Expositionalogistix

Many times, the rigors of ministry make the primacy of our calling as expositors dim. Here what Spurgeon has to say:

Unless we are careful, we shall be likely to say to ourselves, “Monday evening here again, I must give an address at the prayer-meeting. Thursday evening, and I have to preach, although I have not yet a topic! Sunday morning, Sunday evening; I have to preach again! Yes, preach again! Then there are all those extra engagements; it is for ever preach, preach, preach! I am always preaching. What a weariness it is!” Preaching ought to be a joy, yet it becomes a task. Constant preaching should be constant enjoyment, and yet, when the brain is tired, pleasure flies. Like the sick boy in the prophet’s day, we are ready to cry, “My head! My head!” We ask, “How can we keep up our freshness?” It is hard to produce so much with such scant leisure for reading; it is almost as bad as making bricks without straw. Nothing can maintain us in the freshness of our beginnings but the daily anointing of the Spirit” (The All-Round Ministry, Pilgrim Publications, 1973, pp. 134-135.)

I can entirely sympathize with this, but am continually thankful that God continues to replenish and supply. What steps do you take to remain fresh in your preaching ministry?

As many of you are aware, Tim Russert, NBC’s Washington Bureau Chief, died of a heart attack on June 13, 2008, at the age of 58.  

As someone who follows politics a great deal, I found myself quite saddened by this loss.  Russert brought such dignity and class to this area.  I learned a great deal from him without really being aware of it.  I would like to include some quick thoughts on Russert’s legacy that I believe could be some great lessons for expositors.

1. Family was a priority.  His love for his dad and his son shone through.  In 1994, the Buffalo Bills (an American football team for all you internationals) had made it to their fourth consecutive Super Bowl.  They had lost the previous three, so he ended the newscast with his dad being with him and a plea to God for him to give the Bills a win.  Tom Brokaw chastised him: “Oh, you Irish Catholics… you can’t pray on TV.”  Russert just smiled.  When the Bills eventually lost 30-13, Brokaw shouted over to Russert, “I guess God’s a Southern Baptist!”  That one slice of his life showed how he loved his family and his hometown.  Russert wrote a book about his dad entitled, “Big Russ and Me” as a tribute to his dad.  Many commented that is seemed only fitting that he died on Father’s Day weekend.
2. Preparation was a must.  To a person, his fellow journalists lauded him for his preparation.  He always had the great question as well as the great follow-up question which went to the heart of the real issue and was the real news.  I took note here.  I find it a great compliment when congregants and fellow pastrs note how prepared a preacher seems.  Nothing is a substitute for preparation.  Expositors should/must know this.  Never come before your people unless you have come before God and His Word.  It will show.
3. Congeniality at its best.  Russert always struck me as fair in dealing with politicians from any party.  Some newscasters show their true colors.  Should we be modeling James 2:1 in how we deal with others? 

Like I said, just a short word.  Our heartfelt condolences go out to Tim’s family and to the news division at NBC News.  The presidential election coverage will not be the same. 

Sadly, few who are in leadership positions in our churches actually lead our churches. Spurgeon noted in his Lectures that the pulpit is often a haven for the coward. This is true. Yet, with a false sense of humility, many pastors hesitate to lead from the pulpit. Part of the problem is giving in to the culture’s hatred and hesitancy of authority figures, especially in the church. Part of the problem too is that pastors need to show the same type of leadership and personality in the pulpit as well as outside of it.

In an age where prevalent and influential preachers reject the mantle of “preaching the word” as a herald and would rather have a conversation with the congregants as a way to connect, we can see why the church has turned into a wishy-washy institution with little power but a whole lot of opinion and conjecture.

