Pastors

"As disobedience reproaches the ministry, so obedience honors it... When there is a metamorphosis, a change wrought; when people come to the word proud, but go away humble; when they come earthly, but go away heavenly; when they come, as Naaman to Jordan, lepers, but they go away healed; then the ministry is honored... You cannot honor your spiritual fathers more, than by thriving under their ministry, and living upon the sermons which they preach."

(From Thomas Watson's, The Ten Commandments, Banner of Truth Trust, 1981, p. 125.)

Ask me to list my favorite books and up there near the top would be Kierkegaard's Attack Upon "Christendom". Every pastor and elder should read it, as should their wives. It pierces our hypocrisy and points the way back to the path and cost of discipleship. It skewers the modern expectation that the model pastor will have the affect and temperament of a shopkeeper, instead calling for a restoration of manliness to our preaching and pastoral care.

To entice our good readers to find the book and read it, here's one of the hundred or so passages perfectly suited to the work of reform so desperately needed in the evangelical and reformed pulpits of our day.

We all know what it is to play warfare in mock battle, that it means to imitate everything just as it is in war. The troops are drawn up, they march into the field, seriousness is evident in every eye, but also courage and enthusiasm, the orderlies rush back and forth intrepidly, the commander's voice is heard, the signals, the battle cry, the volley of musketry, the thunder of cannon--everything exactly as it is in war, lacking only one thing...the danger.

So also it is with playing Christianity, that is, imitating Christian preaching in such a way that everything, absolutely everything is included in as deceptive a form as possible--only one thing is lacking...the danger.

(From Attack Upon "Christendom" by Soren Kierkegaard; 1944, Princeton University Press.)

[Please note: This recommendation of Attack Upon Christendom is not a general recommendation of Kierkegaard. My friend Don Johnson warns that Kierkegaard was a "father of liberalism," and I do not have the knowledge to agree or disagree, although the book Don cites for his concern, Murray's Evangelicalism Divided, has been one of the formative influences in my work and just yesterday, again, I recommended it to a brother for his reading list. So while acknowledging this concern with Kierkegaard--a concern I've heard before--I place this volume by Kierkegaard high on my list and encourage all to get it and read it.]

Still more from the wise Danish curmudgeon:

It is pretty much the same now with the modern clergyman: a nimble, adroit, lively man, who in pretty language, with the utmost ease, with graceful manners, etc., knows how to introduce a little Christianity, but as easily as possible. In the New Testament, Christianity is the profoundest wound that can be inflicted upon a man, calculated on the most dreadful scale to collide with everything--and now the clergyman has perfected himself in introducing Christianity in such a way that it signifies nothing, and when he is able to do this to perfection he is regarded as a paragon. But this is nauseating! Oh, if a barber has perfected himself in removing the beard so easily that one hardly notices it, that's well enough; but in relation to that which is precisely calculated to wound, to perfect oneself so as to introduce it in such a way that if possible it is not noticed at all--that is nauseating.

-Soren Kierkegaard in Attack Upon "Christendom" 1854-1855, translated with an introduction by Walter Lowrie, The Beacon Press, Boston, 1956, p. 258.

Page one of the New York Time's "Sunday Styles" section carried a piece by Alex Williams on the upcoming presidential debates titled, "George 'The Squinter' Bush vs. John 'The Grinner' Kerry--A Showdown of Style!" Here are some excerpts:

...the candidate who voters perceive as the winner will probably be chosen not on the substance of what he says, but on the cut of his jib. The subtle style cues... account for as much as 75 percent of a viewer's judgement... the mano a mano is about style--those nonverbal messages that speak to hearts, not heads.

...in some sense it comes down to which man you would want in your living room for the next four years.

...even one deftly delivered witticism, as long as it seems spontaneous (like Reagan's "There you go again" in 1980) could be the deciding factor.

Each candidate must channel his gifts as an onstage communicator--that is, a thespian--said Susan Batson, a longtime acting coach. (Kerry's) greatest opportunity... is to laugh more, to radiate a vulnerability with his eyes, a sense of compassion and wisdom, as opposed to single-mindedness and aggression. He can be "sort of a combination of Henry Fonda and James Stewart," she said.

Note there's nothing here of substance. The entire discussion centers around the candidate's ability to cop a posture or to be an actor, to put his audience at ease. Even taking into account that the piece appeared in the "Sunday Style," rather than the more weighty "Week in Review" section, it's clear the debates are expected to be the pivotal event of this election. And Williams points out that campaign experts expect "hearts, not heads" to prevail in the conclusions voters draw from the debates.

So what does this say about our view of leadership? If our president must put us at ease as we sit with him in our living room, could Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill carry an election today? No, it's doubtful either Lincoln or Churchill "radiated vulnerability with their eyes."

