As Christians in a local fellowship, when your local church is ‘vacant’, the inevitable question arises, “What do we expect the new Pastor to concentrate on when he comes to help us?”  

Some Christians hope that the new Pastor will be a dynamic preacher who will be able to encourage us in our Christian faith, give good pastoral care to all, especially the elderly and unwell.  They expect him to be a great evangelist, counsellor and be able to set up programs for our young people, and if they can develop a five- or ten-year plan that would be a bonus.  

Other Christians suggest that being a great preacher or pastoral care worker is important, but not as important as having the ability to put a ‘bomb’ under the members of the local church so that they stop being so complacent about living out their Christian faith to those who don’t know Christ.   

However, when one considers the two options, they are not mutually exclusive.  In fact, if the first doesn’t happen, the second will never happen.  And if the second does happen without the first, it will soon run out of puff or be driven purely by guilt or worse, legalism.   

We all understand the frustration when neither of them is done well.   It is frustrating when one must sit and listen to poor preaching.   In the gospel, we have the most important, life-changing message that everyone needs to hear and embrace, and when it is done poorly with obvious lack of proper preparation, it is so disappointing.  

It is also frustrating when Christians seem ‘slack’ in their commitment to Jesus Christ and to the local fellowship. Irregular church attendance, never volunteering to assist with various activities; failing to be involved in an evangelistic endeavour, poor giving, or a general lack of zeal for work in the Lord’s Kingdom can be most annoying.  Often, the sad result is that far too much is left to too few and it soon wears thin.  

So, what is the solution?  To pray for a heart that is renewed by the power of the gospel, applied by the Holy Spirit.  Just as it is vital to have a daily intake of nourishing food to sustain the physical body, so it is vital to feed and be fed well on God’s Word for the spiritual body.   If our physical bodies are not given nourishing food to eat, we will soon lose fitness, energy and probably become weak and our heart may give up and say it is all too hard.  Similarly, if we don’t receive nourishing spiritual food on a regular basis, we will lose fitness and energy and our heart’s desire to do anything for God’s kingdom may soon take a back seat in our lives.  

Therefore, the first thing we need from any Pastor is good, faithful preaching of God’s word.  For without good preaching, we may never fully understand or appreciate the full implication of what Jesus has done for us via the cross, namely, the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of eternal life.   

Second, it is having a deep appreciation and longing for this very ‘gospel’ that drives us to bear fruit in our Christian lives.  This gospel is like the fuel that propels a motor vehicle which needs to be replenished regularly, for if it isn’t, our zeal to live fruitful lives in God’s kingdom will gradually peter out. 

In Luke 10:35-42, when Mary and Martha welcomed Jesus into their home, Martha was distracted and busy serving the guests while her sister sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.  When Martha asked Jesus to tell Mary to also help serve the guests, Jesus gently reminded Martha that her sister had chosen what was better and that it wouldn’t be taken away from her.   Jesus didn’t say that Martha was doing something wrong, but Mary had chosen better. In other words, she had the right priority.  

So, let us not put the ‘cart before the horse’ so to speak when it comes to what we like to see a new Pastor do in our midst.  Further, no Pastor can tick every box of our many and varied expectations.  So, please pray that the new Pastor may preach the gospel well and that we may have ears to hear and that the Holy Spirit will apply it to our hearts and lives so that we will bear much fruit to the glory of our Saviour God.  JZ