The commentator

John Jason Owen elaborates:

Teaching is a part of the duty of the herald of salvation. Not only are men to be taught the way of salvation, and thus be brought to Christ, but also after conversion, they are to be instructed in the duties and obligations of the gospel, and prepared for usefulness on earth, and the enjoyment of Christ in heaven.[1]

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Obey? Submit? Yes! God has established authority in the church for the good of our souls. Pastors, you are going to have to give an account for your souls. So does the Apostle Paul tell Timothy, “Preach the Word!” That’s a command — an imperative!

Lead, pastors! Lead! Study! Pray! Praise! Thank! Compel! Motivate! Urge! Plead! Implore! Exhort! Rebuke! Challenge! Love! Just read the pastoral epistles and see! Don’t shy away!

Second Timothy 1:6-8 says:

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, [7] for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. [8] Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

Whereas conventional wisdom in most evangelical circles dictates that pastors would do well to avoid the hard texts, my contention is that pastors should never shy away from this.  While the Joel Osteens and the Robert Schullers of the world will shy away from such dealings , I believe that many in our pews are just wanting a pastor who will deal directly with what the Bible says and address the issue at hand.

A case in point: the past two Sundays, I have preached on two rather “hard texts”: one dealing with the role of women in the church, the other on the necessity of giving.  After each of those sermons, one of my deacons came out and said, “Man, I thought you’d be black and blue right now — you really laid it out there.”  But the reaction couldn’t have been different.  By the grace and glory of God, I received thank you’s for being willing to tackle such issues and helping to make things clear.

Why should we preach the hard texts as well as the other types to our people?

1. Those texts are in the Scriptures! Obvious, yes.  But I have had well-meaning ministers tell me that just because it is in the Bible does not necessarily mean it will be appropriate to preach on.  This is why I make the case for expositional preaching: if forces you to deal with a text that your flesh may tempt you to avoid.
2. For all the talk about our people despising authority, I believe they are looking for solid ground on which to stand.  We all are.  All this noise about postmodernism winning the day is far too premature.  It may be prevalent, but it hasn’t won anything.  If anything, our culture feels more in the dark than ever because many people’s spiritual journey is leading them down some deadends.  Preachers must never forget the supernatural transformational power of the Scriptures that are breathed out by the Spirit of God himself!   Never give up preaching!  The world may deem it folly, but to those who are being saved it  is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).
3. People, especially Christians, long to be dealt with honestly. Many in my generation are becoming angry at the church for their failure to teach them the things of the faith.  They praise God for churches sharing the gospel with them and showing them Jesus, but afterwards they become afraid of being too doctrinal (read: divisive) and therefore they do not “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
4. People feel patronized when pastors fail to deal with a text or issue.  When pastors avoid these texts, they are in so many words telling their people, “You really can’t handle this right now.”  Yet, pastors who stay with their churches and invest their time in their people can take them along slowly and help them step-by-step.  Young pastors especially need to remember that you don’t need to tell them everything you know (or think you know) in one sermon.  Pour yourself out into your people and teach them with patience (1 Timothy 4:13-16).

What do you think?

I find myself pondering the place of the preaching ministry not just in the life of the church in general, but in my church in particular. Having been here almost five years, I am now seeing the importance and the cruciality of leading from the pulpit. The pastor is the primary vision-caster and mission developer of the church by virtue of his leadership status but also due to his studious diligence in his primary duty, preaching and teaching the Word. In Acts 6:1-4, we read:

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. [2] And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. [3] Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. [4] But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:1-4, ESV).

This oft-quoted passage really stresses the necessity of why “prayer and the ministry of the word” is so important. Prayer crafts our hearts to the framework of God’s will and way. The Word helps give us an objective anchor to the relevation of God through the person of Jesus Christ. The pastor is the intercessor and the point person for each local church assembly to connect with God and then in turn connect God’s people with God’s vision for them.

Ultimately, God’s vision for his church is found in Romans 8:28-29:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

God’s vision for his local church is to conform his people to Christlikeness. And the preaching ministry should and must drive every person and every other ministry to this pursuit.