But to get really serious, what does this say about pastoral leadership today? If presidents are picked with little concern for substance, but an overwhelming emphasis on "subtle cues," "non-verbal messages," deftly delivered witticisms" that "seem spontaneous," and their ability to "radiate vulnerability," no wonder our seminaries are turning out men who have few leadership skills.

If "single-mindedness" and "aggression" are a liability to John Kerry, one wonders which church in which suburb and denomination would issue a call to Jesus or the Apostle Paul? And anyone who responds saying that a different philosophy of leadership prevails among biblical churches should pull his head out of the sand.

It's not every day a pastor of the Presbyterian Church in America is put to death. But now it has happened twice in successive Septembers.

September 3, 2003, Paul Hill, one-time PCA and OPC pastor and graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary, was executed by the State of Florida for the killing of abortionist John Britton and bodyguard James Barrett in 1993.

His death passed without comment within the PCA and Reformed Seminary communities. No mention of his execution (or connection to the PCA) was made on the PCA web site. No emails asking prayer for his wife and young children made the rounds of PCA presbyteries. To the best of my knowledge, no PCA church volunteered to hold a memorial service for his grieving family.

A student at Reformed Theological Seminary's Jackson campus told me the day following Hill's execution that he was unaware of a single official (or unofficial) reference to Hill's death on the Reformed campus; the execution of the school's most famous graduate passed like a thief in the night. It was as though he had already ceased to exist for the Reformed community; having repudiated him in life we ignored him in death. He died unlamented, unnoticed, not even remarked upon as a negative example.

September 22, 2004, a PCA pastor disappears leaving behind suicide notes. His body is found September 29. His death--his murder--comes by his own hand. Yet how different our reaction to this death....

On its home page the church he pastored ("...the flagship Presbyterian Church in America congregation" within its region) "praises God for his life and that he is now in God's loving hands." Messages of condolence and words of love flow from throughout the PCA. A large memorial service is planned. A member of the church's staff is quoted in the local paper: "We trust in God and know that he's there with him."

Is it sin to kill man? Is it truly always murder to kill extra-judicially what is created in God's image? If so, then are some extra-judicial killings more sanctified than others? Should we refrain from speaking against extra-judicial killing whenever the murderer is also the murdered? Could it be that fear of man drives our voice in these matters--fear of the consequences of examining the underlying issues in either of these deaths? Why the disparity in our treatment of these two men, both of whom were at one time PCA pastors, both of whom put men to death, both of whom died as a consequence of their own extra-judicial acts of killing?

Praise God that His grace is sufficient to reclaim killers, for the apostle Paul and King David who give us evidence of God's abounding grace to killers. But where is the Church's "NO" to the sin of suicide? If we have said amen to the execution of Paul Hill, should we not be equally careful to note the sin of the second PCA pastor before speaking words of comfort and granting what appears to be absolution of his sin?

A father of our presbytery has fallen. Pastor Petros Roukas, who served as senior pastor of Tates Creek Presbyterian Church, took his own life leaving behind hundreds of souls who looked to him as their shepherd, his fellow elders of Ohio Valley Presbytery (PCA); and most sadly, his wife and their two children.

Meeting just now in our fall stated meeting, Ohio Valley Presbytery adopted the following memorial. Please note, particularly, the words in the final paragraph concerning the sin of suicide and the hope, even in the face of this sin, that we have in the blood of Jesus Christ. (For those struggling for a biblical understanding of suicide, I commend these two sermons by the early nineteenth century Princeton Seminary professor and presbyterian pastor, Samuel Miller.)

Memorial for Pastor Petros Roukas Ohio Valley Presbytery 10/09/04

The teaching elders, ruling elders, and churches of Ohio Valley Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America are saddened by the death of our friend and brother Petros Roukas on September 22, 2004. We intercede before the throne of grace for God's comfort and strength for his wife Jan and children Nicholas and Elizabeth and for his parents Konstantine and Evangelia Roukas in Greece. We also pray for the congregation of Tates Creek Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Kentucky where he was serving at the time of his death as well as the previous congregations he served - Westminster PCA in Muncie, Indiana and Calvary PCA in Bricktown, New Jersey.

Petros was born in Greece in 1953 and received a Bachelors of Religious Education at Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan and a Masters of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. He was ordained in 1978 by the Midwest Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod. He served faithfully at Calvary PCA from 1978-1984; Westminster PCA from 1984-1999; and Tates Creek PCA from 1999-2004. His pastoral ministry was marked by effective preaching and teaching of the gospel, helpful application of the gospel in pastoral counseling settings, strengthening the shepherding ministry of ruling elders, building community in the congregation, and leading numerous cross--cultural mission teams--especially to Jamaica and Mexico.

