A Portentous Old Parishioner

Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

Charles Dickens, in his book "Our Mutual Friend," writes of a pastor and his wife traveling for a wedding. At the train station this happens:

"That worthy couple were delayed by a portentous old parishioner of the female gender, who was one of the plagues of their lives, and with whom they bore with most exemplary sweetness and good-humor, notwithstanding her having all infection of absurdity about her, that communicated itself to everything with which, and everybody with whom, she came in contact. She was a member of the Reverend Frank's congregation, and made a point of distinguishing herself in that body by conspicuously weeping at everything, however cheering, said by the Reverend Frank in his public ministration; also by applying to herself the various lamentations of David, and complaining in a personally injured manner (much in arrear of the clerk and the rest of the respondents) that her enemies were digging pitfalls about her, and breaking her with rods of iron. . .This very exacting member of the fold appeared to be endowed with a sixth sense, in regard of knowing when the Reverend Frank Milvey least desired her company, and with promptitude appearing in his little hall. . ."

pp 707-708, Wordsworth Classics Edition

Sunday Post for Shepherds - Be Certain

"Be certain all the hairs of your 

head are numbered. 

Be certain your good Father 

hath appointed bounds, 

over which the devil dare not look." 

John Bradford, Bradford's Works, Vol 2, page 79

Sunday Post for Shepherds - Remember

"Remember that all you have is at Christ's commandment. Remember He lost more for you than you can lose for Him. Remember you lose not that which is lost for His sake, for you shall find much more here and elsewhere. . .Remember you shall die; and when and where and how you cannot tell." John Bradford, quoted in Five English Reformers by JC Ryle, page 137

Sunday Post for Shepherds - While You Are In This World. . .

"Feed you tenderly, with all diligence, the flock of Christ. Preach truly the Word of God. Love the light, walk in the light, and so be you the children of light while you are in this world, that you may shine in the world to come, bright as the sun, with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." 

From Works, Vol 1 pp 50-57, by Hugh Latimer (1487-1555), 

English Reformer, Bishop, Chaplain, and Martyr

Sunday Post for Shepherds - Your Title is Empty

"Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. All Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, "We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, even while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD your God said to you, 'You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.'"

 1 Chronicles 10:13-11:2

It's not the man with the title that the people followed. It's the man with the courage. It's the man who actually, functionally, and biblically shepherded the flock while claiming no title. Saul was ever proud of being king. This contributed to his inability to lead God's people. He believed the kingdom was his and the people his servants. David believed the kingdom was God's and the people his responsibility. "Pastor" is just a word. "Pastoring" is a calling, and a labor. God hasn't selected you to be a pastor. He has selected you to pastor, meaning shepherding a people - His people. The Apostle Paul reminded pastor Timothy that he was to "fulfill his ministry" (2 Ti 4:5), not protect his delusions. Authority is given to magnify service.

I have met so many of you set upon being respected because you are the pastor; because you have the title, regardless of whether you're actually bibically qualified for the task and are "spending and being expended for souls" (2 Co 12:15). Stop it. Humble yourself. Forget yourself. "Inquire of the LORD." Do the Bible. Serve the people, and so lead them as their shepherd. Kill the Saul within you. Be a David.

"Some of the men of Manasseh defected to David when he went with the
Philistines to fight against Saul. . .Day after day men came to help David, 
until he had a great army, like the army of God." 

1 Chronicles 12:19&22

Sunday Post for Shepherds - Pauline Preaching

"I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."

 The Apostle Paul, 1 Co 2:3-5

Sunday Post for Shepherds - Relieve the Poor, Free the Pastors, Support the Missionaries

Without taking time to cite the relevant texts, I nevertheless assert that God, by and in Scripture, assigns qualified men to govern His local congregations and tells those men what to do with His money given to His kingdom by His people. The big categories for distribution include the poor, the pastor, and the missionary. Relieve the poor, free the pastors, and support the missionaries. Our church budgets should reflect these divine priorities, which might mean that to come in line with God's agenda you will have to erase some budget lines that mean a lot to some of your folks. Explain that to them and then do it.