Where churches encounter trouble is when we forget the ‘why’ of a particular ministry or program and simply get caught up in the ‘what.’ If a missions program exists, we are tempted to focus on the ‘what’ of that program and how we should have that program because its that program. But when asked ‘why,’ the response can be boiled down to the following: ‘Because this is what has always been done.’ It can be any other ministry in the church.

The pulpit ministry of a church should encourage Christlikeness and challenge the traditions, mindsets, and ministries of the church by asking this question: “How does this exalt Christ, His gospel, and the believer’s transformation to Christlikeness and (to be redundant) holiness?” Pastors must challenge their people in this, regardless of the age or influence of the church. When churches begin to lose sight of this, it is because their leaders have lost sight of this.

So pastors, use the pulpit for not only to faithfully exposit the Word of God, but prayerfully consider how to apply this to your individual people and to the corporate ministries of the church. Evaluate, question, challenge, encourage, love, support, motivate, compel, and pray over everything that takes place under the banner of your local church and, ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ. Pastors must not be afraid to lead. Hebrews 13:17 says:

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

What think ye?

Joe Thorn gives some excellent points concerning preaching that we all would do well to heed.

“Insulated Western Christianity is waking from the dream world that being a Christian is normal and safe. More and more, true Christianity is becoming what it was at the beginning: foolish and dangerous” (ix). So says John Piper, senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and author of Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. Piper sees that the professionalizing of the ministry kills pastors rather than refreshes. He calls pastors to abandon a secular view of seeing their pastoral ministry as a professional vocation and to reclaim the view of God’s call as a prophet. “The aim of this book is to spread a radical, pastoral passion for the supremacy and centrality of the crucified and risen God-Man, Jesus Christ, in every sphere of life and ministry and culture” (xi).

The title of this book is sure to garner attention and even surprise from full-time pastors and preachers. To this, Piper offers his rationale behind the title:

The title of this book is meant to shake us loose from the pressure to fit in to the cultural expectations of professionalism. It is meant to sound an alarm against the pride of station and against the expectation of parity in pay and against the borrowing of paradigms from the professional world. Of for the radically Bible-saturated, God-centered, Christ-exalting, self-sacrificing, mission-mobilizing, soul-saving, culture-confronting pastors!

Summary

Piper divides this book into 30 short chapters that may serve well as a devotional for pastors to read one chapter a day, thus finishing the book by the end of the month. These chapters deal with different areas. The first area Piper addresses is the love of the true nature and glory of God. He lays an excellent foundation for the pastor’s ministry in rightly representing God’s character before his people. Piper also encourages pastors to have a love for the doctrines of the Scriptures by rightly dividing the Word of truth, even the hard texts.

Piper also encourages a love for the church of Jesus Christ. He exhorts pastors to avoid sacred substitutes and man-made traditions which add to and take from the Scriptures all at once. Piper also encourages pastors to actively minister to their people during times of affliction and tragedy, giving them the sacred promises of God and assurance of his presence. He also encourages pastors to preach salvation not just to the lost but also to the saints so they will persevere in the faith.

Piper then encourages pastors to maintain a strong and healthy devotional life. He promotes the priority of prayer, as well as the reading of Christian biography. Pastors must see themselves as fellow servants of Christ and the church and therefore must sincerely model a walk with Christ before their people.

Soundbites

• “[God’s love for his glory] is no isolated note in the symphony of redemptive history. It is the ever-recurring motif of the all-sufficient Composer” (7).
• “The holiness of God is the absolutely unique and infinite value of His being and His majesty. To say that our God is holy means that His value is infinitely greater than the sum of the value of all created beings” (13).
• “Paul warns against any view of God which makes Him the beneficiary of our beneficence. His informs us that God cannot be served in any way that implies we are meeting His needs. It would be as though a stream should try to fill a spring that feeds it” (40).
• “Prayer is the coupling of primary and secondary causes. It is the splicing of our limp wire to the lightning bolt of heaven” (53).
• “Since preaching and the pastoral ministry in general are a great means to the saints’ perseverance, the goal of a pastor is not merely to edify the saints but to save the saints. What is at stake on Sunday morning is not merely the upbuilding of the church but its eternal salvation” (106).
• “The issue of racial prejudice and snubbing and suspicion and mistreatment is not a social issue; it is a blood-of-Jesus issue. When you get the conviction and the courage to say something about it to your people, tell them you are not becoming a social-gospeler but a lover of the blood-bought blessings of the cross of Christ” (197).

