James: If you could go back in time
to the first day of your ministry
and speak to a young Clint Leiter,
what would you tell him
and most stress to him?
Clint: I would say be certain of your calling.
If you're going to last in the ministry,
you've got to know that you are
in the will of God being there.
The Apostle Paul did that.
I think I've counted six of his letters,
he opened to different churches,
"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God."
He keeps saying "by the will of God."
And he might be saying that surely
for the benefit of the Corinthians
or the Colossians
or whichever church that he's addressing,
but surely he's reiterating that in his own mind.
There is that confirmation in the mind of a pastor
that is vitally important,
and that is a calling.
If you don't have that,
you won't weather the storm -
if you're not convinced.
There's a stick-to-it-ness about a man
when he knows that it's because of God
that he's there.
There have been numerous times,
countless times when I've been able
to pray to God and say
in the midst of difficulties,
"Lord, this was Your idea.
I'm not here because I forced my way
into this situation.
You brought me here
and it was confirmed by Your men
all along the way.
I'm here because You brought me here."
That's helpful. That's necessary.
So I would tell any young man that.
You've got to be convinced of that.
There's any number of other motivations
that would cause someone to seek
a pastoral ministry.
I would counsel against it
until that one right there has been settled,
and that is, God wants you there.
Someone has a romantic notion
of what it is to stand in a pulpit
and speak these words
and have people fawning over your sermon,
or maybe they're a very compassionate person
and they just want to help people,
or any number of things.
Sooner or later, they're going to run head on
into some opposition.
The devil will see to it
because every pastor is like a squirrel on a fence post.
The devil is there to take a pot shot at it.
And they won't last.
You won't last in that office
unless you're convinced of that one thing,
that God called you
and you're there for that reason.
It was very comforting to me
when Bob was in the process of dying,
Conrad Murrell came and stayed in our home
and we were sitting there talking
and I was pouring out my heart
and my fears to him.
And he had a very prophetic, helpful,
insightful word that was profound.
He said, "Clint, you've got to remember
you are God's responsibility."
And that was very helpful.
God is very much concerned
about my longevity.
He takes me seriously and my position.
And I'm His responsibility.
That's very helpful to remember.
It's helpful to remember the temple of God
which is the church
according to the Corinthian letter.
The temple of God -
God takes very seriously - the church.
If anyone destroys the church -
the temple of God -
him will God destroy.
And so you can't cause problems that way
without incurring the consequences
of the wrath of God.
So there is this whole idea, this whole notion,
God has called a man.
He's put him here with this local body.
There might be situations
where a man finds himself in places of ministry
where he's put there from a pragmatic viewpoint.
Here's a guy who's got qualifications.
Here's a guy who's willing.
Here's a need and a place
and so we'll put him there
and he'll serve there.
And it might last for awhile.
There might be a season where that's useful
in a man's life building him
for future usefulness in some other capacity.
But that's over and against a man
who knows God has called me to the ministry
and He's put me in this church.
And it's rather narrow maybe,
but God has done that for me in some regard.
I have as my focus this little church right here.
And whatever else God might choose
to use me in whatever capacity,
it's not my calling.
You know, David went in the Old Testament
to the battlefront to take supplies to his brothers.
The army was stationed over and against the Philistines.
It was that occasion when Goliath was coming out
and taunting the armies of Israel.
And David's brother said to David,
"who is back watching that little flock?"
And those words have stuck in my mind
ever since I read them.
In other words, you need to be singular in your focus.
God has called you to that church right there.
Focus on that.
Do that to the best of your ability
and don't leave your post.
There's a suffering that is very military-istic
in the life of a pastor.
Paul said to Timothy,
"Suffer hardship with me
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
Soldiers, when they're trained,
the special forces -
they put them through hardship.
There might be some that might be more courageous.
There might be some that are better shots.
But what they want is someone
who's going to stick it out in the midst
of the worst - absolute worst conditions.
Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier
of Jesus Christ.
And so when we find ourselves
in those situations,
whether or not we leave our post
is going to largely be dependent
upon our conviction that God has put us there
in that spot, in that place,
for those people.
And when we're certain about that,
then we can stand our ground so to speak.
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