Monday Morning Reminders for Pastors

Yesterday’s message wasn’t as bad as you thought it was. Someone in the congregation was spiritually fed, so rejoice in that.

Yesterday’s message wasn’t as good as you thought it was. There were some things that would have made your message more clear and more precise and more connected to the people you spoke to. So work on that.

You get another chance next week, so stop fretting and get busy. Don’t get to Saturday and wish you had started on Monday. Start on Monday, even if it’s only a small start.

All the things you wish you had said yesterday? Say them next week, or trust the sovereignty of God even over our speech.

All the things you wish you hadn’t said yesterday? Forget it because everyone else already has forgotten it. Have more self-control in your speech next, and trust the sovereignty of God even over our speech.

Spiritual growth does not stem from a single incredible meal. It is the result of a lot of ordinary meals over the course of years. So don’t evaluate your ministry on the basis of one message, however good or bad you thought it was. Just get a solid meal ready for next week.

The Cross of Ordinariness

A few years ago, D. A. Carson wrote a book entitled Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson. Another book is ordinary for D. A. Carson, who has written more books than many people have read. But this was no ordinary book, not even for Carson. It was a book about his dad.

Now the truth is that we would have never known of Pastor Carson were it not for Doctor Carson. That’s because, by all human standards, Pastor Carson was just ordinary. He never pastored a big church. He didn’t publish a lot of books. He wasn’t even a full-time pastor for much of his ministry. He spent some of his latter years tenderly caring for his ailing wife. And then he died.

He was, in a word, ordinary.

He was, in two words, like me. And like you … just a guy you’ve never heard of, living somewhere you’ve never heard of, pastoring a church you’ve never heard of. And doing it without giving up. He was just ordinary.

In these days, it is easy to fall in love with big. It is easy to see the extraordinary pastors and measure ourselves against them. It is easy to get discouraged by their visible fruit. It is easy to wonder what they are doing that we aren’t. It is easy to listen to them preach and copy their style, or God forbid, even their messages. It is easy to dream about what could be, if only you had a little bit more of this or a little bit less of that.

Then, it is easy to despair when driving to your second job, wondering if you shouldn’t just pack it in, box up the books, and go dig ditches or sell widgets because you will never be whatever that other pastor is. It’s not that it’s too hard to be that. It’s that you can’t get there from here. Your gifts, your abilities, and your opportunities simply are not sufficient for that.

And so you resign yourself to being ordinary. And let’s face it: In a world driven by success, ordinary is hard.

This is where a reality check helps.

The reality is that most churches are less than one hundred people and they will never be bigger than that. In fact, tens of millions of Christians meet every week in assemblies that wouldn’t even move the needle in a megachurch. And these small churches are pastored by people whose name will never show up on a conference speaking list or an Amazon search result. They will never be known outside their small church. They even wear a name tag at their local pastor’s fellowship to remove the awkwardness of having to introduce themselves yet again to the same people who forgot them from last year.

And the reality is that that’s okay. Being ordinary is, well, ordinary. What’s extraordinary is someone who is okay with being ordinary.

You see, most us of will have to bear the cross of ordinariness. It will weigh heavy on us. It will threaten to do us in and drive us off. If we give it too much thought, we still stumble under its weight. We will seek for the next best method or the next best church. We will lay in bed in the dark and wonder with tears if we are wasting our life. We will get up on Sunday and put on a good face and summon the energy to preach from a heart weakened by ordinariness. We will go home on Sunday afternoon and sleep off the disappointment and try to forget we have to start all over tomorrow. We will drift through a football game tempted by the fast food commercials, not because we are hungry, but because we think “Would you like fries with that?” has a better chance of a yes than “Will you follow Jesus with us?” And let’s face it, hearing “no” is a lot easier to take when it is about French fries than it is when it is about Jesus.

The reality is that though the cross of ordinariness may stress us and alarm us, it need not kill us. You see, to some God has given ten talents, and to others five, and to others one. He does not judge the man with one talent by the same standards he judges the man with five or ten. He will judge us according to the talents he has given and the vineyard in which he planted us for this season, however long it might last.