Throughout his twenty years in Ohio Valley Presbytery of the PCA (previously part of Great Lakes Presbytery) he served on numerous committees. Especially noteworthy was his long term service on the Shepherding Committee where he helped numerous pastors and congregations look to Christ for both the purity and unity of the church.

While the tragic events surrounding his death at his own hand were certainly related to his long struggle with depression--they were also what Petros himself called "sinful and inexcusable." While Petros' grip on the truths of the gospel he preached and ministered so faithfully grew weak in his final actions, we are confident that God did not lose His grip on Petros. We hold that Paul's words in Romans 8 that "if Christ is for us, who can be against us" and "nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus" apply to God's adopted children--even when they are the very ones who are against themselves. As elders of Ohio Valley Presbytery--may God give us the grace to go to Jesus as we are weary and heavy burdened and may God also give us the grace to not only minister to others but to receive ministry from one another as well.

(Memorial gifts, including financial support for Mrs. Roukas, may be sent to Tates Creek Presbyterian Church at 3900 Rapid Run Drive, Lexington, KY 40515.)

Following last week's memorial service for PCA pastor Petros Roukas I received a copy of the text of Bryan Chapell's funeral sermon titled, "Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit." The sermon, though well-intentioned, was a gloss on the first beatitude (Matthew 5:3).

Mr. Chapell did speak of Petros's suicide as sin. And though Mr. Chapell rightfully held out biblical hope for Petros's salvation, he spoke clearly of the act of suicide as sinful, an act of Biblical fidelity for which I am grateful.

Yet, poverty of spirit is fundamentally different from depression. Poverty of spirit, in fact, is depression's cure and the answer to the suicide's despair. And though it is understandable that Mr. Chapell would wish to give comfort and hope on such an occasion, his use of this text as the basis of his message was disingenuous.

I suspect Mr. Chapell knows that "poverty of spirit" is not the kind of hopelessness which drives us to despair of God's faithfulness and thus to make violent end of ourselves, and had Mr. Chapell not seen fit to permit the publication of his sermon I would have thought these things privately without commenting on them here.

Unfortunately, Mr. Chapell has chosen not only to permit public dissemination of the text of his sermon, but the editorial staff of By Faith Online, the Presbyterian Church in America's online news site, recently made his sermon the most prominent link on their home page.

It would be fitting to memorialize a martyr who died by faith this way. But this was suicide. This was sin. And in his sermon Mr. Chapell comes perilously close to describing such faithless despair as "blessed" of God. And now this sermon has been published. I wish it had not. I wish By Faith Online had not given it such prominent treatment.

But it must now be said that Mr. Chapell's sermon is misleading, and that despite his looking into the pit by proclaiming suicide a sin in his sermon, he did not look long enough or hard enough, and whatever wounds he healed by preaching thus are likely healed lightly rather than fully. I say this because Scripture is clear: "The just shall live by faith."

In the meantime, what is poverty of spirit? According to Thomas Watson:

My dear brother in Christ, David Wegener, has been a great encouragement to me through the years. Now serving as lecturer at the Theological College of Central Africa under our denomination's mission agency, Mission to the World, I continue to cling to our friendship gaining much from David's knowledge of Scripture and church history.

Occasionally David writes in such a helpful way that I wish others could read him. So this time I wrote and asked his permission to put some of his reflections concerning the decline of Princeton Seminary up on this blog. He kindly agreed.

David Wegener, my brother David Bayly, and I share a growing concern over the weakness of the training offered at reformed seminaries where men from our congregations (and other friends) have taken their Masters of Divinity--what my Dad used to refer to as "the union card" of pastoral ministry.

Our criticisms of these seminaries must be developed more fully (which we hope to do), but it may be summed up by observing that it is almost a basic assumption of the curriculum that a good shepherd will avoid controversy.

Ruminate on that a bit and our good readers will quickly see how very much of faithful pastoral ministry this eliminates. Consider just two of the pastor's duties, preaching and discipline, and it's easy to see the damage the Church will suffer when reformed men trained by these seminaries stand in the pulpit and moderate session meetings having been stripped of their ability to "fight the good fight."

Ironically, though, the conflict stripped from the work of the shepherd is given back to these men in a strictly circumscribed outlet that is safe and culturally approved--the pages of Sports Illustrated. The same shepherds so meticulous in avoiding controversy in their pulpits carefully study the stats of three-hundred pound behemoths who make a living crashing through lines of scrimmage trying to sack quarterbacks.

Making common cause with the cultural forces intent on feminizing the Western World, seminaries today are turning out shepherds quite similar to the castrati who, as late as the twentieth century, sang in the Sistine Chapel Choir in a woman's voice...

