Jim Shaddix<\/a>
\n<\/em>
\n<\/h3>\nThis guide shows pastors how to simplify and strengthen their ministry work by integrating the three core aspects of their roles\u2014leadership, preaching, and pastoring\u2014through expository preaching ministries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Expositional leadership is the pastor\u2019s primary calling.<\/h2>\n
Among all the words that describe pastoral ministry, one at least near the top of the list is the word busy<\/em>. It seems that at the end of every day we find ourselves moving unfinished tasks to tomorrow\u2019s to-do list. There are always more visits to make, counsel to give, meetings to attend, emails to answer, blogs to write, plans to develop, and\u2014oh yes\u2014sermons to prepare than it seems we have hours in the week. This reality means that prioritization and delegation have to be among the disciplines a pastor develops. We must prioritize the things that are most important, and we must delegate as much as we can in order to help us maintain our highest priorities. While preaching is not the only thing you do as a pastor, it must be the first thing. Speaking of the work of preaching, Paul exhorted Timothy to \u201cnot neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you\u201d (1 Tim. 4:14). Preaching God\u2019s word is the primary task for which you\u2019ve been set apart. And the fact that pastoral preaching should be characterized by good exposition is no secret. Paul previously said to the young pastor, \u201cUntil I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching\u201d (1 Tim. 4:13). Basically, he said for Timothy to read the Scripture, explain it, and compel people to obey it. That\u2019s a pretty good description of exposition, and it must be the primary work that we do in shepherding our people. Thank you for making this critical work your top priority!<\/p>\nExpositional leadership is the greatest platform for shepherding God\u2019s people.<\/h2>\n
Pastors today have numerous avenues through which to speak into the lives of their people and influence them for good. We communicate through discipleship relationships, text and email blasts, social media posts, blogs, newsletters, personal phone calls and visits, and numerous other means. But there\u2019s no more potent medium during a given week through which you have a greater opportunity to speak into the lives of your people than your weekly sermon. The worship gathering is the primary venue where most of your people are gathered at the same time. Additionally, the exposition of God\u2019s word through the sermon in those gatherings is the time when the community of faith gets to actually hear the voice of God as you proclaim what he’s saying through his inspired word. And God\u2019s people have the opportunity to experience that through the face-to-face encounter with God\u2019s mouthpiece, a shepherd who loves them and is tasked with feeding them and protecting them. That combination makes the preaching platform the most influential time that you have to lead your people every week. We thank God for his grace that\u2019s enabling you to leverage this incredible opportunity!<\/p>\n
Expositional leadership is the most potent means of shaping God\u2019s people into Christ\u2019s image.<\/h2>\n
Your responsibility, pastor, is not simply to be a leader of your people, but to lead them somewhere<\/em>. And that somewhere<\/em> is recreation into Christ\u2019s image. This transformation is the agenda of the Bible. It begins in Genesis 1 with God\u2019s creation of heaven and earth and his creation of mankind into his image. It ends in Revelation 21\u201322 with his recreation of heaven and earth and his recreation of mankind into his image. This recreation was necessary because sin perverted what God originally intended. And everything in between those bookends of the Bible is the story of God recreating us into what he originally purposed through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, God has ordained his word to be the primary agent the Holy Spirit uses to bring that recreation about. When people hear and receive God\u2019s voice, he speaks new life\u2014creation\u2014into them. So every time you expound his word with integrity and in the power of his Spirit, and every time your people hear it and embrace it, that recreative work is happening. Thank you for leading God\u2019s people to the primary end he\u2019s ordained for them (Rom. 8:29\u201330)!<\/p>\n\nThrough your consistent, faithful, skillful, and Spirit-dependent exposition of Scripture, you are seizing the opportunity to lead your people in a way that no other platform or venue provides. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Expositional leadership ensures that God\u2019s agenda sets the church\u2019s agenda.<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s not uncommon today for churches to develop mission statements as well as vision statements and sets of core values by which they intend to operate. And there\u2019s really nothing wrong with doing so, as long as our mission, vision, and values are consistent with and subservient to the mission, vision, and values that Jesus established for his people in his word. After all, the mission of every church is not a secret on the pages of Scripture. Jesus said,<\/p>\n
\nAll authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.\u2014Matthew 28:18\u201320<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Consequently, every local church mission statement ought to reflect and be driven by this Great Commission that our Lord gave to us. And since this mission is unfolded in the entirety of holy Scripture, faithful Bible exposition is the most dependable way for you to make sure that your church\u2019s agenda is dictated by the agenda of the Bible. Week by week, as your people hear you interpret and expound the text of Scripture and compel them to obey it, you\u2019re reinforcing the agenda by which all of your programs and ministries are driven. And the consistency of that mission throughout the Bible provides potent opportunities for you to make application for your people to the various ministry programs and efforts on your church calendar. We celebrate that God\u2019s word and his mission are ordering your congregation\u2019s steps!<\/p>\n
Expositional leadership postures God\u2019s people to worship him.<\/h2>\n
Pastor, you are your church\u2019s primary worship leader. While all of us are thankful to God for the gifted men and women who lead us in musical worship, the church has no greater act of worship than hearing God speak and responding to him in praise and obedience. That means the preaching event is an act of worship that pastors are responsible for leading. In one sense, many worship services are designed backwards. Most of the singing, offerings, prayer, and other acts of worship are in the first part of the service, and then God reveals himself when the pastor preaches. Periodically, it might make more sense to reverse that order by allowing God to speak first through the sermon, followed by the congregation\u2019s response through song, giving, prayer, and other expressions. Regardless of the order, however, your pastoral exposition of Scripture is an essential act of worship leadership. Thank you for faithfully leading God\u2019s people to glorify him through his word!<\/p>\n
Pastor, the work of shepherding God\u2019s people naturally involves and requires good leadership. There\u2019s no more important place for that to happen than in your preaching ministry every week. Through your consistent, faithful, skillful, and Spirit-dependent exposition of Scripture, you are seizing the opportunity to lead your people in a way that no other platform or venue provides. And you\u2019re able to do it with great confidence and joy, knowing that God has ordained the work of preaching to be the pastor\u2019s primary means of leading his people. May God grant you great favor as you keep your hand to the plow!<\/p>\n
In Christ\u2019s Name,
R. Scott Pace and Jim Shaddix<\/p>\n
R. Scott Pace and and Jim Shaddix are coauthors of<\/em> Expositional Leadership: Shepherding God’s People from the Pulpit<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n
![\"R.](\"https:\/\/static.crossway.org\/authors\/small\/3806.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Jim](\"https:\/\/static.crossway.org\/authors\/small\/1194.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Expositional](\"https:\/\/static.crossway.org\/studio-files\/media\/2e6fe21e0b4b352707618a0ec35b5a23ccbf0d4d.jpg\"\/)