For Me To Live is Christ

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone, and welcome to the podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our Executive Director. Mark, you gave us an update on a recent podcast about the Global Leaders Retreat, and I certainly enjoyed hearing about what you guys were up to there as you gathered and learned from one another. You taught several sessions there — you mentioned that. And perhaps there are others who check out the podcast who are like me, who kind of wish they had been there to listen in on your teaching. Well, if you're in that same boat with me, we've got a treat — because Mark is going to share with us one of the lessons for leaders that he taught: really a lesson of primary importance for the pastor.

Mark Prater:

I taught a session there called "Important Lessons for Extra-Local Leadership," and I wanted to talk about the first lesson — which I purposely and intentionally put as number one. I'll use the language of "pastor" rather than "leader," though of course a pastor is a leader as well. Here's the first lesson that I taught.

This is so important for every pastor and every leader. And it's this: the pastor's consistent pursuit of Christ. Why is it important? Because you see it in Scripture. The Apostle Paul — we are all familiar with him to varying degrees — is a world-class theological mind, a pastor of pastors, a leader of leaders. And yet what was most important to Paul? He says it very clearly, I believe, in Philippians 1:21: "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." It was Christ who was most important to him. It was Christ that he proclaimed. It was Christ that he served first and foremost as a pastor. For Paul, Christ was everything — which is why he writes in Philippians 3:8, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." Paul knew Christ. He lived for Christ. He wanted more of Christ, and he longed to see Him face to face.

I don't think that Christ-centered portrait that you see in the life of Paul just happens. I don't think we just grow there on our own. I think it happens because we must be intentional as pastors to consistently pursue Christ each and every day — that we not even start our day with our pastoral responsibilities, unless there's an emergency, unless we've been with Him and been in His Word and soaked our soul in the Word of God and benefited from Christ and confessed our sins to Christ and worshipped Christ and said, "I'm not getting up from this desk until I know Christ is everything for me as I step into this day." So that's how I started that lesson — the importance of a pastor pursuing Christ every day.

Benjamin Kreps:

Wonderful. And you know, it could be that someone is checking out the podcast and nodding their head saying, "Well, of course — we get that. I want to check that box." But in all of this, you really feel an urgency to remind us of this important priority. Why do you feel that urgency for us to pay careful attention to this area?

Mark Prater:

Well, I think what emerges from Scripture, when you look at the life of Paul, is that Christ was everything to him. And I think a pastor has to ask this question: do the people in my church know that Christ is everything to me? You've got to wrestle with that question. You should ask some friends around you that question, because it's important. Our ability to proclaim Christ from the pulpit should be a spillover from our daily time with Christ — when we are growing in our love for Him, our amazement at Him, our treasuring of Him, and our obedience to Him.

And then as pastors, we lead our churches — and to lead with zeal, as Jeff Purswell exhorted us a couple of Pastors Conferences ago as he preached from Romans 12:8, we must cultivate that zeal in Christ each and every day. In other words, that zeal is not just going to happen. We must pursue it. We must take initiative to be with Christ and to stir our zeal for Christ. And I believe it's those kinds of pastors — those who consistently pursue Christ — that people in our churches want to be around.

I've used this quote a few different times; it's just hard to top. It's from John Piper's wonderful book Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. He says this:

"Are not our people really yearning to be around a man who's been around God?"

Our people are yearning, says Piper, to be around a man who's been with Jesus — who they know has Jesus as everything to him. And pastors, we must be aware: this is the most important thing we can give our people — Christ Himself. And when they know He's everything to us, our example will affect them so that Christ becomes everything for them. So that's why we must, brothers, consistently pursue Christ.

Benjamin Kreps:

That's excellent, Mark. You know, we are not interested at all in jargon and simply checking the "Christ-centered church" box and moving on. This is an area of primary importance for us. And actually, you have one more thing you really want to emphasize before we end the podcast.

Mark Prater:

Yeah. There's one other thing that I think is important — especially for a pastor and a leader, although what I'm saying can apply to any member of our churches. And it's this: another reason why it's important to consistently pursue Christ is because it keeps our identity rooted in Christ and not in who we are as a pastor or leader, or in what we do as a pastor or leader.

Of course, there's application in other vocations — any of us could find our identity in what we do vocationally. But it is especially important for the pastor and the man who leads a church. Because we're all — let's admit it — we are all vulnerable, I believe very subtly, to beginning to find our identity in our role as a pastor and a leader, and in what we do as a pastor and leader. And I know, at least for my own soul, it takes a consistent pursuit of Christ to keep my identity rooted in Him. I ask Joel frequently — several times a year — "Do you see any evidence that I'm finding my identity in what I do or in the role that I play?"

Here's why it's important for pastors to keep their identity in Christ: criticism that you will receive will not condemn you, and leading through difficult situations will not crush you — because you're rooted in Christ. Those things are not a statement about who you are. You are a man in Christ, serving the people of Christ, and therefore the criticism will not condemn and the difficulties will not crush you. When your identity is fixed in Christ, there's a whole worldview, I believe, that is not only clear to yourself but clear to others that you serve in your church.

And I think the Apostle Paul captures it so well. I think this is a reflection of his own identity in Christ when he writes in 1 Corinthians 4:1: "This is how one should regard us — as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." So how did Paul want to be regarded? Not as a great apostle, not as a great theologian. He wanted to be regarded as a servant of Christ who was called to steward the mysteries of God — to steward the gospel, is really what he's talking about there. So let me ask you, brother pastor: how do people regard you? Do they regard you as a servant of Christ? Do the people in your church, do your fellow elders on your team — do they view you that way, as a servant of Christ? And I just think that helps keep us fixed in Jesus, by having that worldview.

There is a book I've mentioned before on this podcast several different times, written by Murray Harris: Slave of Christ. It was published in 1999 — I think I read it in late 1999 — and that book shaped my understanding of pastoral ministry. It informed my worldview of pastoral ministry. And there's a quote that I've read over and over again, and still read today. I want to read it now. It's a biblical theology on that term "slave of Christ" — or "servant of Christ," another way to say it. Here's what Murray Harris says:

"A slave is someone whose person and service belong wholly to another. As Christ's purchased possession, the Christian is wholly devoted to the person of the Master. As Christ's movable property, the Christian is totally available for the Master's use. This complete devotion to Christ includes humble submission to the person of Christ. This involves an acknowledgment that as Supreme Lord, He has absolute and exclusive rights to the will and affections and energy in your life, now and forever. It is a case of the devotion of the whole person for the whole of life."

Brothers — brother pastors — be wholly devoted to Christ. And the way that you do that is to consistently pursue Christ. If you do that, you will keep your identity rooted in Him. See, the most important thing about you is not what you do to serve your church, but who you ultimately serve, which is Jesus Christ. Let us, brothers, live for Christ. Let us preach passionately. Let us lead with zeal for Christ. And may people know that Christ is everything to us.

Benjamin Kreps:

Excellent. Well, thank you for your wise and helpful encouragement, Mark, and thank you for your compelling example to all of us of a man who loves and pursues Jesus. And thank you all for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.