Unfortunately, the economic crisis has spawned false men of God in search of glory and social success.
More and more Christians declare themselves called to pastoral ministry and engage in « God’s service » not to do God’s will but for their personal interests. The service of God has unfortunately become a business a fad. These so-called men of God have no spiritual vision and resort to mystical carnal practices. They do not seek the glory of God, they have for God their belly. (Philipiens3: 19.2 Stones 2: 14-19.1 Timothy 4: 1-2). But what is God’s thought about this subject?
The call
All Christians are called to the service of God but not everyone is called as a shepherd. To exercise spiritual ministry according to the Lord, one must be called by God. This is the call of spiritual conductors (pastors, evangelists, prophets, elders, etc.). To work for God, the Lord Jesus Christ must first choose the servant in question and tell him the precise service he must perform (Jeremiah 1:5). This call must necessarily come from the Lord Jesus Christ and not from our lust (2 Corinthians 10:18). After the call, the servant must be trained and worked according to the vision, the model, the way of doing the Lord.
Training
This training is done on two levels:
- The theoretical training that consists of teaching true doctrine (the revelation of the word of God by the Holy Spirit Psalms 119: 130). This is very important insofar as the lack of knowledge misplaces the servant and the people. (2 John: 9, Hosea 4: 6, Revelation 22: 19). In this training, we will mention the theology taught in so-called Bible schools. It must be done by a pastor full of Holy Spirit in order to teach the knowledge and wisdom of the things of the world in the light of God’s word. This theological training is not mandatory. In reality, the result of all these study efforts is only the wisdom of the world (1 Corinthians 1:18-22; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5).
- Practical training, which is the practice of speech. Theoretical training alone is not enough. Indeed, the life of the servant must reflect the word of God (Roman 2:13, John 13:17). What is sought is that the shepherd be clothed in the fruit of the Spirit. This is what recommends it with the orientation of the Spirit (Galates 5:22).
The exercise of the call
After the formation the called must exercise his call according to the guidance of the Lord under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He must not do what he pleases but what the Lord wants even when it does not suit him. Indeed, it should be noted that today, servants « do » the work of God not according to the Lord’s direction but according to their own will (self-interest) (acts 16:6-10). This is what causes a disorder unworthy of the Lord. This is also the reason why the Lord vomited all these servants because it is written « according to the grace of God given to me, I laid the foundation as a wise architect, and another builds on it. But let everyone beware of the way they build on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than the one that was laid, namely Jesus. Now if someone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, thatch, everyone’s work will be manifested… » (1 Corinthians 3: 10-15), (happy 3:10). The exercise of the call is nothing but the life of Christ in us in all the acts we take (1 Corinthians 11:1, Ephesian 5:1, Philippians 3:17). Moreover, a servant who does not live in accordance with the preaching of God’s word is a Pharisee, a whitewashed tomb (Mattieu 23:25, Matthew 23:27). Therefore, in the exercise of the call, the servant must obey scrupulously the various directives of the Holy Spirit by serving in the appropriate place and according to the Lord’s time.
