A young twenty-something sits stapled to the pew, gripped by the power of his pastor’s sermon. The exegesis is precise, the illustrations are impactful, the zeal is palpable, and he is held in rapt attention to the Word of God. Everything snaps into focus as he thinks to himself, “This is what I want to be. This is what I want to do with my life. I want to be a pastor.”
Praise God!
The church always needs more pastors, and when a young man expresses an honest desire for the noble task (1 Tim. 3:1), the church should celebrate.
But what if this young man aspires to something he doesn’t understand? What if he—quite mistakenly—thinks that pastoring is just preaching great sermons, leading big meetings, and studying, writing, and praying forty hours a week?
My aim in this article is not to scare young men away from ministry, but to give them a clearer vision of what a life of shepherding looks like and to challenge them to count the cost before entering it (Luke 14:28-29). The ministry of the pastor is a ministry of sacrifice, most of which is unforeseen.
Here is my appeal to the aspiring pastor:
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