My Dear Shepherds,

As a kid did you ever play that game where you lean over, put your forehead on a baseball bat and circle it three times? Then when you try to walk you stagger and stumble like a drunken sailor. Ministry has been a lot like that the last couple of years.

John wrote his first Epistle to Christians dizzied by false teaching. What he says to all believers is especially helpful to us as pastors. Top of the list:

This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. … we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:11, 16)

When our heads are spinning and our hearts are bewildered, love is how we walk a straight line. People matter more than things. The person in front of you matters more than the crowd. Welcome the little ones in Jesus’ name. Search for the one lost sheep.

Another dizzy-maker is failure to love others, perhaps by our sharp words, inattention, or gracelessness. How can we shepherd on when we’ve hurt our flock? Pastor John tells us,

If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (v. 20)

Our hearts are like a court rendering a guilty verdict, but there is a higher court. It is not that our heart was wrong but that we did not “know everything.” While we might fear that facing God’s high court would be the death of us, it is not so because God not only knows everything we’ve done but, more importantly, everything that Christ has done on our behalf. Our heart’s verdict is overturned.

I remember so well a time when I was deeply discouraged by my failures. A pastor friend took me to 1 Corinthians 4:2 and had me read aloud, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” That was what scared me! I went on, coming to v. 5, “He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.”

Right at that point there was a page turn in my Bible but before I could turn the page he asked, “What do you think comes next?”

I didn’t know but I guessed, “I suppose it says something like, ‘And he will judge those who have failed.’” Then I turned the page to read, “At that time each will receive their praise from God!” (Exclamation point mine.) What medicine that was for my staggering heart. God is indeed greater than our hearts!

Once we know yet again that we can always “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence” then John gives our dizzy hearts another assurance:

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. (vv. 21-22)

We’re offered any help we need! So, what shall clear-headed pastors ask for? Start, perhaps, by praying to love well and wisely in the situations facing us and our church. Ask how love can draw back those who have forsaken meeting together, how love should shape our planning for the next few months, how love could mend particular broken relationships in the body, or give us eyes to see those whom we’re overlooking.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isa. 30:21)

Be ye glad!

Lee Eclov recently retired after 40 years of local pastoral ministry and now focuses on ministry among pastors. He writes a weekly devotional for preachers on Preaching Today.