And when this season is over, whether by being planted in another vineyard or by being planted in the ground to await the great resurrection day, he will judge us only by the gifts and calling he gave to us. He will not judge us by the calling he gave to someone else.

So, like Tom Carson, grow where you are planted. Serve in an extraordinarily ordinary way. And be content to let God keep the final score.

It’s doubtful your son will write a book about you. But that’s okay too. Just be encouraged by the book that Doctor Carson wrote about Pastor Carson.

Around the Horn

At first, Michael Horton writes on pastoral task of study and preaching. He warns against farming out one of the primary tasks of preaching, the task of study. Perhaps there’s a fine line between paying someone directly to do research (“Here’s $X; give me a paper on this passage”) and paying someone indirectly (pulling a commentary off the shelf). But as pastors, we need to guard ourselves against the tendency towards shortcuts by preaching other people’s study.

At second, Phil Campbell at Matthias Media has a good piece on the preaching task here. It is well worth your time. A great many of us regular preaching pastors could stand to be tighter and more focused in our preaching. While you might not resort to manuscripting as Phil does, the thoughts he shares will help towards the much needed goal of clarity in preaching.

At third, a dissertation by Jason Allen comparing the “The Christ-Centered Homiletics of Edmund Clowney and Sidney Greidanus in Contrast with the Human Author-Centered Hermeneutics of Walter Kaiser.” It should prove to be a good read. Related to this is a blog article about the dissertation, which I post mostly for the lengthy comment section showing how people interact about the topic. I think what is highlighted there is a major issue—the difference between typology and allegory. While Greidanus and Clowney disavow allegory, I am not yet convinced that their method does not actually lead one in that direction. But I shall read this dissertation with interest. (When’s the last time you heard that line?)

Last, and well worth making it to the end, Thabiti Anyabwile posts about pastoral wisdom in a great little piece called Everything I Know About Pastoral Ministry I Learned Riding with Pastors. Which reminds me of this: The best wisdom and guidance for just about anything in life does not come from long expositions of ideas, but from short conversations with people who have “been there and done that.”

Ryle on Pastoral Ministry

I cannot read the Bible without desiring to see many believers more spiritual, more holy, more single-eyed, more heavenly-minded, more whole-hearted than they are in the nineteenth century. I want to see among believers more of a pilgrim spirit, a more decided separation from the world, a conversation more evidently in heaven, a closer walk with God*

Though perhaps this wasn’t directly about pastoral ministry, it is surely true that the preaching of a pastor will be better when it is guided by this simple statement from J. C. Ryle

*J. C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots (London: William Hunt and Company, 1889). 70.

Around the Horn

I am leading off with a book today, an old one, by Horatius Bonar entitled Words to Winners of Souls. Don’t let the title mislead you. This book was written well before “soul winning” became a sales term. It is actually a book about pastoral theology. I highly recommend it. You can get a PDF here or an audio version here. In this book, Bonar builds on this theme:

The lukewarm ministry of one who is theoretically orthodox is often more extensively and fatally ruinous to souls than that of one grossly inconsistent or flagrantly heretical.

One day I will blog more about it, for my own sake mostly. I urge you strongly to avail yourself of this book and be challenged by it.

Second, on a bit of a related note, Tim Keller gives five things that “keep his ministry strong.” They are worth considering as pastors who should be taking stock of our own souls.

Third, my friend Marty comments on the problems created by premarital cohabitation.

And finally, related to that, is this article at CT about churches and recommending birth control to singles. At the recent Q Conference, 70% of leaders there said they would recommend BC to singles to prevent abortions.

The seed article for the Out of Ur article says,

In encouraging our single people who are sexually active to pursue contraception, we offer them a technological remedy to what is functionally a discipleship and community shortcoming. At its heart, this is little more than a tacit rejection of the power of the gospel to transform lives and bring people to a repentance that is genuine and genuinely holistic. Rather than building them up to maturity in Christ, the decision to pursue contraception so as to continue to be sexually active only reinforces their infantile faith.

