The Gift of a Pastor

After the Israelites left Egypt and were wandering in the wilderness, God gave instructions for the construction and use of the Tabernacle. Aaron’s family were put in charge of the sanctuary and its activities. God told Aaron, “And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting” (Numbers 18:5).

Although pastors aren’t exactly analogous to the priests and Levites of the Old Testament, they are still God’s gift to His Church.

“And I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15).

“And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

“Every good gift and perfect and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).

The question is, do we recognize that pastors are a gift from a gracious God, and do we treat them as such? They aren’t perfect, but neither are we. Like any good gift, we ought to take care of them to the best of our ability. I know of pastors who’ve been worn down by petty bickering in their churches. Others struggle to make ends meet because church members don’t give regularly, much less tithe. Many pastors feel like they are alone in ministry and have no one they can talk to.

But many churches love their pastors well. They pray for them, encourage them, support them through their regular attendance and financial giving, and make sure they have the people and tools they need to lead the church well.

The author of Hebrews wrote, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Heb. 13:17). We all have days of groaning, but I don’t think any of us want to be the cause of groaning for the people we love. If we contribute to the joy of our pastors, they multiply our joy as well.

As I was writing this I did a quick internet search and stumbled across an article that said “Your pastor is not your friend.” I understand that there are limits to what a pastor can share with an individual church member, but my gut reaction was “How sad!” I would not want to attend a church where I knew the pastor would never be a friend, and I can’t imagine anyone wanting to be a pastor if he had to keep himself distant from everyone. Jesus told His disciples, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). God-incarnate called men His friends!

The modern world has an anemic view of friendship anyway. The Apostle Paul told Timothy, “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity” (1 Tim. 5:1). We in the church should be closer than friends, because we are siblings in the family of God.

The pastor is not the CEO of a corporation, nor a hired servant, but a brother in Christ. “And this commandment we have from [God]: whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21). All the “one another” commands of Scripture apply just as much to our spiritual siblings who are pastors as to anyone else. We are to love them, honor them, pray for them, encourage them, live in harmony with them, be kind to them, forgive them, serve them, show hospitality to them, and spur them on to love and good deeds.

Let’s not wait for Pastor Appreciation month to do so!

“For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you” (Philemon 1:7).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

All You Need Is Love

Borrowing an idea from a sermon by Sam Allberry, the world readily agrees that “all you need is love.” What they don’t agree on is what exactly love is. Society might even agree that “love is patient and kind… it is not arrogant or rude” (1 Cor. 10:4-5). But those words mean different things. For the unbeliever, love means:

• I can do whatever I want and you can’t judge me.
• I can pursue whatever and whoever I think will give me pleasure and fulfillment.
• You must benignly accept whatever I believe.
• You must allow me to become whoever and whatever I want to be.

Some non-Christians might be familiar with John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” And if they heard 3:17 they might applaud the first half of it: “ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world—” but the passage does not stop there:

“but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:17-20).

God didn’t send Jesus into the world simply to say “I love you, so you can do whatever you want and we’ll all celebrate for eternity.” God sent His Son because we all have been walking in the darkness of sin and unbelief. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). God never said “Anything goes.” He set up standards of behavior, and every one of us have failed to meet those standards. Jesus even expanded those standards to include our thought life (Matt. 5:22, 28).

Jesus didn’t come to remove all the measures of morality and holiness. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5:19). He also didn’t come to say, “Can’t we all just get along?” Rather, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34).

Because of God’s love, Jesus proclaimed, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). The answer to our depravity is not tolerance and acceptance, but repentance. True love is found in turning to the One who bore our sins on the cross so that we might be reconciled with God.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses… God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).

He didn’t say, “There’s no such thing as sin or evil, so you’re all good.” Sin is so significant to God that the only way it could be dealt with was to offer His own perfect Son on the cross in our place. For us to accept the world’s view that “love means anything goes” is to cheapen Jesus’ sacrifice and the glory of the God who is love.

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10:12).

As we celebrate Easter, may we not make the mistake of embracing love as a kind of mushy sentimentality or an innocuous tolerance. Let us remember the true cost that Love paid to make us part of God’s eternal family, and may that spur us to share the good news of true love with the world.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are… By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:1, 16).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Eyes and Hands

I wrote the following poems around 1996 and just came across them again. They seemed appropriate for Holy Week.