PS - These channels through which God means for currency to flow should also be priorities for Christian families and individuals. The God who gives power to earn money also gives us instructions on what He wants done with that income. Do your own study of Scripture. These channels are not hard to see there, in both testaments.

Sunday Post for Shepherds - Consider Your Worth, Your Task, and Your Path

"I think it's a young man's error to overestimate his own importance, and also to underestimate the amount of time it takes to achieve good lasting change." - Carl Trueman, at the 2015 Westminster Preaching Conference, Philadelphia, PA

The statement above was given in answer to a question from an audience member regarding whether or not he should accept an invitation from his home church to return there to pastor following his upcoming seminary graduation. His concern was that the church had gone in a wrong direction; that it had become what is often called "seeker-sensitive" as a part of the modern times "church growth movement." I listened to this exchange just yesterday. 

On Sunday of last week I was listening to a pastor explain to me that his co-pastor, a young man, was looking to leave their church to pastor another one. He said that the youngster was being careful to find a "healthy" church to pastor, and so was taking quite a bit of time with the search.

Two weeks back I listened to a good friend of mine speak to me about ministry possibilities for myself. Over the years I have found myself in and out of a variety of vocational pastoral roles but currently that is not my work. So my friend was attempting to be helpful by feeding me ideas, one of which was to plant a church, thereby avoiding the many hardships that come with laboring among an established congregation. 

In addition, I know a young pastor with a thirty year plan for his church. I'm wondering what that means for his understanding of today. 

And finally, to continue the testimony, five weeks back I resigned the very part-time church staff position I did hold for less than ten months (Cf Our Potipharian Prisons from 4/25/15). Since then I have thought a lot about who and what I am, and what my expectations should be, of myself and of a church, especially church leaders. What is Scripture's counsel on such things? I don't mean to try to answer fully in this post, but I do want to add to Trueman's comment.

I want to urge pastors to know themselves. How has God built you? What are your dominant spiritual gifts and your recurring tendencies? What is it that you do that God most uses to bless and strengthen believers? Are you getting to engage in that activity regularly? What can't you live with in a pastoral context? What do you believe about the nature and necessity of change? Are you a leader or a support staffer? Do you have biblical categories established for how to think about life? What are your weaknesses? Are you lacking courage? Are you looking at Jesus as your model for shepherding, and then looking at the Apostle Paul perhaps? These men would normally be fired from our churches; that is, if they could get hired by one. They simply did not think or operate in the ways American pastors are expected to today. And some of their ways would even be classified as sinful by many folks - like when they got angry at their people (and showed it); like when they called their folks derogatory terms (like Satan - Mt 16:23, and foolish - Ga 3:1-3, for example); and like when they expressed sadness, grief, distress, and you know, other real human and non-sinful emotions that are quite unpopular (and often considered un-Christian) in the victory-driven American Church of today. (For examples see Lk 12:50; Mt 26:37; 2 Co 2:4, 4:7-12; 6:3-10; He 12:5-11; Ja 4:8-10; Re 2:9-10). So I ask the pastors, what are you, essentially? I ask this question because it's the one to which I continue to return. For what has God built me and to what is He calling me then? (These realities are connected). For what has He suited me? In what context am I designed to be most effective and fruitful? These types of questions are important for another reason - there are many men in pastoral ministry that do not belong there. We may testify that we are called by God, inwardly (an immeasurable thing), but are clearly not equipped outwardly (quite measurable). If that's me, I need to find other work, then I will be free to serve a church in the ways I am actually suited, and as a volunteer. 