I recently read Lauren Winner’s book Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity and found it to be very good. She deals much with the idea that sexuality is, at least to some degree, a community issue.

What in the world is going on in churches when we give up the biblical commands out of pragmatism?

As I have said before, the problem with pragmatism is that it usually works.

Some Thoughts on Pastoral Theology

John Piper has an article in Christianity Today on racism, his personal story, and the gospel. The line that catches my attention most is this one, near the end:

I am not a good example of an urban pastor. Because of the way I believe God calls me to use my time, I don't have significant relationships with most of my neighbors. Nor does our church reflect the diversity of this neighborhood.

There is diversity, but nothing like the statistics above. Probably I could have been far more effective in immediate urban impact in this neighborhood if I had not written books or carried on a wider speaking ministry. Some thank me for this ministry, and others think I have made a mistake. Again, you may see why I cherish and cling to the gospel of Jesus.

The reason this line sticks out at me is because of the pastoral theology built into it. I think many seminarians would like to pattern their ministry after Piper’s.

I think they are misguided.

Even if Piper was right to do what he did in his ministry (and I am not questioning that), most seminarians and pastors are not gifted that way. The sooner we realize that, the freer we will be to be and do what God has called and gifted us to do.

The better path to pastoral ministry is the one Piper didn’t take—the one that builds significant relationships with people, does the work of an evangelist, and knows and love those who live in your neighborhood.

Carl Trueman has a related post, related at least in my mind. He quotes an letter or email sent to him this week, and concludes with this:

These people need to realise that, in the current context, if you come preaching a message which doesn't draw attention to yourself, doesn't make your name a brand, doesn't pull in huge crowds and doesn't bring in the big money, there's only one thing that they will do to you.

They will crucify you.

This continues the theme of my previous post, namely, that most of us are just going to be ordinary pastors. And that’s okay.

We aren’t going to build megachurches after starting with two stray dogs and a dead cat. Our congregations will not double every six months. Our entire church budget will probably be less than a congressman’s salary. And most years we will fall short of that congressman’s salary

And that’s okay.

We are going to work hard, preach faithfully though probably not very eloquently, and get to know the people in our church and our neighborhood. We are going to cry with them with they grieve and rejoice with them when they dance. We will welcome their babies, marry their children, and bury their parents. We will weep over their marriage troubles and pray over their major surgeries. We will be able to scan the congregation on Sunday morning and see who’s missing. And we will do all this because we know them.

And that’s okay.

We won’t be invited around the world to speak to large crowds. No one will ask us to sign their Bibles afterward. We won’t have our own section in the bookstore. We will never even get published.

And that’s okay.

We will carry out the charge given to a man hardly anyone has ever heard of. In fact, if I didn’t give the man’s name, you probably wouldn’t even be able to tell us who he was.

This man was told:

"Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it." (Colossians 4:17).

And if we do that, it will be okay.

Around the Horn

Here are a few interesting links.

The Unchurched in Church – I think we need to think about how our corporate gatherings look to people who are not “one of us,” or even people who may have just become “one of us.” In a recent community group, I was reminded that our “church language” doesn’t work well with people who didn’t grow up in church. It was a great reminder to speak in language everyone can understand. This article should help us think about how to connect with people who are not “one of us.” This is anathema to some who consider that any accommodation to unbelievers in church is compromise. It isn’t.

The Dirty in Church – The old saying is that a church should be a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints. If your church doesn’t have some dirty laundry, a little ugliness, some broken marriages, some addicts, some profane people, some hurting lives, you should be questioning what kind of gospel you are preaching.