Critical Review

John Piper stands as a pastor and scholar captivated by displaying the glory of God in all things. As a result, he sees the professionalization of pastors diametrically opposed to exalting the glory of God in preaching and ministry. God must set the course for Spirit-led pastoral ministry and not the agendas of the world. John Piper’s book is a much-needed tonic for the contemporary evangelical world that looks to the culture first in order to address cultural issues. Piper declares:

We are most emphatically not part of a social team sharing goals with other professionals. Our goals are an offense; they are foolishness (1 Cor. 1:13). The professionalization of the ministry is a constant threat to the gospel. It is a threat to the profoundly spiritual nature of our work (3).

This statement sets this book apart from other books dealing with pastoral ministry which are pragmatic and program-laden in nature.

What strikes the reader most is the difference of perspective between Piper and those of the New Homiletic and the Emergent Church. Whereas these two movement seek (whether intentionally or unintentionally) to move away from the sole authority of Scripture to a more open and conversant style of ministry, Piper sprints toward Scripture’s authority thus giving traction to the pastor’s message and ministry.

One of the great strengths of this book is Piper’s dogged determination to support every belief he preaches from Scripture. This fact alone distinguishes this book from the majority of other so-called Christian books. Piper seeks to establish every principle he puts forth on the basis of Scripture. All pastors would do well to model this practice of his. He notes:

Where pastors can no longer articulate and defend doctrine by a reasonable and careful appeal to the original meaning of Biblical texts, they will tend to become close-minded traditionalists who clutch their inherited ideas, or open-ended pluralists who don’t put much stock in doctrinal formulations. In both cases the succeeding generations will be theologically impoverished and susceptible to error (84).

This exhortation serves the pastors and their churches well. In many Baptist state conventions, a large amount of rhetoric comes forth from these entities against the ill effects of alcohol and gambling. In regards to alcohol, traditionalists advocate total abstinence — even though the Bible never explicitly advocates this understanding. In regards to gambling, few biblical references accompany the high rhetoric against the lottery and casinos, although exceptions to exist.

In Chapter 21, entitled “Brothers, Don’t Fight Flesh Tanks with Peashooter Regulations,” Piper unfolds the controversy within himself and ultimately the church in dealing with the subject of alcohol. The majority of Baptist churches contain a clause in their church covenant calling for abstinence of alcohol. To this, Piper responds, “I am persuaded that such a regulation for church membership falls into the category of legalistic exclusivism and stands under the judgment of the apostolic word in Scripture” (152). Piper describes legalism as “the terrible mistake of treating Biblical standards of conduct as regulations to be kept by our own power in order to show our moral prowess and earn God’s favor” (153). Again, on every level, the reader sees Piper’s desire to honor God and his Word in every area, even in areas that may cause great controversy and even dismissal from a ministry position. He makes the pastor and preacher think through each of the issues he holds dear and to examine those issues under the white-hot light of the Spirit-inspired Scriptures.

Piper uses the gospel to address to distressing social issues of our time: racism and abortion. In Chapter 26 (“Brothers, Sever the Root of Racism”), Piper asks, “Are our churches thermometers registering the racial attitudes and actions of the world; or are they thermostats raising the warmth of commitment to racial understanding and love and demonstrable harmony” (197)? Instead of appealing to another social construct to turn the church away from racism, he appeals to the Scriptures’ discussion of the barrier broken down between Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2:11-22). In addressing the issue of abortion, Piper adamantly exhorts pastors to exhibit courage to stand and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.