Here's what I think I've learned afresh, about myself, hopefully not presuming upon the Lord, His plans, His ways, and His intentions; and hopefully pushing pastors to examine themselves constructively. I feel forced into this myself due to my history, my age, my responsibility to my family, and the new transition time in which I find myself, again. So here goes - I am essentially a reformer. I do not want to start something new. I want to work on something old, even sick. So I am not seeking a healthy church to pastor. Healthy churches probably don't need a guy like me. I am not shy but I am an introvert. People sap my strength, none more than myself. I like books and dark rooms and projects. And while its been rare for me in a work context, I should probably be in charge. The one time I have been proved the most visibly fruitful and inwardly satisfying. And I tend to end up in charge anyway, even though my title doesn't recognize the reality and my intentions were not to lead. 

Looking back over 44 years, it is clear that it is not in my nature to take the path of least resistance simply because it is least resistant. I strive to take the best path, as I understand it. That's often the hard road. Also, my heroes are the Bible Prophets and the Protestant Reformers. These are the people with whom my soul most connects and resonates. One of my favorites of the favorites is Ezekiel, because of how God constructed him. He gets the assignment no one wants, and is told by God that the people to whom he is sent "will not listen to him" because they "will not listen to Me" and are "nations of rebels." That's hard for a preacher to hear. The prophet's audience has "a hard forehead and a stubborn heart." But here's the good news from God to His spokesman, "I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. . .And whether they hear or refuse to hear they will know that a prophet has been among them." Yes!

One wonders at such an assignment, from God! But the Lord prepares His prophets. Chief in this preparation is the vision of His glory recorded in Ezekiel 1. The prophet learns the worth and glory of God (ch 1), receives God's word (ch 2-3), and so must speak it, even to those who will not hear. (God's thoughts are worth saying because they are God's thoughts. Whether or not people welcome them is not the issue for a preacher or any other truth-teller). This account reminds me much of the Apostle Paul, who also learned the worth and glory of God (Ac 9), received God's word, and then couldn't help but speak, testifying to the Corinthians, "I believed, therefore I spoke" (2 Co 4:13). That's not terribly complicated.  

Of course a personality like this comes with glaring weaknesses. Yet God continues to construct folks with a prophetic bent (See Prophets Push from 1/25/15). Should these kind of people pastor churches? Perhaps not, although the Bible Prophets did function pastorally in some measure, as did many of the Protestant Reformers, and of course the Apostle Paul. But it's really tough. Including in a cover letter that you're a task-oriented introvert will not land you a pastoral position. My point is that it's good to know who you are and what you're for and seek a role where that can be useful to folks for Christ's sake. Regarding themselves, the prophets seem to be fairly clear on this, as does Paul and certainly Jesus. The Protestant Reformers had more to figure out, seeing that they didn't receive direct revelation but needed, like us, to understand revelation previously given (the Bible) and then apply that to themselves in their context. 

So what to do? I'm not yet sure. But I'm considering enrolling in carpentry school.

Sunday Post for Shepherds -- Courageous Preaching

"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest expression every portion of the truth of God except that point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."

Martin Luther 

(1483-1546)

Sunday Post for Shepherds

Brothers, you are not saviors. You are just men, with the very limited powers of men. Please hear Russell Moore say how Jesus seems to be one of the few shepherds without a Messiah complex.

Sunday Post for Shepherds -- The Gift of Relief

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."

Author, Charles Dickens

"I relieved his shoulder of the burden, 

his hands were freed from the basket."

Yahweh, Ps 81:6

"Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ."

The Apostle Paul, Ga 6:2

Sunday Post for Shepherds -- Think.

I simply exhort you to be a thinker; to love God with your mind (Mt 22:37), to gain biblical understanding via God's means -- the work of the brain, like my son Joah here. Or is he sleeping?

"Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything."
The Apostle Paul to Pastor Timothy, in 2 Ti 2:7 

Sunday Post for Shepherds -- Stand.

"This is it. Don't get scared now."

From Kevin McAlister, in the movie "Home Alone", when the enemy was literally on his doorstep.

"But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior. . ."
Je 20:11

"But he who is noble plans noble things, 
and on noble things he stands."
Is 32:8