Your Eyes

In my mind’s eye
I see you there,
Hanging on that rugged cross.
You don’t die like other men.
“Forgive them for they
Know now what they do.”
You lift your head,
Your eyes meeting the eyes
Of each one gathered there.
Each one turns away
Unable to bear your gaze,
And then your eyes meet mine.
Instantly I know you know.
You know my sin
Because you bear it there.
I am ashamed and
Start to turn away,
But then I remember,
“Forgive them for they
Know not what they do.”
I look back to your eyes.
You meant those words for me.
Even as you bear my sin
You ask the Father
For my forgiveness.
I meet your gaze
And I know
I am forgiven,
And I bow my head
In thanks.

 

With Open Hands

With open hands I come to You
I give You all my fears.
With open hands, release to You
The cares of all the years.

I tried to give them up before,
But held them in tight fists.
I come again to You once more
To give You all of this.

With open hands I come to You,
Hoping only to receive
The Holy Spirit, promised to
All those who will believe.

With open hands and open heart
And open life I give
To You alone, to cleanse each part
That in Your life I live.

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

No Slipping

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when He delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand… The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip” (Psalm 37: 23-24, 31).

Oh, how often we think that our salvation and sanctification depend on our ability to hold onto God! We strive to keep the law of God and to be perfect because we fear that we’ll fall away if we aren’t extra careful. We forget that God is the one holding onto us. David and the other psalmists wrote:

Psalm 18:36- “You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.”

Psalm 66:8-9- “Bless our God… who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.”

Psalm 17:5- “My steps have held fast to Your paths; my feet have not slipped.”

In Christ we are set securely upon the Rock. Those who belong to Him cannot be snatched from His hand (John 10:28-29). However, we need to remember that some who think they are Christians actually do not belong to Him (Matthew 7:21-23). They may agree that there is a God and that Jesus is the Savior, but they are not following Him as Lord.

If you think about it, the fear of falling away from faith is probably a good sign that you are securely in His grasp. You don’t fear losing something if it doesn’t mean anything to you. The good news for true believers is that God’s grace far exceeds our ability to sin. In the words of Dane Ortlund, “The verdict really is in: nothing can touch you. He has made you his own and will never cast you out” (Gentle and Lowly, 186).

We may sometimes feel like the psalmist, “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:1-3). When we step back and look at God we can see that we are not the ones who are slipping, but rather the wicked are: “Truly You set them in slippery places; You make them fall to ruin” (v. 18). They are sliding toward eternal condemnation and they neither know nor care.

Though we do need to be careful that we are not deceiving ourselves, there is great peace to be found in knowing that our salvation doesn’t depend on our perfect obedience, because “we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ… because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16).

Therefore, let us take heart and rest in the salvation that was completed on the cross and the sanctification that we will see fulfilled at His return.

“When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’ Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up” (Psalm 94:18).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

All the Rest

In a recent podcast from Gospel Bound, the comment was made that although God designed us for work and rest, we’ve traded those for toil and leisure. Work in the Garden of Eden was a good gift from God, but because of the Fall we now have to labor to accomplish what needs to be done.

The idea of a Sabbath rest is another good gift. When it is first mentioned in Exodus, Moses says, “Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord… The Lord has given you the Sabbath” (16:23, 29). Both there and in the Ten Commandments it is referred to as a “Sabbath to the Lord.” However, we tend to leave the Lord out of our plans for our leisure time. We define the Sabbath more by what we’re avoiding than by what we’re seeking. We aren’t working, so we’re supposedly observing the Sabbath.

We do similar things in how we think about sin. Tim Keller, in his devotion on Psalm 36:1-4 writes:

“Lord, I confess the foolishness of my thought life. Even when I am able to avoid overt thoughts of resentment, fear, and lust, my mind still does not fix itself on the most worthy and beautiful of things, and on you. God glory in my eyes, Lord, and incline my heart to yourself” (March 11).

How might it change our lives if we were determined to seek God, not just to avoid sin? What would be different if we were observing our Sabbaths “to the Lord” and not simply ceasing from our normal labors? I don’t think we have to get legalistic about what is allowed or not allowed. If our focus is on God, His Word, and His will, then our actions will naturally follow. And if we’re filling our minds with Christ, then sinful thoughts and actions will have no place.

