One of the Army Values is “Honor”. Chaplains must live up to this value by honoring God in all that we do.
Malachi 2:1-9 says;
“And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. (Mal. 2:1-2, ESV)
One of the most meaningful sermons that I have read was given by John Piper in 1998. The Sermon is directed to professors and seminary leadership whom are charged with the responsibility for teaching Pastors and Missionaries for the next generation.
In the sermon he says:
“…doing our job well as pastors and missionaries means mainly bringing more and more people, among more and more peoples, to know God and to delight in him above all things. That’s what our job is. And therefore the most fundamental, essential, pervasive need of our lives and our ministries is that we ourselves know God and enjoy God above all things.”
Everything we must do as Pastors or Chaplains is to bring more and more people or soldiers to know God and to delight in him above all things. We cannot achieve this, if we are not honoring him with every ounce of our being. We need to take this to heart–then our worship, our counsel, our message will focus on bringing other people to know him as well.
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This post is a rewrite of a post title “Priest Take Heart” from December 2007.
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