One man, who has trained pastors and elders, frequents this blog and today made this comment:

I am sensitive to words like "dishonest" and "deceive," both of which are words which connote intent to mislead and describe motives.... I have no problem with disagreement - even strong disagreement, but I think we need to be careful not to judge the motives of others unless they specifically announce them.

Think of the repercussions of men who refuse to address the motives that issue in schism and false doctrine training other men to be shepherds of God's Flock! This current battle is a battle for souls, with false shepherds on one side and true shepherds on the other, and many in the middle whose souls are at stake. Some prefer to act as if this is a fraternal debate, with people of good conscience holding differing views. But Scripture itself does not demonstrate shepherds after God's Own heart dealing with false doctrine in that way.

If I were the pastor of the churches attended by the men promoting false doctrine and false Scriptures in this issue, I would labor to lead them to repentance by every means possible--including of course tender personal appeal. But if every pastoral strategy other than rebuke, censure, temporary suspension from the Lord's Supper, or excommunication, were to fail, I'd certainly not stop before carrying this battle for God's Truth the whole way to the end--an end that Scripture itself commands, we must remember.

Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their **smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.** For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. (Romans 16:17-20)

Smooth and flattering speech is precisely what has too often characterized those promoting false doctrine and false Scriptures on this list, and all those watching need to recognize such men and, as the Apostle Paul said endless times, have nothing to do with them.

Loving Christ, His Word, and His Bride,

Tim Bayly

For the past week, my brother, David, and I (arriving later) have been blogging from outside Woodside Hospice here in Pinellas Park, Florida where Terry Schiavo is being executed by the civil authority for the crime of helplessness. For years, her father, mother, and sister have been pleading for her life. But the cruelty of her adulterous husband and the heartless complicity of her physicians, judges, legislators, governor, and president have all conspired together to pass on Terri the sentence of death.

Yesterday, my brother, David; my fellow Church of the Good Shepherd pastor, Dave Curell; and I held a Good Friday worship service among the witnesses gathered outside the execution chamber. We confessed our sins, read the Passion account and other portions of Scripture, sang praises to the Lord Jesus, preached the Word, and prayed. The sermon text was Isaiah 53 and the Word of God was proclaimed concerning the centrality of suffering, His and ours, in the message of the Gospel.

The scene of the crime is filled with the despised and rejected of men--what an AP sportswriter called in to help with the twenty-four hour coverage referred to when speaking to me as "the circus"--and we're privileged to be among them. They are the people that surrounded Christ as He approached Jerusalem.

Muckity-mucks and grand poobahs are no-shows. There's not a single well-known evangelical present. Of course, many evangelicals are writing and speaking and giving interviews, but the death scene is a forsaken place.

Governor Bush and his brother, the President, have washed their hands of the case, justifying their inaction by speaking of the rule of law and the necessity of honoring the august decisions issued by every level of the state and federal judiciaries. To every one of us present, though, their justifications sound like excuses, and ring hollow.

It's now a death watch. I just posted a picture of Terri's father and sister coming out of their ten-minute visit they were granted late this morning. They were very sad and said they will make no further appeals.

It all makes a mockery of the rule of law. Our unborn babies are killed at the rate of 1.3 million per year; our defective newborns are cast off; our elderly are institutionalized; our handicapped are starved to death--all in untold numbers; and we pray for Africa!

So, brothers and sister, examine your conscience and ask yourself if you have been a faithful shepherd of the flock God has given you, whether that flock is your wife and children, or the Church of Jesus Christ to which you were called as a minister of the Word and Sacrament. Has your trumpet sounded a note of clarity, or have you blown your trumpet halfheartedly speaking of "the difficulty and tragic nature of these decisions."

Yes, I'm well aware that one doesn't build a Willow Creek on the back of a faithful and biblical witness conerning the execution of Terri Schiavo. Any idiot knows that speaking of such things--not to mention teaching or preaching on them--can be perceived as a negative confession. But let us remember that each man's work will be tried by fire.

Ask yourself if you love Jesus Christ, and if your love for Christ is proven by your love for the "least of these." Or, have you passed Terri by, moving to the other side of the road as you go about your important business of leading the People of God in their Holy Week celebrations?

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)

Years ago, a godly woman named Joan Andrews made a habit of chaining herself to the killing machines in abortuaries...

When we read of pastors being attacked and defending themselves, we must remember that the process, while unpleasant, is a necessary part of the ministry.

We would rather that ministry be pure and light and that our pastors be clean machines, teflon men impervious to complaint, impregnable against attack, men from whom no corresponding defense or rebuke for false charges is ever necessary. How much nicer it would if our pastors could ignore their detractors from Olympian heights. But this is not how God has chosen to establish His truth--and have no doubt, the pastor who goes through life unscathed is a pastor who cares only for image and nothing for truth.