I confess there are often times when I want nothing more than to vegetate and forget about all the challenges and anxieties of life and work. I think God understands that. If Jesus could sleep in a boat during a storm, He certainly understands being weary. But I know there are many times when I would be better off seeking God in prayer and dwelling on Scripture, if I’d just make the mental effort to do so.

Isaiah was told to proclaim, “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight… then you shall take delight in the Lord…” (58:13-14). Those verses could just as well be reversed— “If you delight yourself in the Lord, then you will not follow your own pursuits but will enjoy a Sabbath rest.”

Are we willing to test that out?

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).

“A Song for the Sabbath. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your steadfast love in the morning and Your faithfulness by night” (Psalm 92:1-2).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Crumbs of Manna

As I’m reading through Exodus again this spring, I started thinking about the Israelites gathering manna six days a week for the duration of their wilderness wanderings. How long did it take them each morning to pick up about two quarts of the fine flakes for each person? (Multiply that by the 600,000 men plus women and children mentioned in Exodus 12:37!) Certainly, there was grumbling about the inconvenience and lack of variety, along with groaning about aching backs.

The manna foreshadowed Jesus. “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). The Israelites couldn’t just stock up for a month or stop gathering the manna. They needed the daily grace of God’s provision for them. We too need God’s grace every day for forgiveness, sanctification, and maturity. Jesus taught us to pray for our “daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). We receive God’s provision through Jesus’s death on the cross and His intercession for us, as well as through Scripture, prayer, and gathering with the Body of Christ on a regular basis. We can’t just accept Christ as Savior and expect to live and grow in our faith any more than we could eat one meal and expect it to last a lifetime. The provision is there if we will make the effort to gather it.

It’s curious that Exodus reports, “They gathered [manna], some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack” (16:17-18). This is reminiscent of Jesus’s miraculous feeding of five thousand with five loaves and two fish in John 6, the act that preceded His statement that He is the Bread of Life. The crowd followed Him because they wanted to be filled without expending any effort and without understanding that Jesus wanted to give them something far better than daily sustenance.

In our consumer-oriented society, how often do we settle for a few fringe benefits of faith rather than digging deep for our daily nourishment from the Bread of Life? How many in our churches expect to be spoon fed when (or if) they show up?

Let us press on to maturity, “for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14). Let’s make it our constant practice to gather manna daily from God’s word and through interaction with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:32-33).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

True Security

“When I felt secure, I said, ‘I will never be shaken.’ Lord, when You favored me, You made my royal mountain stand firm; but when You hid your face, I was dismayed” (Psalm 30:6-7 NIV).

How often do we let our spiritual security depend on our circumstances rather than on God? We feel “blessed and highly favored,” and therefore we believe we are secure. But when circumstances change and we can’t see God’s hand at work, we become dismayed and anxious. The whole book of Job illustrates this human tendency. Would Job ever have had reason to question God if he hadn’t lost everything?

We are prone to place our faith in what we can see instead of in God and His promises. Our prayers tend to reflect this. If all is well, we don’t pray much and we don’t seek God’s help and direction. But when life is uncertain and we realize we can’t rely on our own resources, we turn our attention back to God. Tim Keller wrote about this psalm,

“We often stroll through life, thinking everything will be fine, until suddenly it isn’t. Our unconscious or even verbalized though is ‘I’m solid. I’m on top of things. I’ve got it nailed. I’ve planned well. I’m secure.’ …But God shakes our confidence in our earthly life so that we can yearn for our heavenly life, where our joy is truly unshakable and where our wailing will be turned into dancing” (The Songs of Jesus, Feb. 24).

Wisdom says that we should seek God’s will in all things, but we often forget that step if we think we’ve got everything under control. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” James wrote,

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil” (James 4:12-16).

This has been personal for me as I’ve been considering a big decision. I’m tempted to rely on my own wisdom and preparation, trusting in my own control and provision. But I want to know God’s will and follow His path. The last thing I would want is to choose my own way and find myself shaken and dismayed because I’m relying on myself and not God.

It’s hard for us sometimes because God doesn’t always give clear directions when we want them. There may be multiple options that are equally good and honoring to God. The question is whether we are focused on God and are trusting in Him or in ourselves. If we are prayerfully seeking His will, our steps will be secure because our faith is in Him. That’s not to say that God always lays out a smooth path in front of us, but that the condition of the path doesn’t matter to us if we are walking it in God’s presence.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God… Fear not, for I am with you” (Isaiah 43:2-3a, 5a).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.