No matter how “great” other pastors may say their churches are doing, every ministry goes through times of suffering and hardship, noted Texas pastor Bart Barber during his message Nov. 11 at the Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference.
Being a pastor is going to lead to times of rejoicing — but also to times of suffering, said Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church Farmersville and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Pointing to Matthew 20, Barber focused on how Jesus prepared His disciples for suffering. He told them they would drink from the cup He drank from, which would include persecution and suffering.
Being a pastor “is not about your glory, and it’s not about your shame because it’s really not about you,” he said. “Whether you’re experiencing shame or whether you’re experiencing the greatest moment right now … I want you to know that Jesus knows who you are, and He went to the cross for you. … It’s about Jesus.”
Following Jesus is not about our comfort, he noted. “Pastors, if you’ve served the Lord — and serve Him faithfully —you’re going to experience both comfort and suffering … suffering in spades. Suffering inflicted by world. Suffering inflicted by the Church.”
Scars and joy of ministry
Serving others for the Lord will come with “scars,” he later added.
“There is no church I have ever served that I have not loved. There is no church I have ever served that I don’t bear scars,” he said. “There is no way that I have served Southern Baptists that I have not loved, and there is no way that I’ve served Southern Baptists that I do not bear scars. To serve Jesus is to suffer…. it’s part of the calling.”
But there also is great comfort and joy, he said.
“If you came to this meeting tonight whipped by people who don’t appreciate you the way they ought to, there is also comfort and joy for you in your ministry,” he said.
Unity and disunity will come, he said, noting the New Testament church was “just as messed up as your church is. Why do you think they wrote all of those letters? … The New Testament church had problems too, and they had problems of disunity all over the place.”
He urged pastors to be optimistic about what God can do in their divided church.
“In spite of all those things, He has promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church,” he said. “You serve a risen Savior, and He’s in the world today. And He who has faced the cross and come out alive will carry you through”
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