Category Archives: Pastoral Ministry

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A Man-Fishing Ministry

Thomas Boston2-719007One of my favorite Puritans is named Thomas Boston. Among his most notable works are Human Nature in It’s Fourfold State, The Crook in the Lot, and The Art of Man-Fishing. The latter work was completed when Boston was the age of twenty-two and “has been constantly hailed by evangelicals as a masterpiece on ministry, worthy to stand on the same shelf as Baxter’s Reformed Pastor.” 1 Man-Fishing is a “soliloquy,” or sermonic meditation, on gospel ministry modeled after the word. It houses Boston’s personal thoughts on pastoring with faithfulness, evangelistic purpose, prayerfulness, single-mindedness, and enterprise in usefulness.

It just so happened that I read Man-Fishing earlier this year while preaching through 1 Timothy and I doubt a more pastorally challenging couplet for young pastors can be found. One text is inspired and the other is inspiring; it was a blessed elixir for this young pastor.

I ended up writing my own kind of soliloquy on pastoral ministry this summer in response and thought it could be useful to share with other young pastors and church planters. Thus, starting next week I hope to have a weekly “Pastoral Postcard,” 2 one short sermonic meditation intended to encourage pastors in long-term faithfulness and fruitfulness.

  1. Packer, Puritan Portraits, 96 ↩
  2. Somewhat akin to Joe Thorn’s Note to Self ↩
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Preaching with Authority

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And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. – Mark 1:22

Jesus’ first appearance – in Mark’s gospel – at a synagogue left the people “astonished.” The Greek reads more literally, “they were struck out of their minds”; in other words, Jesus’ preaching “blew their minds.” Why? Because “he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” To understand the fullness of the astonishing contrast you need to understand the 1st century scribes and their teaching. They were the original carriers of a PhD in Scripture who were charged with studying and teaching the Torah. When they stood up to teach, an audience would hear continuous appeals to rabbinic fathers, sounding something like, “Rabbi so-and-so says such-and-such about this passage.”

In stark contrast to the scribes’ appealed authority, Jesus teaches with assumed authority. He teaches, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt. 5:27-28, emphasis added). Our Lord doesn’t need rabbinic commentary in order to preach with authority, His authority in His identity as the Word incarnate.

Consider the application to modern preaching. If you are a preacher, from whence comes your authority? I remember sitting next to Tony Reinke in the airport after T4G 2010 as he commented on Piper’s preaching at the conference. He said something I’ve yet to forget, “Notice how Piper rarely quotes from commentators, theologians, and books in his preaching. And then think about the authority His preaching carries.” Bam! Authoritative preaching is preaching grounded in the authority of God’s word – the incarnate word and written word.

Let’s ask again, “from whence comes your authority?” Consider how repetitive quotations from theologians or commentators can be appeals to an academic authority. Consider how repetitive illustrations and cultural references can be appeals to worldly authority. Consider how repetitive gesturing and shouting can be appeals to physical authority. By no means should we avoid all quotations, illustrations, and gestures. I would, in fact, argue that all are vital for clear preaching to contemporary congregations. However, there is something to be said for preaching so grounded by, rooted in, and saturated by Scripture that your audience understands the genesis for your authority – God’s word.

Here’s to preaching with authority that blows minds.

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The Thermopylae of Christendom

The pulpit is the Thermopylae of Christendom: there the fight will be lost or won.

To us ministers the maintenance of our power in the pulpit should be our great concern, we must occupy that spiritual watch-tower with our hearts and minds awake and in full vigor. It will not avail us to be laborious pastors if we are not earnest preachers.

We shall be forgiven a great many sins in the matter of pastoral visitation if the people’s souls are really fed on the Sabbath-day; but fed they must be, and nothing else will make up for it.

The failures of most ministers who drift down the stream may be traced to inefficiency in the pulpit. The chief business of a captain is to know how to handle his vessel, nothing can compensate for deficiency there, and so our pulpits must be our main care, or all will go awry. – Spurgeon

From Lectures to My Students, p. 305.

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The Sight and Sound of Eternity

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Paul closes his famous section on pastoral ministry in 1 Timothy 4 by saying, “Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

How is it that a pastor’s displaying (1 Tim. 4:12,15) and declaring (1 Tim. 4:13) God’s glory works salvation in himself and his hearers? Piper puts it this way: “A pastor’s unflagging moral vigilance over his life and his unwavering theological vigilance over his doctrine are the means of grace appointed by God for his own salvation and the salvation of his people.” In other words, the eternal salvation of a pastor and his people is at stake in the holiness of his life and the truthfulness of his teaching. If a pastor grows lazy in his attention to personal holiness or careless in his teaching the whole counsel of God he will very likely pay with his life and take many of his people with him to hell. See here the gravity of pastoral ministry, it’s a ministry that deals with the things of eternity. The pastor and preacher is God’s ordinary vessel to bring people to faith (Rom. 10:11-14).

When people look at and listen to a faithful pastor, they should see and hear the glory of Christ.