As a pastor, how should the fear of God affect how you shepherd your church? Clarence Simmons explains that God will hold men accountable for not only how they handled the Word of God but also how they shepherded the people of God. One of our greatest fears should be deviating from Scripture. Being in ministry is the most joyful and distressing job there is because you’re accountable to God. You can’t afford to play around with Scripture and with the flock. We must realize that this is the flock of God. Instead of being served by the flock, they are to serve the flock. Pastors are to teach their congregation Scriptural truths, not catchy illustrations that will tickle their ears. 2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV) – “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

God will hold you accountable for how not only we handle the Word of God, but how we handle the people of God. I think that's the most fearful thing because we don't want to deviate from the truth at all. That's one of my fears in ministry. I said, I don't want to handle the word of God wrong, and I don't want to handle the people of God wrong. And I don't want to bring shame on the Lord Jesus Christ.

So that's, in my judgment, the greatest fear that I have, knowing that either one of those things I'm capable of doing at any given time And that's the great fear. Being in ministry is the most joyful and distressing job there is because of all the things you have to deal with and because You have to give account to the Lord. So we can't afford to play around with the flock of God, and we can't afford to play around with the word of God. We take the word of God to feed ourselves and also to feed the flock. But we dare not come and feed them poison.

And we dare not mishandle the flock at all, because it's God's flock. And I think that sometimes men enter the ministry and The church is supposed to serve them and that's not how it is. You are a servant to the church And I think we need to think that way.