If you have a pastor who meets charges with vigorous defense, even to the point of naming his detractors and defining their attack as sinful, consider that this, more often than not, is how the great men of Scripture responded to those who brought false charges against them. The likelihood is that you have as a pastor a man who values truth. Stop for a moment and consider how much preferable it is to have such a man caring for your soul--a man willing to struggle on the field of Church battle--than a pastor elevated to such heights that he will not respond to detractors.

Think of Paul attacking Cephas to his face, telling him that he stood condemned already, for his return to the Law and failure to hold fellowship with Paul's Gentile converts.

Think of Paul naming Barnabas in Galatians.

Think of Paul defending everything about his ministry, including his use of money, to the Corinthians.

Think of Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, naming Phygelus and Hermogenes who turned away from him. An oracle of God in the eternal Word: the names of two men who turned away from Paul.

Be glad for a pastor who will engage in conflict to clear his name. It's a sign he has not allowed himself to be turned into a celebrity who can ignore his detractors. And remember that God reveals where His favor lies through conflict.

There are several further benefits of conflict.

Conflict establishes truth. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 11:19, "for there must be factions (Gk: "heresies") among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized."

Conflict sanctifies. Few things cause a pastor more to examine himself and look to God in repentance than conflict. We may be right as pastors in the overall contours of the conflict, yet God will always work to remove sin from our lives as He puts us through the painful chastisement of conflict.

Conflict purifies the church. Tim and I glory in the churches we serve as pastors. Neither of us could imagine greater happiness anywhere on earth than among the people God has granted us the privilege of serving, the flocks of Christ the Word and Church of the Good Shepherd. Yet it is no coincidence that both these churches were forged out of the depths of often-bitter internecine conflict.

Conflict leads to glory. There is no glory to God where there is no warring for His truth. Think of the Reformation and its "stormy men."

Finally, a warning to those whose pastors are under attack: those who attack men of God often focus on slight things, petty issues. They are unwilling to deal with primary issues of truth because they will lose on those, so they try to reduce conflict over truth to the realm of petty misbehaviour and personality.

Do not give in to such mendacity. Give glory to God by publicly repudiating the enemies of truth.

You will see weaknesses in your pastor in the midst of the conflict. Leave those to God. Concern yourself with primary issues and do not permit Satan to cause you to detour from primary issues to secondary. He wins when that happens.

...because, at times, you have the joy of getting email such as this:

Hi David,

The best class of steam engine ever made (1944 Berkshire, made in Lima, OH), just finished a rebuild (in Ft. Wayne) of engine number 765. They did a total rebuild during the past 4 years. I rode in the cab of this same engine once about 20 years ago. I also chased it many times as it ran at speeds over 80 MPH. I also snuck up into it one night when it was under full steam and blew its whistle!

This photo is from last weekend...

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=123657

Check out the size of the drivers

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=123790

We should be able to see this engine run in our area during the next year.

See you tonight.

Love,

Matt

Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. (Hebrews 13:12-14)

Saturday, I wrote about my gratitude for the unity and peace of our own congregation, Church of the Good Shepherd. Since then, I've been thinking about how our unity came to be and I realize how central the battles a number of us went through in another prior congregation were for the development of this unity. In our prior congregation, the central issue was the refusal of a small group of influential leaders to allow any exercise of correction or rebuke by the congregation's elders. They considered anathema even the most private forms of church discipline.

It was a painful ordeal, but the Holy Spirit used it to produce the unity and peace of Church of the Good Shepherd we presently enjoy--including, now, ten years of loving and peaceful congregational meetings.

This comes to mind as I read of attacks other pastors are suffering, particularly our dear brother, Pastor Doug Wilson. David and I are not surprised Doug is under attack. He's a strong leader with biblical convictions, and he's at his greatest precision and boldness in preaching those convictions where the Evil One has focused his attack and there's a breach in the wall. But instead of other church officers giving thanks to God for raising up such a warrior, Pastor Wilson is the object of much envy and resentment. Like all of us, Pastor Wilson is a sinner in both his conduct and doctrine and we are confident he appreciates the licks he takes for his sin.

But taking his licks from fellow presbyters, his children, or his wife is a far cry from having any Tom, Dick, or Harry set himself up as a judge over every word of his pastoral conversations and session meetings extending years into the past and posting those judgments on this gabfest and gossip-pool known as the internet. Need I point out that Doug Wilson is not the only one suffering such persecution?

