What Are the Marks of a Good Pastor?

Most pastors would say that they aspire to be good pastors—that is, good at the task to which they’ve been set, not merely average (much less rotten!). Thankfully, the Scriptures don’t leave us without guidance as to what being a “good pastor” means. When Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy, he told him, “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 4:6).

By “these things,” Paul probably meant all the instructions he had written to Timothy so far. We can benefit, though, from paying special attention to what he says in the immediate context, in 1 Timothy 4:6–16. These verses help us to see, at least in part, what Paul believed constituted a “good servant of Jesus Christ.” It means, on the one hand, “putting” certain things before others and, on the other hand, “being trained” in the faith—equipped to discern between what’s worth sharing and the “irrelevant, silly myths” (v. 7) that are not worth a good pastor’s time.

In this respect, Paul has something to say about the good pastor’s personal devotion, his public example, and his primary labors.

The Pastor’s Personal Devotion

If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. (1 Tim. 4:6–10)

A good pastor is one, Paul says, who is “being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine.” He is nourished by the truth of God, and his ability to set the truth before anyone is on that account. He is the first to eat of the meal he serves to God’s people, and that personal nourishment sustains his public ministry.

And of what does this meal consist? The good servant of Christ Jesus trains in “the words of the faith” and “the good doctrines”—that is, he seeks to understand the Bible and the Gospel it reveals. This is a training and a nourishing that never ends. Timothy, Paul says, is to be a lifelong student. For the good pastor, no diploma will mark a completed education prior to the day of Jesus Christ. Ours is an ongoing education in the Gospel.

The good pastor is nourished by the truth of God, and his ability to put the truth before anyone is on that account.

Note that Paul is not talking about the training of the classroom, beneficial as that may be. He means principally the training of the closet. Ongoing personal commitment to God’s Word and to prayer nourish and build up a man for a lifetime of godliness. To say there is nothing devotional about a pastor’s study of the Word would be to create a false dichotomy. The good pastor always comes to the Scripture on his knees, not looking simply for tidbits to pass from one head to another but filling his soul with God’s Word so that it may overflow from him.

But a good pastor doesn’t merely eat right. He also exercises, training himself in godliness. Calvin called godliness “the beginning, middle and end of Christian living.”¹ Paul mentions this again and again, classically telling Titus, “The grace of God has appeared, … training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:11–12). If we have set our hope on the living God, it is only appropriate to aim ourselves at godliness.

The good pastor thus pursues a godly life. And in doing so, he purposefully sets an example of godliness for his flock.

The Pastor’s Public Example

Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. (1 Tim. 4:11–12)

Timothy is not to let anyone look down on him for his youthfulness. Rather, he should set an example so that they may look up to him for his spiritual maturity. He is to display the godliness that he has trained himself in so that his people may follow.

Paul mentions five areas by name in which the good pastor ought to set an example.

First, there is speech. The good pastor’s words are to be true, kind, and helpful. Words are the tools of the trade. Pastors ought, through wide reading and learning, to be well equipped with good words to use. They ought, by prayerfulness and the pursuit of wisdom, to be prepared to use them at the right time and in the right manner. As Paul elsewhere writes, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29).

Second, there is conduct. The way of false teachers is to impose rules from the outside. The good pastor instead cherishes and stokes the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God within his heart, seeking to make his behavior increasingly like that of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father’s desire and the Spirit’s work is that those who love Jesus would be conformed to His image from the inside out. The good pastor ought to be able to humbly say to his congregation, as Paul did, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1).

The good pastor’s words are to be true, kind, and helpful.

Third, there is love. The essence and eminence of Christian love could fill a lifetime of sermons without growing stale, but simply put, the good pastor serves his congregation affectionately and selflessly, laying down his own needs in order to meet theirs and so imitating the self-giving love of the Lord Jesus. “By this we know love,” wrote John,” that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16).

Fourth, there is faith. The good pastor places his confidence not in himself, in his work, or in his resources but in the God who gives those things and takes them away as He pleases (Job 1:21). For all his excellence in speech, conduct, and love, he nevertheless throws himself entirely and openly on the mercies of God, the only one who can save and sanctify. He has a faith like Abraham’s, who “grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Rom. 4:20–21).

Finally, there is purity, to which Paul returns later in 5:1–2. Timothy is to treat the “older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.” How many false and failing ministers have ignored this exhortation, to the shipwreck of their ministries and to the shame of the faith? The good pastor does not take advantage of his position to gain worldly pleasures; rather, he delights himself in the Lord and, if he has one, in the wife the Lord has given him, and so sets an example to the flock.

Setting such an example, the pastor is able to perform with integrity the labors to which he has been called.

The Pastor’s Primary Labors

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. (1 Tim. 4:13–14)

As Paul moves on to the matter of the good pastor’s work, he urges Timothy to devote himself to three tasks.

He is to devote himself, first, to the public reading of Scripture. The good pastor does not treat public reading as a marginal activity, nor as a casual activity, nor simply as a prelude to a sermon. There is no prescription in the text for how and when and how long, but this much ought to be clear: the Scriptures are God’s Word to us, and God works through them. They are profitable and sufficient (2 Tim. 3:16–17); they are living, active, and penetrating (Heb. 4:12). It is essential for the pastor to elevate God’s words in public worship and to humble himself.

The good pastor is devoted also to exhortation and to teaching. The Acts of the Apostles make a distinction between teaching and preaching, telling us that Paul and Barnabas both “taught and preached the word of the Lord” (Acts 15:35 NIV). In teaching, a good pastor helps his flock to understand God’s truth as it is given to us in the Scriptures. With God’s help, he thus offers them the first principles of doctrine. In preaching, he then makes an appeal to people’s wills and emotions, urging them to respond to what they have understood. It is irresponsible to call people to act without understanding, and it is an empty gesture to explain the truth without urging anyone to act on it.

Taking these truths together, we understand that the primacy of the Bible is a defining mark of the gathering of God’s people and that the Bible is at the center of pastoral duties. The flock gathers to the shepherd to hear God’s words. The pastor is entrusted with the responsibility to present the living Word of God in its fullness (Col. 1:25) so that it may become the driving force that shapes the life of the congregation and introduces individuals to the living God.

It is irresponsible to call people to act without understanding, and it is an empty gesture to explain the truth without urging anyone to act on it.

This is perhaps what is meant by Timothy’s “gift.” He had been publicly ordained to a privileged task. If he was to be a good pastor, it was his responsibility—as it is the responsibility of all good servants of God—not to neglect this calling but to faithfully accomplish the work.

The Pastor’s Progress

Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim. 4:15–16)

“What do you want me to do?” Timothy might have said when Paul left him in Ephesus.

“Put these things before the brothers,” Paul would have answered. “And make sure that you are established in them yourself. Put them into practice so that they become second nature to you. Immerse yourself in Gospel truth just as your body is immersed in the air you breathe. And don’t give up!”

This is a high calling and by no means an easy one. Yet we may be encouraged by Paul’s intent that “all may see your progress.” Paul issues a challenge to be exemplary, but he also reminds us that no pastor is perfect. Even Paul himself had not attained perfection. Instead, he told Philippians, “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Phil. 3:12). The good pastor, throwing himself on the grace of the God who called him, moves toward the image of the perfect Lord Jesus—and in his progress, he leads God’s flock along.

This article was adapted from the sermons “A Good Servant of Christ Jesus (Personal)” and “A Good Servant of Christ Jesus (Public)” by Alistair Begg.