I believe pastors should put their lives and ministries on the line in this issue. The cowardice of some pastors when it comes to preaching against abortion appalls me. Many treat the dismemberment of unborn humans as an untouchable issue on the par with partisan politics…. The law of our land is immoral and unjust. That should be declared from tens of thousands of pulpits in America (212).

One rather convicting area Piper addresses to pastors is the issue of continually using and understanding the biblical languages. Piper believes that the languages in our churches and denominations should be “cherished, promoted, and sought” (82). He believes that the reason that expository preaching has lost its luster among the churches is because it lacks “precision and clarity” (83) along with the problem that preachers “tend to be second-handers. The harder it is for us to get at the original meaning of the Bible, the more we will revert to the secondary literature. … Secondhand food will not sustain and deepen our people’s faith and holiness” (83).

While this book stands tall above the majority of other books on pastoral ministry, one weakness is the intensity that Piper brings to the book. Clearly, the Puritans’ influence on Piper shows. When Piper noted how the Puritans preached salvation not just to the lost but also to the saints, he says, “What is at stake on Sunday morning is not merely the upbuilding of the church but its eternal salvation. It is not hard to see why the Puritans were so serious” (106). Piper is short on humorous anecdotes and illustrations in this book and for a reason. He does not want to give pastors the idea that pastoral ministry should not be taken with utmost gravity and seriousness. Yet Piper shares so many convictions in this book that he deems necessary, the reader risks being overwhelmed under the load, which may serve as Piper’s point.

Conclusion

I have read this work several times over the past five years and would highly recommend this book to every preacher and pastor. Pastors need to reclaim the understanding of the high calling God has placed on them. Piper’s contagious attitude toward the glories of Christ and the love for the church is refreshing and illuminating. This would stand as one of the first books I would recommend to any pastor, regardless of age or experience.

Piper, John. Brothers,
We Are Not Professionals. Nashville, TN:
Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002. 286 pp.
$14.99

Even with his busy schedule, Dr. Tim Keller, pastor of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York took time to answer briefly five question we had for him concerning the role of expository preaching. In case you’ve been living in a cave for the last few months, Dr. Keller has written a book “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism” published by Penguin Books.  Thank you, Dr. Keller, for your time!

MRP: What role do you see expository preaching playing in the life and ministry of the local church?

TK: Very, very important. One of the essentials of vital church ministry, though not the only one.

MRP: Who has been your greatest influence as an expository preacher?

TK: John Stott, Dick Lucas, D.M.Lloyd-Jones, about equally.

MRP: Do you believe that expository preaching can be inductive as well as deductive?

TK: Of course. In some ways, those are not that different. In each case you are slowly rolling out the solution from the text to a problem that you pose early on. In inductive preaching you are posing a question ‘e.g. how should we handle suffering?’ which you then answer from the text. In deductive preaching you say–’this is what we believe about suffering, but is there anyway to justify it?’ and then you go on to answer that question from the text.

MRP: What role does the local church play in training preachers? Should they farm this training out exclusively to the seminaries?

TK: Probably not. I don’t have strong feelings about that. Working preachers have things to teach. Preacher-professors, who specialize in the subject, have things to teach as well.

MRP: What would be some of the basic areas you would cover in training lay preachers who have had no theological training whatsoever?

I’d follow the curriculum of the ‘Corn Hill Course’ in London that does this very thing. They simply provide English Bible training, surveying every part of the Bible and drilling down into specific books and requiring expository messages as homework for every course.

Dennis E. Johnson, author of Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures, was gracious enough to take time to answer five particular questions I had about expository preaching. I am thankful for the depth with which he answered these questions. I pray that his answers will help you in your understanding of expository preaching.

MRP: What role do you see expository preaching playing in the life and ministry of the local church?

