In many churches, a “serious spiritual miscalculation” is being made — one that’s the difference between life and death, said Johnny Hunt, Southern Baptist Convention president and pastor of First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga.
“The majority of those who hear our sermons are auditing the Word. They have no pressure, no tests, no cramming, and then on ‘graduation day,’ they have no cap and gown,” Hunt told the approximately 1,000 people gathered Nov. 16 for the Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference at Lindsay Lane Baptist Church, Athens.
But James 1 says true believers are doers, not just hearers, of the Word, Hunt noted. It’s easy to get discouraged because of the large numbers of unresponsive people but “keep preaching the Word, because you never know who will hear it and become a doer,” he said.
Hunt and the seven other speakers on the program served as an encouragement to weary pastors, said Dusty McLemore, pastors conference president and senior pastor of Lindsay Lane Baptist.
“We wanted pastors to feel refreshed and renewed, and I think the conference accomplished just that,” McLemore said.
And Lindsay Lane’s worship team and choir, along with musician Luke Garrett, had attendees jumping spontaneously to their feet in worship in between challenges from speakers like Sammy Gilbreath and Mike McLemore.
For Gilbreath, director of evangelism for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, the message was one of chastening.
“Some of us (pastors) have not decided yet whether we want to be a pastor or a CEO, a shepherd or a dictator,” he said.
Oftentimes when pastors choose the latter over the former, they lose patience and place themselves in danger of being out of God’s will, Gilbreath added.
“We lose patience with our church when it’s not growing as fast as we want it to, with our career when it’s not moving ahead like we thought,” he said. “We lose patience with our staff and our family.”
King Saul lost patience in 1 Samuel 13 waiting for Samuel to arrive to make the sacrifice, and as a result, God refused to listen to him, Gilbreath said.
“My greatest fear and my fear for you is that we might find ourselves in the same position as King Saul. I’m afraid it’s not an isolated case but more prominent than we want to admit.”
When pastors begin to feel disconnected from God, that’s the time to get alone and get it straight, said Mike McLemore, executive director of Birmingham Baptist Association and a former pastor.
Taking his text from John 1, he said, “Those are the times — when we grow weary in well doing — that is a signal to get alone and have a little talk with Jesus. We’ve got to get a glimpse of Jesus again, to stay fresh to walk in the light as He is in the light.”
Many a pastor has a tired body, a discouraged spirit and an empty pocketbook, Evangelist Junior Hill, of Hartselle, said. “But that’s what God called you to. He didn’t call you to a picnic; He called you to go to battle.”
Preaching from 2 Timothy 2, Hill encouraged pastors to be strong dedicated soldiers for the Lord.
“You have a calling that must never be discarded,” he said. “My dear brother, when you put your hand to the plow and said, ‘I’ll be a man of God,’ you signed on for hardship.”
Pastors shouldn’t demand comfort but take their responsibility to share the gospel, no matter the cost, Hill said.
“If you can go to bed saying, ‘Lord, I love you more than life itself and more than everything I have,’ then you’ll be a good soldier.”
The Christian life is warfare, said Phil Hoskins, senior pastor of Higher Ground Baptist Church, Kingsport, Tenn.
“I have to confess to you this afternoon that every day I’m alive and breathing, there is a war in me between the spiritual man and the carnal man,” Hoskins said.
In the midst of that battle, it’s important that the Church not lose its character, he said. It’s also important that it not lose its convictions or compassion, Hoskins added.
But pastors will fail — they just need to go ahead and accept that and use it to God’s glory and to inspire and encourage someone else, said Joel Carwile, senior pastor of Valley View Church, Louisville, Ky.
Carwile told pastors they need to learn to “fail forward” — learn from their failures and use them to their benefit rather than their detriment.
“Some of us are going to have to get over ourselves and get real and get authentic. When we do that, we get usable in God’s hands,” he said.
And make God’s priorities your priorities, said Evangelist Bob Pitman, of Muscle Shoals. “The things that are important to you are not important to God.”
“God wants His children to be great, but He’s not interested in measuring greatness the way we do,” Pitman said. “No flesh can boast in His sight. The biggest failure in Alabama is the one who is successful in things God doesn’t care anything about.”
One thing God cares about is His people getting right with Him, said Richard Land, president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
Every movement of God is started by His people getting right with Him, Land said.
“When the people change, the government will change and nothing less than a revival will suffice,” he said. “We’ve got to have a revival that ripens into an awakening and culminates in a reformation.”
It’s been too long since such a thing has happened but “if you look with the eye of faith and listen with the ear of hope, you can hear the rumblings of the sleeping giant called the people of God,” Land said.
Officers elected were President Kevin Hamm, senior pastor of Gardendale’s First Baptist Church; President-elect Clint Pressley, senior pastor of Dauphin Way Baptist Church, Mobile; Vice President Billy Cagle, pastor of Flint Baptist Church, Decatur; and Treasurer Doug Chappelle, pastor of Thelma Baptist Church, Wetumpka.
To view a video related to this article, visit the video library.
Share with others: