Are Pastors Any Better Off? No, Not At All
Ministering by remembering that we, too, were once under sin
[Editor’s Note: This is part of a devotional series through the book of Romans.]
Romans 3:9–20
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, [10] as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; [11] no one understands; no one seeks for God. [12] All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” [13] “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” [14] “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” [15] “Their feet are swift to shed blood; [16] in their paths are ruin and misery, [17] and the way of peace they have not known.” [18] “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” [19] Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. [20] For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Pastors must beware of reading their own press. By this I mean all of the flattery and genuine encouragement that comes their way through church members and others. We often hear of the “grumblers” and “complainers” in ministry—those difficult people who, like everyone else, need a pastor. But the more “dangerous” person to the pastor’s soul may be the nice one.
Consider the all-too-kind people at the door after church as you greet them after the service. I’m fairly confident no one in that line is telling you how bad the sermon was but rather what a great encouragement it was to their heart (whether sincere or not, God knows). Or how about the thoughtful seniors who love to bring you baked goods, the deacon that helps with your car repair, or the interns that long to ask you questions thinking you have some wisdom to share? What about all the email or text requests for meetings so people can be discipled, have their marriage helped, or be equipped for victory over some besetting sin? How about the fact that any number of people show up every Sunday to hear you preach, believing you can rightly handle the Scriptures? Whether 20, 200, or 2,000-plus the reality of anyone showing up week in and week out to listen to you can be, along with those other examples in a pastor’s life, a temptation to be “wise in your own sight” (Romans 12:16). All of this can act like the Siren Song in Homer’s Odyssey wooing you away from the safe harbor of God’s Word and toward the jagged rocks of pride that will make shipwreck of your faith.1
So how can a pastor grow in humility in the face of all the praise that comes with ministry?
While God uses manifold means to nurture humility and meekness in his ungdershepherds, one vital way is to remember who we were apart from Christ. This is the dark picture the Apostle Paul paints in Romans 3:9–20 in his effort to make it abundantly clear that no one can justify themselves. The hammer blows of reality are almost too much to bear:
(vv. 10–12; cited from Psalm 14:1–3 and 53:1–3) “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
(vv. 13–14; cited from Psalm 5:9; 140:3; 10:7) “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
(vv. 15–18; cited from Isaiah 59:7–8; Psalm 36:1) “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
The inescapable conclusion: all the world accountable to our Creator God and no hope for justification in ourselves (vv. 19–20).
What does this have to do with pastoral ministry? Everything. For if we lose sight of who we were apart from Christ, when sweet ninety-year-old Betty tells you at the door, “That was the best sermon I’ve ever heard!” you just might believe her. Indeed, you’ll get caught in the “flatter’s net,” entangled in your pride. A pastor of all people must know that all Christians were the epitome of Romans 3:10–18 before God, in his amazing grace, “delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13–14).
So, let us remember “from whence we’ve come” so that we can minister in the humility God calls us to rather than the hubris that will be the ruin of us and our churches.
This, of course, is not to say the pastor doesn’t preach excellent sermons or have any wisdom to offer, counsel to give, or lessons to teach all in a manner that befits the moment. But the pastor must remember that any fruit in ministry is all owing to the grace of God.