Success in Church – Here is a great reminder that gifting is no substitute for holiness. There is a constant emphasis today on the gospel. And that is great. But we as pastors and leaders must remember that the gospel is not a permission slip that allows us to sin with forgiveness (Romans 6:1-3). It is a call to walk worthy. It is true that we are completely accepted by God because of Christ alone. It is also true that we are to pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Statistics in the Ministry – Thabiti lists a number of statistics concerning pastors. Of course we all know the old lines about statistics. But some of these ring true for me, and no doubt they ring true for some of you. I recently had the opportunity to preach on motivation in pastoral ministry. I took as my text Titus 2:11-15 to encourage us to be motivated by the appearance of God’s grace and appearance of God’s glory. These are things that will never change. They will never let us down. They will help us to not be one of these statistics.

Quotable: Stetzer on Clergification

Clergification is “the idea that is very prevalent in the church that there is a certain class of people, a certain hierarchy, a priesthood if you will that does the work of the ministry and the job of the normal people is to pay, pray, and get out of the way.”

“Most churches look more like pre-Reformation Catholic churches than they do like churches that have an empowered priesthood of the believers.”

“It’s remarkable to me that so many churches look like pre-Reformation Catholic churches where there’s a priestly class and then there’s a people who is unengaged in mission and ministry.”

“We are teaching people that they need us [pastors] more than God wants them to believe they need us.”

“Somehow we have to stop letting them believe—and maybe us acting as if we believe—that our role is to do the work of the ministry.”

“All God’s people are called to ministry.”

“When we do for people what God calls them to do, everybody gets hurt and the mission of God gets hindered.”

“We are going to have to break the cycle of codependence where we’re the ones who do it and they’re the ones who watch”

From the Exchange beginning about 21:00, lasting about ten minutes.

Dever on Pastoral Ministry

“If you’re not willing to be disliked, you shouldn’t be in the ministry.”

This and tons of other good stuff from Mark Dever when he preaches about the four P’s of evangelical (meaning “gospel”) ministry.

1. Preaching
2. Prayer
3. Personal discipling relationships.
4. Patience

It’s worth your time (as it usually is when Dever speaks about the church or pastoral ministry). You can get it here.

In the Diner

It’s pretty quiet again this morning. Not many people here this morning.

One of the regulars died over the weekend of a sudden heart attack. I spent quite a while talking to him on Thursday. He had been snowblowing later that day. Then he died, apparently outside on his way to the car to go somewhere. He was probably in his sixties, I guess. I heard about it Saturday night.

Sometime ago he and I had a conversation about church and the gospel. He knew about Jesus and the facts of the gospel. I am not sure that he knew him though.

He was in good health, so far as I knew. But he’s gone now.

We must never forget how short life is, and how unexpected death can be. Our life could be over in a hurry. So could the lives of those around. So teach us, Lord, to number our days.

One of the reasons I come here is for visibility. Everything I do here, I could do in my office, except have someone bring me more coffee, and talk to people. And that’s why I come. I am not a great conversationalist. But I want to be known by people in the community and the only way to do that is be seen in public and be meeting and talking to people. Of course that might sound strange, like a politician who goes places just to be seen.

But I am not running for anything. I don’t think I am on an ego trip. For me, I want to be known as the pastor. I want people to see me and think about the church and about the gospel. I want that to be the catalyst for conversations of all types.

I say all that because I see another man I just met last week. He approached me at my table to ask me to pray for him. On Wednesday, he will be having his sixth or seventh surgery in the last eighteen months. He is scared. Understandably so.

He approached me because he knew I was a pastor. He goes to church somewhere, but promised to come and visit our church sometime.

So I pray for him—not just for his health but for his soul as well.

I think it is important that Christians be seen being Christians, that they be known as church-going, Jesus-loving Christians.

Your job might prevent you from setting up shop in a restaurant somewhere. But it won’t prevent you from oozing Jesus from every pore of your existence.

Jim Berg says, “If we are not known to be God-loving believers by our obvious extravagance for the Lover of our soul, why should those who follow us bother with Him either?” (Changed Into His Image, p. 219).

So for the sake of the gospel, be visible as Jesus-loving people.