Hard spiritual work is an example

I remember when I was first converted, I was at a church that had been there for 175 years. And I was hearing the story of the first pastor, Henry Augustus Boardman. He had been there forty-two years, except for the two years when his health was broken by his ministry. He had to recuperate. I remember thinking—I was an Army officer at the time—and I remember thinking, how can being a minister be so hard that it breaks a man’s health? Well, I have been getting an education in that sense. But pastors are to set an example of labour and hard work and toil—sacrifice.

By the way, fathers are to do that too. You want to be a good father? You want your children to respect you? You need to work hard. It may take hard work. Things are not always great. The economy goes bad. The real estate market no longer floats consumerism. And we have to work hard and work late. We have to be home for dinner. Sometimes we have to have two jobs. And our wives and children ought to be able to say, He’s got his issues, but he’s a hard-working man, and I respect him.

And our children need to grow up learning hard work from the example of both of their parents, of course—but especially from their fathers—because the Christian life is hard work. It is not easy. Paul uses the metaphor of an athlete training for the games: Train yourself for godliness. While bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way. It holds promise for the present life and the life to come. You want to grow as a Christian? You want to make headway? You have to go to bed late sometimes and get up early and have the Bible open on your knees way before others are up. You need to spend time in prayer. You need to be regular in the church. You need to be involved. You need to be using your gifts. You need to be growing in grace. It is hard, strenuous work. But it pays off. And so spiritual fathers, like natural fathers, are to set an example of labouring hard in the vineyard of the Lord.¹

Richard D. Phillips