“It’s sometimes said that Christians are so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good—and in view of the truncated gospel many of us have believed, the labeling is sometimes justified. But there’s no reason this should be the case.”

When I was growing up, I wanted—at various points—to be an astronaut, a comic artist, a basketball player, and a guitar virtuoso. In my teens, though, my newfound faith brought clarity to my vocational search. I knew I wanted to teach the Bible so that others could also know Christ.

I’m sure there are others who feel or have felt as I have. Perhaps when you became a Christian you immediately sensed a clear call to church ministry, or perhaps over time you’ve had a growing sense you didn’t want to do anything else. In light of the gospel, of eternity, of what’s at stake, devoting your life to anything else seemed like wasting your life.

If that’s you, I’d like to offer both an encouragement and a warning.

First, I’d like to encourage you. Keep pursuing your call. The world needs more men called to preach the Word and love a flock for a lifetime. It needs more men and women in ministry who can teach, train, and mobilize local churches to carry out the Great Commission to the end of the age.

Second, I’d like to warn you. Whether you’re a pastor or working in another church staff position, it’s likely the congregation you serve will imitate you. Through your teaching and life together with them, they will learn to love what you love and hate what you hate, to value what you value and to despise what you despise.

That’s a blessing and a danger. It’s a blessing because your congregation will tend to reflect your strengths, but it’s a danger because they’ll reflect your weaknesses, too. This means they’ll be passionate about studying the Bible, growing in holiness, and sharing the gospel. But it may also mean they won’t find much significance and meaning in other things, particularly the things that aren’t directly “spiritual,” like their daily routines and jobs—the things they spend most of their hours doing. They will do those things out of obligation, all the while wishing they could be doing more “spiritual,” more, “missional,” more real work.

That would be a tragedy, if we failed to train our people for the work of ministry in every sphere (Eph. 4:1–13). And it would misrepresent the King, who deployed them to be worshiping ambasssadors in the world (2 Cor. 5:20).

Fresh Look at the Gospel and Its Implications

So as those who are, or who aspire to be, in church ministry, what can we do to avoid this? Here are two suggestions.

1. Don’t teach a small gospel.

Many of us have learned a version of the gospel that’s too small. The work of Christ (his life, death, resurrection, and ascension for us) is often seen as a mere ticket to heaven—a ticket that doesn’t really change how you view your current location. It’s a gospel that secures your eternity (which is glorious) but has no relevance for your daily life (which often feels anything but glorious). This truncated gospel doesn’t capture the full scope of our redemption.

The biblical gospel, however, is about the glory of God through our complete redemption (1 Thess. 5:23). God not only forgives our sins but also gives us his Spirit to walk with him (Rom. 5:1–5). Jesus gives himself for us “to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). Through faith in Christ we are raised with him to new life—a new life that begins now (Rom. 6:1–11). Jesus is our Lord and Savior (2 Pet. 3:18) who summons us to follow him daily (Mark 10:45) and to do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:23). He calls us to make disciples and teach them to obey everything he’s commanded (Matt. 28:18–20). In our salvation, we’re more than justified; we’re sanctified, too.

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