In both the church and secular world, leaders have lost the manly traits and pander to their constituency. Church officers are given to mollycoddling, equivocation, and self-doubt. One of my favorite cartoons shows a consultant meeting with a pastor in his office. The wall holds a graph of the congregation's attendance trends and they're down, down, down. Pointing to the graph the consultant says, "I'm no expert in these things, but I think it might help if you didn't end every sermon with, 'But then again what do I know, anyhow?'"

Pastor Wilson preaches, teaches, and leads as if he has received the good deposit and intends, come hell or high water, to pass it on to reliable men...

Back in the early 80s when Tim and I were students together at Gordon-Conwell the percentage of our classmates who had no intention of pursuing pastoral ministry was startlingly high. Over the years since that percentage has only increased at seminaries across the board.

The New York Times contained an interesting article on the phenomenon last week.

Students with no intention of pursuing pastor ministry aren't the only demographic trend altering the face of modern seminaries. An increasingly-large proportion of seminary populations is comprised of women and second-career 40-plus-year-olds.

It's going to become increasingly obvious in years to come that while seminaries can prepare scholars and parachurch leaders, the Church itself is the best training ground for pastors. Doug Wilson nails this here.

If you, good reader, are a New Perspectivist, I think you'll find this and this quite helpful.

'Peace' is certainly a pleasing word; but cursed is the peace that is obtained at so great a cost that there is lost to us the doctrine of Christ, by which alone we grow together into a godly and holy unity. -Calvin on Acts 14:2

This may come as a shock, but evangelicals who are impressed with the piety of practicing sodomites and talk about how much those sodomites love Jesus don't seem that far removed from other evangelicals who say Martin Luther and the reformers were wrong, that Galatians is not about justification by faith alone, and that they know many Roman Catholics who are pious and love Jesus just as much as Protestants do.

Of course, fans of Bishop N. T. Wright would protest that this comparison is unfair, that those who claim Luther is wrong about Galatians are making a theological statement grounded in exegetical arguments that have gone through a careful process of peer review and are, therefore, to be taken utterly seriously.

But the same can be said by those seeking the normalization of sodomy. They also have their exegetical, hermeneutical, and theological arguments, and arguably, those arguments have as much academic respectability as the arguments Bishop Wright and his disciples have.

"But," my readers might sputter, "you can't honestly be proposing that sodomites and New Perspectivites are to be taken equally seriously? They have nothing in common other than both making their case from Scripture!"

Alright, I'm not ready to say that the only thing proponents of sodomy and the New Perspective have in common is that the foundation of their exegesis and hermeneutics is their having been bamboozled by sweet-talking guys, but I have no doubt this is the simple explanation behind some I know, and I do wonder if it isn't more broadly applicable to those holding these errors than I've thought previously?

The explanations are amazingly similar and it does seem like we ought to take these men at their word. For instance, Stephen Baker and I were at a conference recently where one of the plenary speakers who used to be a respected member of the reformed Baptist world, and is now well down the road to Roman Catholicism or (more likely) Eastern Orthodoxy, justified the sea-change in his convictions...

Also in honor of yesterday's ordination and installation, here's the charge Dad gave me twenty-three years ago when I was ordained and installed as pastor of the yoked parish of Rosedale Presbyterian Church of Cambria and First Presbyterian Church of Pardeeville, Wisconsin. The service was under the auspices of John Knox Presbytery, Presbyterian Church (USA).

Ordination Charge
Joseph T. Bayly
October 23, 1983

My beloved son Timothy,

I charge you as you enter upon your ministry.

Have faith in God, who has called you. Seek to fulfill His expectations first of all, not those of His people, or your own. Build the church for His glory.

Use the talents and training and gifts He has given you to the fullest, but don't depend on them. When your experience increases, don't depend on that. Depend on God Who has called you, to fulfill your calling. Depend on the Holy Spirit to work through you.

Do the work of an evangelist as one who himself has experienced deliverance and redemption. Carry the keys to the kingdom of heaven in your hand at all times. Be ready to give your time and life for one lost sheep as earnestly and diligently as you would for a thousand...

Our longtime friend and sister in the faith, Elizabeth, just posted a comment recommending that we encourage our readers to listen to our sermons, the better to get a context for our writing. She writes:

To a casual observer this blog might give the impression that your conservatism is about being on the right side of the culture wars. And then too you have sympathizers posting that they'd rather be Baptists because at least then people would know where they stand on hot-button social issues. Your friend's second paragraph shows he is sympathetic to this outlook. ...I suggest you point him (and your general readership) to your recorded sermons, and start posting more here about the central doctrinal content of the faith, so that there will be no mistake as to whether your Christianity is merely a question of the best alternative to feminism, communism, corporate America, etc. Don't, like so many other American evangelicals, underestimate the dangers of a merely moral religion. Rome will beat you at it every time.

This is wise advice. So here is a link to David's 2006 sermons, and here is a link to my own. Recently, David has been preaching a series on idolatry, while I'm coming to the end of preaching through Galatians.

