Six Wrong Reasons to Enter the Gospel Ministry

The point: May the searcher of hearts be pleased to be present in power to expose any of these things where they may be resident in any of your hearts, the first wrong reason for seeking a teaching ministry is an inaccurate assessm…

An anecdote about an old sister in a country church who believes she has a great singing voice, but only she appreciates it, illustrating an inaccurate assessment of one's gifts and the difficulty of confronting such self-deception.

It's almost proverbial that in every little country church, you've got some dear old sister who's convinced that she's second cousin to Renata to Baldi or to Lily Pons in bygone days, and she is absolutely convinced that the best thing she can do for the waiting years of the congregation is to sin the solo every single week. But the problem is there's only one person who appreciates her voice. It's her and everybody else. It just kills them to tolerate old sister Bessie warbling away with a vibrato that covers about three notes. And I think if you've had some contact, I hope not too much, but ...

13:10 - 14:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Let me urge upon every one of you to cry to God for the grace of sober, sane self-evaluation. For an inaccurate assessment of your own gifts can be the reason why you might aspire to and maybe even attain a teaching or p…

A quotation from Spurgeon about a man who intensely desired to preach but, during a trial sermon, could only deliver one idea: that preaching is not easy, demonstrating how a trial can reveal a lack of ability.

A man will go on with this inaccurate assessment of his gifts because he has separated himself from the counsel of his brethren and in so doing has brought this terrible blight upon himself and subsequently upon others. I shall be quoting from time to time from Spurgeon and Bridges, both of whom say some very helpful and perceptive things on this matter of the call to the ministry. And he gives an illustration of a man who had ambitions to preach because of this very reason and inaccurate assessment of his own gifts. Listen to what happened. I heard of a gentleman who had a most intense desire...

16:15 - 17:04 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You'll notice in almost every instance where God called anyone in Scripture, they didn't just jump up and say, well, Lord, I just wondered when you were going to wake up to the fact that all my gifts and talents were lyi…

A metaphor comparing the uncrucified lust for praise to Herod's question and a gorging on 'decaying carrion of men's praise,' emphasizing the persistent nature of this sinful desire.

And this is what it is beginning with verse five. But all their works they do to be seen of men, for they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments and love the chief place at feasts and chief seats in the synagogues and the salutations in the marketplaces and to be called of men rabbi. See the picture? Their own uncrucified lust for authority and attention fed upon the carrion of men's praises and men's adulation. As I said this morning, would to God that Herod's question had died with Herod, but it hasn't. It lives with us today.

20:38 - 21:27 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have absorbed this mentality, may God through the word and the spirit, drive it out of you. For there is no necessary connection between the highest gifts and the highest measure of grace. No necessary connection.

An analogy comparing the hand and the earlobe in the human body to different spiritual gifts, illustrating that while some gifts may have greater functional importance, all members share the same life stream and are equally integral to the body, countering the idea that 'better gifts' equate to 'greater spirituality.'

the body. So that whatever there is in terms of relative importance in the exercise of the gifts, there is no degree of being more spiritual in terms of the membership of the body. This hand may serve a far greater and more vital function in my body than, say, my earlobe. I could have that earlobe cut off and have very, very little loss to the total function of the body.

25:31 - 26:01 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have absorbed this mentality, may God through the word and the spirit, drive it out of you. For there is no necessary connection between the highest gifts and the highest measure of grace. No necessary connection.

An example of how a young person aspiring to be a farmer is merely 'fine,' while one aspiring to ministry is celebrated as a 'hero,' highlighting the unbalanced concept of spirituality fostered in some church environments.

fostered in pulpits. You let a young person who does not evidence gifts or inclinations to the ministry say to his pastor that he feels he ought to go to ag school and end up being a farmer, and he'll pat him on the back and say, fine. Let his brother say, I feel led to the ministry, and suddenly he's a hero in front of the whole church. And everybody's encouraged to pray for it.

26:51 - 27:14 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have absorbed this mentality, may God through the word and the spirit, drive it out of you. For there is no necessary connection between the highest gifts and the highest measure of grace. No necessary connection.

An example of youth rallies inviting missionary candidates but not 'godly housewives,' further illustrating the unbalanced concept of spirituality that elevates certain vocations over others.

Now, this is not an exaggeration. This goes on all the time. At the end of youth rallies, people will be invited to come forward to present themselves as missionary candidates.

27:14 - 27:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fourth wrong reason is an inadequate view of the breadth of qualifications for ministry, where normal consequences of the new birth (love for people, understanding of truth)…

A quotation from Spurgeon's lectures to his students, where he admits his own 'non-success and shortcomings as a speaker,' despite being a powerful orator, to underscore the unreliability of self-opinion and the need for judicious assessment by others.

