Some folk have the misguided notion that getting degrees is what qualifies you for pastoral ministry and leadership in the church. Educational attainments are tools, not qualifications. And they are no substitute for a pastor’s heart.
Thinking is not about:
- Going to school
- Getting degrees
- Having prestige
- The superiority of intellectuals
“It’s about using the means God has given us to know him, love him, and serve people,” explains John Piper. “Thinking is one of those means. I would like to encourage you to think, but not to be too impressed with yourself when you do.”
Learn more about Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God.
Let it never be forgotten that the chief object of a minister of the Gospel is to set forward the salvation of souls. I lay it down as a certain fact that he is no true minister who does not feel this. Talk not of a man’s ordination! All may have been done correctly, and according to rule. He may wear a black coat, and be called a “reverend”. But if the saving of souls is not the grand interest—the ruling passion—the absorbing thought of his heart—he is no true minister of the Gospel—he is a hireling, and not a shepherd. Congregations may have called him—but he is not called by the Holy Spirit. Bishops may have ordained him; but not Christ.
~ J.C. Ryle
Old Paths, “Few Saved”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1999], 68.
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