DEJ: I began to “catch the vision” for Christ-centered preaching through my M.Div. studies at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia (1970-73), and then became increasingly more convinced of it through my pastoral ministries in New Jersey (1973-76) and Los Angeles, CA (1976-81), although I did not have a clear idea about how to preach Christ appropriately from each distinct passage of Scripture and often did not give myself enough time for meditation, for turning over the passage in my mind and comparing it with other texts and themes throughout the Bible until I could see the intrinsic lines of connection that tie the whole Bible to Jesus through the theme of God’s covenants with his people. When I began to teach at Westminster Seminary California in 1982, and especially as I began to teach other pastors in our D.Min. program in preaching in the early years, I began to work through more consistently a way to see what Jesus showed his apostles in terms of the interconnections of the Scriptures in Himself.

MRP: Who has been your greatest influence as an expository preacher?

Edmund P. Clowney has been the greatest influence, without a doubt. I have also learned from the way Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC preaches Christ, and from my own pastor, Ted Hamilton, of New Life Presbyterian Church in Escondido. I also have learned from Dr. Iain Duguid, now teaching at Grove City College in PA, both in his preaching (he taught with me here at WSC and pastored a PCA congregation in my presbytery), and in his writings.

MRP: Do you believe that expository preaching can be inductive as well as deductive?

DEJ: I believe that expository preaching must first of all be inductive–that is, observing carefully what the text actually says, its inner flow of thought and logic when read in the context of the book in which it appears and in the context of the spiritual need and situation of its first readers. Then, I believe it is also appropriate to engage in a more “deductive” analysis, comparing what I believe I have heard this text say with the broader themes and framework of truth revealed in Scripture, including the way in which that system of truth has been summarized in the great creeds and confessions of the church.

MRP: What role does the local church play in training preachers? Should they farm this training out exclusively to the seminaries?

DEJ: I believe that the local church is a great training ground for preachers-in-the-making, and that the best arrangement is a close cooperation between churches and seminaries. In seminaries, pastoral candidates can get exposure to the gifts of a variety of teachers and mentors who can each bring his own strengths into his relationship with the budding pastor. In the church, the focused studies pursued in seminary can be put to the test “where the rubber meets the road,” in bringing the gospel of grace into the lives of really hurting people in real life venues.

MRP: What would be some of the basic areas you would cover in training lay preachers who have had no theological training whatsoever?

In training lay preachers I would focus on making sure they have a solid grounding in systematic theology that is based in Scripture and proven by the church over the centuries. This will help keep them on an even keel when winds of doctrine, promising “new” insights, blow across the church. Then I would focus on a basic hermeneutic or method of interpreting Scripture, in light of the way language works, and in light of the context of the Bible in the history of redemption. Finally, I would emphasize, for any and all leaders (whether those who can attend seminary or those who cannot), the importance of godly character as Paul places that “center stage” in his lists of qualifications of elders in 1 Tim 3 and Titus 1. These attributes of humility, holiness, integrity, etc., must be grounded in a firm grasp of the gospel of God’s grace, given in Christ and received by faith alone.

I came to my church in 2003 at the age of 31 — by far, the youngest pastor they had had since the early 1980s. I had not quite finished my MDiv work at Southern Seminary, but I had already received a Master of Church Music from Palm Beach Atlantic University as well as having been in the ministry since 1992.

On Sunday nights, I am meeting with four other young men who feel a calling into the ministry. During our time together, they asked my advice on a number of things. I began to recall advice I received as a young pastor (and still do). I had received no shortage of advice as I entered my first full-time pastorate. And now that I am in my fifth year as a pastor and in my 17th year of ministry, I have started to accumulate some of that advice for young pastors that I would like to pass on to you (for what it’s worth).

1. Train yourself in personal holiness and godliness.

In 1 Tim. 4:7-8, Paul tells young Timothy: “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” While a lesson here about the personal physical fitness of a pastor would apply, the fullness of personal holiness in the development of character in the pastor must not be missed. If a pastor is to serve as an “overseer” (1 Timothy 3:1) of a church, then the character we oversee in our people must also be found in ourselves (1 Timothy 3:2-7).

Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. [25] Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. [26] So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. [27] But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Cor. 9:24-27).

2. Never, ever, ever stop learning once your academic work is completed.

Even when Paul was in jail and facing the end of his life, he urged Timothy: “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus and Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments” (2 Timothy 4:13). Paul had an insatiable appetite for study. Why? In 2 Timothy 2:15, we see the reason for the desire: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (ESV). One of Paul’s greatest fears was getting the Word wrong. Yet his love for the Lord and his love for those to whom he preached. He knew life and death hung in the balance. He never stopped learning because he never stopped loving God or his people.

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel (Ezra 7:10).

3. When taking the pastorate of a church, take into consideration the age and geographic location of the church and institute change accordingly.

I had one church growth leader tell me, “If you want to institute change in a young church, it’s like turning around a Volkswagen in the parking lot. If you want to institute change in a historic (old) church, it’s like turning around a battleship in the Atlantic.” When I told one pastor friend of mine the age of my church (200+ years old), he told me not to institute any change at all the first year. I will need to gain the trust of the people. My friend Mark Combs just quoted something to me from Audrey Malphurs’ book “Being Leaders” that it takes five years in the church for people to begin seeing you as the leader. Wow!

Plus, in considering geographic location, rural areas are different than suburban areas which are different from urban areas, etc. So if you implement a program developed in Chicago in a small town heartland, it will not fit. Get to know your God, know His Word, spend time with the people, and quit trying to make each church a cookie-cutter of another or implement a program that is the equivalent of a broadcast feed to a bigger, more influential church. They called you as pastor. No short-cuts allowed!

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. [9] For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you [10] always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. [11] For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— [12] that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. [13] I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. [14] I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. [15] So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome (Romans 1:8-15, ESV).

4. Your ministry must never be divorced from the people. ‘Nuff said. After all, it is a ministry … to actual people … under the calling of the living God through Christ.

5. Never enter a pastorate looking ahead to the “next gig.” You risk missing the blessing of your current ministry and deprive the people of your full attention.

Some pastors see small churches like the minor leagues. They groom and hone their talents so they can “move up” to bigger and better. They risk wanting to be influential nationally or globally rather than locally among their own community. The issue has become so problematic that smaller churches now expect young pastors who have certain gifts to move on. “Oh, we’ll never be able to keep him here,” they say.

But isn’t that what our smaller churches need: stable leadership and those who love God, love the Word, love their people? When Paul wrote the Philippian church, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3-5, ESV) or when we writes the Colossian church, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (Colossians 1:3-5a, ESV) — we see how thankful Paul is for the people that God entrusted to his care.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, [3] remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 1:2-3, ESV).

6. Craft your preaching around the themes of the Word of God first, not the felt needs of your people.

We know that God has given us His revelation. But when people come in to church with “felt needs,” we have to understand that our feelings are tinged with the Fall and that the Word of God will always penetrate and go deeper. The high risk of topical preaching is that the preacher begins with a person’s felt need, then looks to Scriptures to deal with surface issues. Yet, the high risk of expositional preaching is that we believe we can completely remove ourselves from our people and can preach to them without the establishment of any relationship. But I will say this, I would recommend expositional preaching coupled with embracing your people. This balance shows that, again, you love the Word and take it on God’s terms, but you also love your people. That way, when hard texts are preached, they know it is coming from someone who loves them where they are — but is also on a journey with them to help them be all they should be in Christ.

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. [2] For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. [3] And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, [4] and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, [5] that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

Young pastors, please keep in mind that you must remain diligent and invest yourself in the work that God has for you. Don’t try to keep up with the Jones, but follow His Spirit. Don’t try to look first at the latest church growth plan — God’s already given us a sufficient plan found in the Scriptures.