The Pastor’s Study - Brian Howard
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
A few years ago, our church updated its interior signage. We posted directional arrows to the restrooms and room numbers for the classrooms. For our administration area, we added the names of our administrator and myself. One request I asked was that we change the name of “Pastor’s Office” to “Pastor’s Study.”
After a few good-natured critiques (What, you’re too good to make copies? Do you know how to check email?), most everyone was in agreement. The pastor’s labor is the pastor’s study. When Paul says that it’s only the Lord who can provide the increase to Paul’s plantings and Apollos’ waterings, well, this implies that there’s some actual planting and watering going on. There is labor for the Lord to bless.
If I'm to offer any guidance in counseling sessions, it’s from time in the Word. If I’m to preach anything worthwhile on the Lord’s Day, it will come from digging into the Word of Truth. If my hospital visit is to provide any meaningful comorot, it will be because we open the Word together at that bedside. And yes, I do know how to check email, and if I’m to be diplomatic and winsome online, it will also be because of time in the Word.
In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul tells Timothy to be an unashamed worker. That word in the Greek (ergaten) literally means field-laborer, workman, or in it’s root, toiler. It requires some dirt under the fingernails, some sweat on the neck, and some sore muscles after a good day’s work.
There are times when I sit down to labor under God’s Word and it feels like a wrestling match. Other times, I feel like a craftsman slowly carving away wood or chipping into stone to find a sermon-structure that will be best for our congregation. There’s also a keen awareness that I’m often planting seeds that I won’t live to see blossom. I’m a field-laborer, but I don’t own the field.
Given those different feelings above, Pastor’s Wrestling Ring, Pastor’s Workshop, or Pastor’s Barn might also be helpful signs to hang on the door. But Pastor’s Study will do just fine.
“Lord, please bless your laborers as they prepare for service this Lord’s Day. Bless their time in your Word of Truth. Give them tenderness and boldness as they minister to their congregations. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”