Titus 1:1 - Pastors

Titus 1:1 (ESV)

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,

Over the years I have heard people say things like, “I love to preach. I think God is calling me to be a pastor.” I have to tell you that loving to preach is not the same thing as being a pastor. If your motivation to become a pastor is your love of preaching then something may be off. Paul’s motivation was not that he loved to preach, nor even that he loved to share the gospel. His motivation to proclaim the gospel was “for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth.” There is a fine line, perhaps, between proclaiming the gospel for the sake of the elect and proclaiming the gospel because we love to do it, but that fine line is critical.

As my generation ages I hear people talk about leaving a legacy. How do you want to be remembered? What do you want to leave behind? But I believe that there is something higher in God’s eyes than how we will be remembered. As believers, we need to come to the place where we can say, “I don’t care if I’m remembered at all. I only care that people know Christ and that when they encounter me, they see him.” We minister and serve not to be remembered, but for the sake of others and the glory of God.