sun or moon, for the Lamb is the Light", "who lights everyone who comes into the world".
      So when He says that "you are the Light", He is not suggesting that we are the Divine Light, but He is saying that the Divine Light living in our hearts, will cause us to shine, making us the Light in the world. As Moses carried the reflected Light of God on his face when He came down from the mountain of God; or as Moses and Elijah coming down from Heaven on the Mountain of Transfiguration. We shine reflecting His Light.

      When a lamb is lost, how does the Shepherd know? Those who know sheep know that the mother will all day if necessary send out a loud persistent unique bleat, calling for her lamb. Other sheep will pick it up, even miles away. The Shepherd has a flock that cares, shepherding for Him, praying for the missing lambs, and calling for help from others into praying for and calling the little lamb home. Oh how he wants His sheep praying and caring for His flock. God bless.

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