Readers might be particularly interested in three sermons I recently did on Galatians 6:1,2 (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) focussing on the biblical doctrine of the church and the threats to that doctrine posed within the conservative reformed, or evangelical world. I'd encourage readers to listen to all three sermons, but if you only have time for one, make it Part 3.

Looking toward Lord's Day tomorrow, it occurs to me to encourage our readers to think about the way each of us honors our pastor. The Holy Spirit has given us this explicit command:

The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. (Galatians 6:6)

What "good things" have you shared with the men who have been faithful shepherds to you, preaching and teaching and correcting and encouraging you in God's Word? Yes, the church needs faithful shepherds. But the church also needs sheep who are faithful to their shepherds, sharing with them "all good things."

Think about what priority your pastor and the Word of God have in your life as you begin a new academic year.

His watchmen are blind, All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber; And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied. And they are shepherds who have no understanding; They have all turned to their own way, Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.

"Come," they say, "let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; And tomorrow will be like today, only more so." (Isaiah 56:10-12)

One of the most discouraging aspects of the church today is the refusal of shepherds to say God's "no" as well as His "yes," and to say it in person as well as from the pulpit. We are mute dogs unable to bark.

The Holy Spirit commands us to "Let judgment begin...in the House of God," but we are very careful to make sure judgment is kept outside God's House. We save our prophetic words for pagans: "Hear this, you wicked people of San Francisco and Madison and Las Vegas!" Yet the Apostle Paul commands us not to judge the world, but instead to judge those who call themselves "brothers":

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES. (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)

Shamelessly, we do the opposite of what he commands. We castigate those who make no claim to Christian faith, but we observe a strict hands-off policy toward flagrant sinners within the church. And if an elder or pastor tries to obey the Apostle Paul, and to judge someone who claims to be a Christian but lives a life of rebellion against God, we reserve our most intense condemnation for him.

"But he's on our side!" we exclaim. "He's a Christian and you're treating him like an unbeliever! Jesus said, 'Let him who is without sin cast the first stone' and 'Judge not lest ye be judged.' So why are you judging your brother? Who made you judge over him, anyhow? How do you know he's not a Christian?"

We talk and act as if the Apostle Paul had commanded us to judge those outside the church, but never those inside the church; as if Paul had commanded us to disassociate ourselves from the greedy and sexually immoral who make no claim to faith, but never to cut ourselves off from the greedy or sexually immoral who do claim to be Christians; as if God's people are to hide themselves from sin in the church, seeing, naming, and condemning only the sin of those outside the Household of Faith.

No wonder our churches are filled with hypocrisy. We have no way of dealing with sin because correction, rebuke, and discipline are only for unbelievers...

Two Lord's Days this month, Church of the Good Shepherd's sermon text was Galatians 6:6:

The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.

Biblical churches forget this command today, but it remains a critical aspect of the life of God's Household. The members of God's flock are commanded to "share all good things" with their shepherd. In our churches, though, it's not normal for the sheep to be focused on their duties toward their shepherds. Rather, their focus is on the duties of the shepherd to care for his sheep. And in some ways, this is natural. The health of the flock is integrally and uniquely tied to the work of the shepherd. So it's important the pastor fulfill his obligations to his flock. If he doesn't, the flock will inevitably suffer.

Our Lord taught us that, when thieves and robbers attack the flock, the good shepherd gives His life to protect the sheep, but the bad shepherd flees. So clearly, the sheep need protection and God has called shepherds to protect them. The work of the shepherd is crucial for the welfare of the flock. You can't read the Bible without seeing how vulnerable sheep are to bad shepherds, the men our Lord calls "hirelings." But good shepherds feed and protect their sheep.

So what are the pastor's duties as he shepherds his congregation?

He is to pray for them, to study, preach, teach, visit, counsel, lead the other staff, plan and lead elders (session) meetings, marry, bury, baptize (or dedicate) the children, do the premarital counseling (and of course the marriage counseling, also), be the leader of any discussions and implementations of church discipline, make occasional appearances in the community--both personally and on the newspaper's op-ed page, be out and about doing evangelism, raise perfect children, have a happy wife who oversees all aspects of the church's women's ministry, keep track of the money and make sure people give enough (to God) so the elders aren't too pressured, write for the church newsletter, lead a men's Bible study, go on (or lead) short term missions trips, host the missionaries when they're home, make pastoral calls at the hospital and nursing homes, assure that there's a dynamic youth program, fulfill his responsibilities to denominational entities, run comparative analyses of the programs and ministries of the church he serves and other successful churches in the community so that his flock won't leave for greener pastures; teach his members to use their gifts; find a place of service for each member that fits the gift he's been given by the Holy Spirit; make sure the lights are out and the church locked up after everyone's gone; and so on.

