Keeping Our Eyes on Christ

Galatians 4:14

…you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

Galatians 4:19

…my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!

John Stott, connecting these two verses above:

What should matter to the people is not the pastor’s appearance, but whether Christ is speaking through him. And what should matter to the pastor is not the people’s favor, but whether Christ is formed in them. The church needs people who, in listening to their pastor, listen for the message of Christ, and pastors who, in laboring among the people, look for the image of Christ. Only when pastor and people thus keep their eyes on Christ will their mutual relations keep healthy, profitable and pleasing to almighty God.