{"id":31214,"date":"2022-09-10T15:21:28","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/the-most-critical-pastoral-task\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:21:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:21:28","slug":"the-most-critical-pastoral-task","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/the-most-critical-pastoral-task\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Critical Pastoral Task"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nathan Lemon photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Mark Dance<\/em><\/p>\n

Is the Great Commission really our most important task?<\/p>\n

Although both the Great Commission and the Great Commandments are important, according to Jesus they aren\u2019t equally<\/em> important.<\/p>\n

A scribe once asked Jesus, \u201cWhich command is the most important of all?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus quotes the Old Testament commands to love God and love one’s neighbor. He then says, \u201dThere is no command greater than these\u201d (Mark 12:28-31).<\/em><\/p>\n

Matthew likewise records Jesus saying, \u201cThis is the greatest and most important command\u201d (Matthew 22:38).<\/p>\n

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Great Commandment Pastoring<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Every Great Commandment pastor I\u2019ve ever met is also a Great Commission preacher, but the converse is not always the case.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all met Great Commission preachers who lead thriving ministries while their relationships are struggling behind the scenes. I\u2019ve personally been that obnoxious Great Commission preacher.<\/p>\n

I cringe when I recall seasons when I was growing my ministry at a pace my soul couldn\u2019t keep up with.<\/p>\n

I allowed relational erosion to creep into my church and home while I was simultaneously building up my ministry and resume.<\/p>\n

As I look back on 33 years of pastoring churches and pastors, I realize having a Great Commandment life is essential to having a Great Commission ministry.<\/p>\n

My face mask moment<\/strong><\/h3>\n

God used the Great Commandments to grab my attention in an intensely personal way in 2006 while I was fasting and praying in a mountain cabin in Arkansas.<\/p>\n

After almost two decades of pastoring, I was ripe for a \u201cface mask moment\u201d with God. Football coaches used to grab our face masks when they needed to get our undivided attention, and it always worked.<\/p>\n

Although God was more gentle than my middle school football coach, I left that Arkansas cabin knowing that God\u2019s game plan for my life and ministry would be first and foremost the Great Commandment.<\/p>\n

According to Jesus, the whole Bible hangs on the commands to \u201clove God and our neighbors\u201d (Matthew 22:40).<\/p>\n

It follows that our lives and ministries also hang on these commands which clarify who we need to love the most.<\/p>\n

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See also  What Sparks Evangelical Generosity? Discipleship<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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First<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jesus makes it crystal clear that He\u2019s first.<\/p>\n

This simply means there\u2019s not a more important thing we can do in our day or our whole life than love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.<\/p>\n

His preeminence in our lives and ministries is a consistent theme throughout Scripture.<\/p>\n

The first pastors in history lost sight of this when they temporarily neglected prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:1-4).<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Great Commandments not only show us how to love best, but also who to love most.<\/p>\n

Everyone is equal in God\u2019s sight, but you and I are not God. Pastors must prioritize our relationships so they can be good stewards of their limited time, energy, and resources.<\/p>\n

The second command to love our neighbors is about our love for the people God has placed in our lives. The term \u201cneighbor\u201d means \u201cnearest one.\u201d<\/p>\n

My wife Janet is my nearest neighbor and is the second love and priority of my life after God. Since a pastor\u2019s family is in his job description (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1), there\u2019s no doubt who deserves the best of our love.<\/p>\n

Our Great Commandment neighborhoods will also include our friends\u2014both lost and saved.<\/p>\n

Great Commandment pastors will be the best kind of Great Commission preachers because their love for family, church, and community will overflow out of their love for God.<\/p>\n

MARK DANCE (@markdance)<\/strong> speaks at churches, conferences, and retreats\u2014often with his wife Janet. Mark has contributed to several books and offers weekly encouragement at MarkDance.net. He\u2019s currently serving as director of pastoral development for the Oklahoma Baptist Convention.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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Transforming Love: How Intimacy with God Will Enrich Your Life and Relationships<\/h2>\n

Stormie Omartian<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Related posts:<\/h3>\n
What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nathan Lemon photo – Unsplash By Mark Dance Is the Great Commission really our most important task? Although both the Great Commission and the Great Commandments are important, according to Jesus they aren\u2019t equally important. A scribe once asked Jesus, \u201cWhich command is the most important of all?\u201d Jesus quotes the Old Testament commands to … Continue reading “The Most Critical Pastoral Task”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}