Sheep do have high expectations of their shepherd. Thousands of books have been written, tens of thousands of seminars held, on these and other duties of the shepherd toward his sheep. Many of these books and seminars are important and worth studying diligently. But in all this talk about the duties of the pastor, what of the duties of the congregation?

The unmentioned scandal of late-20th/early-21st century preaching is not the number of preachers seeking outside inspiration for their sermons. That's well-documented. Just as baleful in its effect on modern preaching has been the number of preachers who have turned from preaching sermons to a flock to writing sermons for an audience.

My father used to tell his children that written and spoken English are two entirely different languages. And it's true. Equally distinct are sermons addressed to a particular flock and sermons written for a broad reading audience.

Throughout the centuries a number of great preachers have had their sermons collected and published. But the sermons contained in such volumes were seldom prepared with publication in mind. Rather, they were preached to a congregation (often from notes or extemporaneously) and later made available for publication. For instance, John Calvin's sermons are available in written form due to the work of a French shorthand expert named Denis Raguenier who took verbatim shorthand notes from Calvin's extemporaneous preaching. Luther's sermons were carefully recorded by a variety of listeners. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' sermons were mechanically recorded and later transcribed. Jonathan Edwards sermons are still being culled from handwritten manuscripts and must be edited for publication.

Today many preachers write sermons with minds divided between a local congregation and the national audience they hope to reach through a book they intend to publish out of their current sermon series. The result is wretched preaching (and often wretched publishing to boot).

Many of the greatest preachers of our time have declined in power as they have shifted focus from a local church and specific congregation to a national audience. If you listen to early sermons by many preachers whose sermons are routinely published today you find power not present in current preaching. Sadly, the powerful preaching of a young pastor often leads a publisher to offer book contracts for future sermons and those book contracts become the death of the preacher's power.

It's also true that preachers whose sermons are routinely broadcast often fall into a similar trap of preaching for a broad audience rather than preaching to build a particular Church

Preaching for posterity rather than for the current needs of a particular flock leads to emasculated preaching. Those who preach for publication can be divided into two camps: populists and scholars. Populists tend to become more oratorical, to illustrate more liberally and to over-simplify. Those preaching for more scholarly publication (commentaries, for instance) become more pedantic and theoretical. Both types of preaching are devoid of pointed application.

Many good preachers also write great books. But in the end, I am convinced that preaching for publication is preaching for pay and honor. And that always bodes ill for power.

He also who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys.

                                                                    -Proverbs 18:9

In connection with pastoral ministry, I've been thinking a lot this past year about pastors who choose not to guard the good deposit, rather spending their time focusing on evangelism and church growth techniques. Question them about their silence in the pulpit concerning sodomy, sacramentalism, Rome, abortion, divorce, or the love of money and they'll come out with some high-sounding platitudinous statement like, "I've determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I want to be all things to all people. We must not allow our pulpit to become a divisive presence in our church, alienating seekers and young believers."

A couple months ago, I spoke to a young professional who attends a flagship PCA congregation on the Eastern Seaboard...

Among many others, John Piper and Mark Driscoll have added to their church numbers by employing a video image of themselves preaching their Sunday morning sermon in the mother church as the cornerstone of other virtual worship services held on other church "campuses." And now, for something completely similar, Life Together offers small group pastors who are virtual, also...

PS: Responding to the comments below, I've now made a second post on this subject. So after reading this one, please read the second post, Video sermons and the marks of the church.... There you will find the discussion continuing...

(by Tim) Sadly, reformed pastors identify less with those who live in rural communities and make their living as sheep farmers (what used to be called "shepherds") than with those who live in books and make their living as academics. So this story from today's New York Times is particularly instructive.

There's a big stink over a psychology prof at Northwestern University named J. Michael Bailey who's gored the ox of transexuals around the country. But before we get to Prof. Bailey and the transexuals, a few comments about the lesson Christians should learn from this battle.

For decades, freedom of religion and freedom of speech have been under a sustained attack and the content of the books we read, the sermons we listen to, and the Bibles we carry to church Sunday morning all bear witness to the attrition of these freedoms.

Speaking only of our Bibles, did you know that millions of Bibles used by evangelicals have had words deleted in order to avoid expressing incorrect opinions deemed to have the potential of being hurtful to women and Jews? Evangelical Bible scholars, linguists, translators, graphic designers, publishers, bookstore owners, and pastors all joined together to produce and sell Bibles that would not be vulnerable to charges of sexism or antisemitism. Many hundreds of times, the original Hebrew and Greek words were changed or deleted so the Bible would be less offensive to moderns...