A Consecrated Ministry

We are responsible for the spiritual welfare of others.

This chapter deals with many different aspects of how a gospel minister should act and what they should do. I will not focus on every aspect, so as to not rewrite the chapter. However, it would be a great idea for you to read as you will get more out of it than what I can write here.

The aspect I will focus on today is the one regarding spiritual guardianship. To illustrate this point, E.G. White compared spiritual leaders to watchmen on the wall. She puts it this way.

"The words of the prophet declare the solemn responsibility of those who are appointed as guardians of the church of God, stewards of the mysteries of God. They are to stand as watchmen on the walls of Zion, to sound the note of alarm at the approach of the enemy. Souls are in danger of falling under temptation, and they will perish unless God's ministers are faithful to their trust. If for any reason their spiritual senses become so benumbed that they are unable to discern danger, and through their failure to give warning the people perish, God will require at their hands the blood of those who are lost." pg 361

 Aside from the point that we are be in constant prayer for those in leadership position, we are still responsible for the spiritual welfare of others. To use the watchmen illustration, if a citizen of the city were to see impending danger would it not be their responsibility to tell others about it? They would not say, "Oh, that's the watchmen's job. I'll let them take care of it." If we see something that we believe to be wrong, we should let other people know about it.

At the same time, we need to be careful as to exactly how we let others know about impending danger. To do it in an unconsecrated manner would simply be aiding the enemy. Instead of drawing people to Christ, we would be driving them away from Him into enemy territory. This practice is a cause of many problems in God's church. People worry so much about warning that they neglect consecration. So our goal should be greater consecration, greater spiritual growth, greater character development. Then the discernment and warning will take care of themselves.

So let us remember that we are responsible for the spiritual welfare of others, but we are useless if we neglect our own.