Oops I've got bridges instead of surprises. All right those of you who have this same copy it's on page 29. We must however do much more than put this matter of whether or not we are qualified for the ministry to our own conscience and judgment for we are poor judges. A certain class of brethren have a great facility for discovering that they have been very wonderfully and divinely helped in their declamations. I should envy them their glorious liberty and self complacency if there were any ground for it. But alas I very frequently have to be mown and born over my non-success and shortcomings ...

32:03 - 32:49 Read in full sermon

Driving home: one of the very essential elements of true ministry is transparency our lord was a man amongst men i am among you as he that serve i have given you an example that he should do as i have done unto you

A story about a child with a poor self-image who becomes a bully to gain attention and respect, illustrating how unmet psychological needs for personal identity can drive a desire for recognition, even in negative ways.

psychology I don't think I've ever read one book through from a pagan psychologist I've tried to read a little bit from those whose minds are disciplined by scripture but I do believe that there is something to be said about this reason why some men aspire to the office of the ministry and the responsibility of teachers. There are unmet psychological needs for personal identities all of you have met the fellow at work or you remember the kid on the block he had no proper self-image he felt very insecure wondered if anybody liked him ever watched him listened to him noticed him so he determined...

34:25 - 35:11 Read in full sermon

Driving home: one of the very essential elements of true ministry is transparency our lord was a man amongst men i am among you as he that serve i have given you an example that he should do as i have done unto you

A story about a young man crippled by sin who desired to use the pulpit to 'pour out his own frustration in his own bitterness' upon the congregation, illustrating how unmet psychological needs can lead to a destructive use of the ministry platform.

the office bearing responsibility or it could be and this comes under this same category and i've seen this there are people who have unmet psychological needs who long for a platform from which they can pour out their own frustration in their own bitterness how well i remember a young man who was crippled not physically but spiritually by one or two areas of sin in his own life and i remember one day him telling me and i don't believe i'm exaggerated i want to try to convey it as accurate as possible he said if i could ever get victory over these sins then i'd get in that pulpit and i'd tell ...

38:24 - 39:15 Read in full sermon

The point: I would lay these six things six things that's a tongue twister before you for your sober consideration because if anything would grieve me it would be that this clash should be the occasion of the lord having to say as …

An anecdote about a mother who conditioned her children from a young age to believe they were being raised to be preachers and missionaries, illustrating the tragic consequences of unsanctified or unwise ambitions of others on a child's calling.

is a sixth reason why men aspire to teaching offices that is far from the biblical reason and it's what i would call the unsanctified or unwise ambitions of others the unsanctified or unwise ambitions of others i know of one situation where a mother reared her children conditioning their conscience with this concept we could not go to the mission field and a pastor told us then we ought to raise missionaries and preachers and they let those kids know from the time they were this high that they were being raised to be preachers and missionaries is it no wonder that those kids went through treme...

40:04 - 40:52 Read in full sermon

The point: I would lay these six things six things that's a tongue twister before you for your sober consideration because if anything would grieve me it would be that this clash should be the occasion of the lord having to say as …

An anecdote about pastors who count ministerial students as 'notches in their rifle,' illustrating how pastors' own ambitions can pressure young men into ministry without a true call, leading to 'tragic products.'

to feel that's what they're here for but may the lord have mercy on pastors who look upon all their ministerial students as notches in their rifle and i've actually met men who when they're giving you their spiritual battle history will tell you 17 men into the ministry of my ministry you know very humbly of course there's another notch in the rifle we have sitting here right today a young man who could have been the tragic product of that who because he'd been converted and had a little fluency in giving his testimony was encouraged to pursue the course of the christian ministry and he'd tell...

41:38 - 42:23 Read in full sermon

The point: I would encourage you to read the section in bridges on the christian ministry the call to the ministry and then the section in spurgeon's lectures to my students the call to the ministry

An analogy of a small, passionate football fan wanting to plug a hole in his team's defensive line against a much larger opponent, illustrating that desire and love for the team are not enough without the necessary physical gifts and provision.

when a guy wants to has more longing to serve christ than to be like christ i smell something fishy so there has to be graces must be graces indicating genuine christian experience thirdly there must be gifts indicating divine provision having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given unto us whether prophecy whether teaching whether ministry whether giving whether showing mercy let me just use one little illustration quickly here because it's football season i think in terms of football and there's this kid you know he's just gung-ho for his old alma mater man he goes to every...

45:20 - 46:08 Read in full sermon