Priorities in the Essentials of Gospel Care
As a pastor, I regularly wrestle with how best to train up God’s people for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12). I’m thankful that God is merciful and patient with me as I’m seeking to “figure this out,” that is, as I seek to understand how to disciple, care for, and equip His people.
One question I’ve asked God over my years of pastoral service is this: “What is the essence of the gospel that God’s people need to know and live out for effective ministry?” I’m not going to fully address this question here; that would require a much longer format. But I’d like to share some practical ways God has answered my question in recent years.
As shepherds, we can spend a lot of time thinking about our skills and methodology. But it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees. What God has taught me is that it’s more important to focus on Him than on myself and my abilities. Certainly, skills and methods are important when it comes to caring for God’s people in holistic and practical ways. But even the most important emphases and skills—being a competent minister, drawing out the heart, understanding the heart’s struggles, and instructing in how to live a godly life—need to be properly understood and practiced. Let’s take a look at how to balance each of these four essential elements with a primary focus on God and His relationship with us:
1) Competency & the Comforter
We can get anxious about caring for people. We wrestle with particular struggles: “I don’t know what to do;” “I haven’t experienced this struggle before;” “I want to help this person, not harm them; “I need to read more on this particular struggle.” Such struggles can lead to fear, lack of confidence, and avoidance.
Growing in competency is important. Sometimes you do need to read more. But ultimately our confidence should be found in the Comforter. 2 Corinthians 3:4-5a says, “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant.” Whatever our level of competency, God is still the One who comforts us in all our troubles. While skills are essential, those who are struggling with life primarily need to know and experience their God, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
2) Drawing Out the Heart & Drawing Near to God
Drawing out the heart is basic to gospel care (Prov. 20:5), but what’s more important is that we—both the person caring and the person receiving care—draw near to God. It may take hours upon hours to understand and draw out the underlying issues going on in a person’s heart. But God doesn’t need hours. He searches and reveals our hearts, and He provides us with exactly what we need. This is why it’s essential to rely on God’s Word to do God’s work. As Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” When we draw near to God through His Word, He reveals our hearts unlike any other.
He also comforts our hearts by leading us in His everlasting ways. We can pray, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24). He’ll answer. As we draw near to Him, we will receive His Word into our heart, and we’ll come to know His heart. Then, we’ll be comforted as we trust and follow His ways.
3) Struggles & the Savior
Understanding the heart and relational struggles is also essential, but growing in an understanding of our hearts doesn’t bring change. God changes us when we behold His glory in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). 2 Corinthians 3:18 says it this way: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
You could spend hours mapping out all the dynamics of a person’s struggles. But drawing near to the Savior reframes a person’s perspective on their struggles. Jesus speaks into their reality through His Word, and the Spirit helps them to see their reality—their story—in light of God’s story of love. As people abide in Christ, their thoughts, emotions, and desires are transformed. As they learn to live in Christ by faith, the Spirit produces within them the kind of fruit that overshadows their temporary struggles.
4) Instruction in Godly Living & the Experience of God’s Love
When you’re shepherding God’s people, it’s also essential to talk about right living. But we know that a godly life is ultimately the fruit of living in dependence upon God. When a person dwells with Christ, God’s Spirit empowers them to know and experience His love. We call this communion with God, and it compels us to live differently. As 2 Corinthians 4:14–15 says, “For Christ’s love compels us … those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
When a Christian is growing in their experience of the height, depth, breadth, and width of God’s love in ways that surpass knowledge (Eph. 3:17-19), that love will overflow in godly living. A godly life is what we were made for. We were made in His image to reflect Him. So, when we experience His love, we’ll be compelled to live for Him and not for ourselves.
Questions for Reflection
What is your bent when you’re ministering to others—do you tend to emphasize competency and skill or an experience of life with God? Which of the four contrasts above did you find most convicting? Is God calling you to obey Him by adjusting your approach to caring for others? What truths about God is He inviting you to focus upon? His comfort? His nearness through His Word? Christ’s invitation to come and see? His love?