A Good Pastor

teaches

Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 4

This Lord’s Day give thanks for your pastor, especially if he teaches the Scriptures effectively. The value of good pastoral teaching can’t be overstated. A pastor is a shepherd. Those two words are interchangeable. A shepherd knows the sheep, feeds the sheep, leads the sheep, and protects the sheep. At least three of those things are tied to the teaching of the Word. Leading, feeding, and protecting, while not exclusively so, are done through sound teaching of the Scriptures.

In 1 Timothy chapter four, Paul repeatedly emphasizes good pastoral teaching. He says things like “Put these things before the brothers,” “Command and teach these things,” “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching,” “Keep a close watch on the teaching, persist in it…”

This wasn’t the only thing Timothy was to do. He needed to “set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” But right at the top of the list of important values for pastoral ministry was solid teaching.

So, give thanks for your pastor and his work of teaching the Scriptures. Pray for him to be effective in that ministry today. Pray for him tomorrow as he begins the work of studying and preparing to do it again next week.