Annually, I gather with two groups of senior pastors. We know and love each other well, so we talk about life’s heavy topics, laugh, and cry. At our gatherings, we each share: “Over the past year, I have experienced the following heartaches, hallelujahs, and hopes.” No matter how many heartaches are shared, we always conclude that the hallelujahs of gospel ministry far outweigh them.
The past five years have been particularly challenging for pastors—from navigating unprecedented global crises to facing increased scrutiny and criticism. Many pastors have questioned their calling. Sadly, some have discouraged young men from entering ministry by painting a picture of endless frustration and diminished respect.
The challenges are real, but we shouldn’t miss the extraordinary dignity and eternal significance of gospel ministry. It’s worth pursuing despite the difficulties.
Paul’s defense of his ministry in 2 Corinthians 2:12–3:6 offers a much-needed corrective to our contemporary tendencies to either despise the pastoral office or measure it by worldly standards. He reminds us that those considering pastoral ministry must think neither too little nor too much of this calling. We must see it as God does.
Importance of Preaching
When Paul describes his preaching ministry, he uses language that should jolt us awake to its significance. Preaching isn’t a mere job, or even a noble profession. It’s a divine mission with eternal consequences.
Paul declares that God, in Christ, “always leads us in triumphal procession” (2:14). The minister’s task is inherently divine. His triumph is assured, and he serves as a personal ambassador of Christ. Through faithful preaching, “the knowledge of [Jesus]” spreads everywhere. This statement connects directly to Jesus’s promise that when the gospel has been preached to all nations, the end will come (Matt. 24:14). Gospel ministers are integral participants in God’s unfolding plan of history.
Paul’s words remind us that those considering pastoral ministry must think neither too little nor too much of this calling.
Paul also emphasizes that the gospel message carries ultimate consequences. When we preach, people either respond in faith and live with Christ forever, or they reject the gospel and face eternal separation from God. We preach the same message to both groups, but the outcomes are eternally different.
This reality should fundamentally shape how prospective ministers view sermon preparation and pulpit ministry. You’re not crafting inspirational talks or motivational speeches; you’re proclaiming a message with life-and-death consequences.
This truth transforms everything about preaching. Nervousness shifts from worry about forgetting points or stumbling over words to the weightier concern of being a faithful ambassador of God’s message. Preparation shifts from a professional duty to an exercise in eternal significance.
Privilege of Personal Ministry
Preaching is of prime significance, but gospel ministry extends far beyond the pulpit. Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians reveals the deeply personal nature of pastoral work. It’s unlike any other calling.
Notice the intimacy of Paul’s words: “You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, known and read by all” (2 Cor. 3:2). This isn’t professional distance but fatherly love. Pastors are called to love the people to whom they preach with the love of Christ himself. This makes preaching fervent, applicable, and appropriately tempered.
Such love carries a beautiful burden. Like a father with his children, a pastor can’t simply leave people’s problems at the office. He carries their concerns in his heart wherever he goes, spending sleepless nights worrying about them and praying for them. Only fathers carry their children’s concerns so constantly, and pastors carry such concerns for many spiritual children in addition to their own families.
More remarkable still is the privilege of participating in God’s miraculous work of sanctification. Paul explains that the “letters” he works with are “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (v. 3). Pastors serve as pens in the hand of the Holy Spirit!
The true measure of our success isn’t whether people follow us but whether they’re walking with Christ with an obedience that flows from hearts renewed and made grateful by the Spirit’s ministry through the Word.
Divine Enablement for an Impossible Task
Paul’s honest assessment of pastoral ministry cuts through any illusions we may have about our self-sufficiency. “Who is sufficient for these things?” he asks (2:16). The implied answer is clear: no one. This reality should both humble every prospective minister and encourage him.
The grace that has qualified us to stand before God’s judgment seat is the same grace that qualifies us for ministry. Paul’s confidence wasn’t rooted in his oratorical ability, his way with people, or his education, but in Christ’s provision.
This provision comes through various means. Paul mentions the comfort of friends and colleagues. Even apostles needed encouragement from God’s people. When Paul couldn’t find Titus in Troas, he “had no peace of mind” (2:13, NIV) and left despite an open door for ministry. No minister can function without such encouragement from God’s people, and when a pastor lacks it, his ministry inevitably suffers.
God also provides through weakness. Paul describes being led in Christ’s triumphal procession as one who was first conquered by Christ on the road to Damascus and then made into a conqueror. The imagery is striking: Unlike Roman captives who were haggard and abused, those led in Christ’s train are free, joyful, and attractive. There is, however, a hiddenness to this at times. Even if we’re suffering outwardly, God promises to renew us day by day (4:16).
Proper Gospel Perspective
What are ministers made competent to do? Paul is clear: to minister the grace of God’s new covenant. Ministers aren’t competent to browbeat, threaten, or fix. After all, we’re sinners ourselves. Instead, God makes us competent to minister the gospel that gives new life and the obedience of faith.
Young men considering pastoral ministry must cultivate this proper perspective. You must think as highly of the new-covenant office as God does, while trusting completely in the Savior to enable your faithful service.
The world increasingly disdains those who take their callings seriously, and the American church too often measures ministerial success by numbers, programs, and budgets rather than by biblical faithfulness. But while other vocations are equally ordained by God, none has been designed to further his kingdom and affect eternity like gospel ministry.
No vocation has been designed to further God’s kingdom and affect eternity like gospel ministry.
This call to pastoral ministry remains one of the highest privileges available to any man. Despite the challenges and criticisms, despite the temptation to measure success by worldly standards, the essential nature of this call hasn’t changed. It remains a divine mission with eternal consequences, carried out by weak but grace-enabled men who serve as ambassadors of the most important message in human history.
If you’re sensing God’s call, embrace both the dignity of the office and your dependence on Christ. The kingdom desperately needs faithful men who will.
The Gospel Coalition