February, 2006
Inspired or Discouraged?
Tell me this hasn’t been some great material from Mark, Al and Lig on reading! And Lig informs me that he still has 4 more posts on this topic for us. We should also commend whoever had the idea to ask these men the question about their practice of reading and study.
As we read about how these men devour books each day, I find it both inspiring and discouraging. I am inspired to read more and discouraged as I consider how little I’ve read and how much there is to read. And in order to protect you from the discouraging part, I thought it might help if I encouraged you to create a plan for your reading and study.
So here is my recommendation. First, don’t compare yourself to Al, Mark and Lig. These men play in a different league than most of us, and they have gifting we simply don’t have. I know, it doesn’t seem fair, but you will have to take that up with God. So let us admire and be inspired by these men, but not aspire to be exactly like them. They have world-class gifting, and most of us, well, most of us aren’t really world-class anything — except world-class sinners, and this should leave us amazed by grace as we survey the wondrous cross.
But don’t despair: I am here for you, representing all those who are just average. Average intellectually, average in gifting — come to think of it, average in just about everything. And that’s on a good day. However, this disparity in gifting is no excuse for the absence of discipline in our lives. And where there is a neglect of reading in the life of the pastor, there is often the presence of laziness and pride. I don’t doubt that you are busy and that your to-do list appears endless. But it is possible to be very busy and yet very lazy, because we aren’t busy doing that which is most important. There is a difference between busyness and effectiveness. The real question is: are you busy with various responsibilities of secondary importance, or are you attending each day to that which is most important? Much more could be said about this and if you want to read more on this topic just click here.
My friend Don Whitney makes a discerning observation in his excellent chapter, "Pursuing a Passion for God Through the Spiritual Disciplines: Learning from Jonathan Edwards," in the book, A God Entranced Vision of All Things (edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor; I highly recommend both the chapter and the book). Let Don’s insightful statement challenge and encourage you:
"We’ve not been given Edwards’ gifts. It’s useless to encourage anyone to imitate Edwards’ mental ability. We can, however, regardless of our own intellectual capacity, imitate his discipline. We do not have to possess Edwards’ intelligence to adopt his diligence. Regardless of how great or small our gifts and talents, our responsibility for 1 Timothy 4:7 remains: ‘Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.’ "
So let’s accept the fact that we haven’t been given Edwards’ gifts, or Mohler’s, or Dever’s, or Duncan’s. And even if you are a continuationist like me, you shouldn’t pray for their gifts. If you don’t already have them, you won’t be getting them, anymore than Al or Mark will suddenly become athletically gifted. Not gonna happen, even if there is revival. Miracles like these await the new heavens and the new earth, my friend.
But just because we aren’t as gifted, doesn’t mean we can’t imitate their discipline. And this should give us all hope. And this post has gone on too long, so we will continue this discussion in part 2.
Pastors – Studying and Reading (3)
Next comes the question of "how you read and study." My comments so far obviously indicate that reading will be a major aspect of your ongoing study as a Gospel minister. That is wholly appropriate, especially in light of our evangelical doctrine of revelation God communicates to us in propositions (no matter what our poor, confused, postmodern friends think!).
But let me add just a little to this. There are five main ways in which your ongoing study will be aided: reading, reflection, writing, teaching and living. I’ll say no more here about reading, my emphasis on it is already apparent.
On the subject of reflection, I will only say that you need to go to the Puritans to learn their practice of Christian reflection or meditation, in order to gain the most from your reading. Packer has been a great help to me on this. I think he dubs the Puritan approach as "discursive meditation" in order to distinguish it from the mind-emptying, anti-Christian, approaches to meditation prevalent in the new spiritualities. Christian reflection, of course, also includes prayer. And so everything edifying thing we read needs to be turned into adoration, praise, thanksgiving, petition, confession, and intercession.
Regarding writing, let me simply say that there is no discipline more suited to force the mind to organize and communicate the truth than that of writing. If you can’t communicate a truth you don’t understand it. If you can’t communicate it in more than one way you don’t understand it. If you can’t communicate it clearly you don’t understand it. Writing helps in all these areas. A perfect forum to practice this skill is in your church publications. If you find that you have or develop a gift in this area then share its fruits with your brethren (since your gifts don’t belong to you, they belong to the church!).
In regard to teaching, itlike writingis (or can and should be) a tremendous aid to self-education and grace-growth. When you have venues to try your hand at it, take them. I’m not just talking about your regular preaching (which will naturally contain a component of teaching in it) or simply speaking of Sunday School opportunities. I’m talking about settings that push you to understand and convey truth at a higher level (lectures before undergraduates, seminary classes, public addresses and the like). When you have those opportunities, take them. And push yourself in preparation for them.
But the thing I want to emphasize here, precisely because it is so often overlooked among those who are devoted to study, is the importance of living to learning. By that I mean on the one hand that one ought to be constantly asking how one’s learning is playing out in one’s life. We should be asking oursevles: "Because of my learning am I loving God more, loving Scripture more, more devoted to Christ, more committed to kingdom ministry, more Christlike, a better Christian husband and father, more loving of my neighbor, more just, merciful and humble, and growing in grace?" Jesus regularly emphasized in his teaching that our doing shows what we really love and believe. Hence our attitudes, actions and priorities in living reveal the secrets of the heart. If your learning is not helping you in your living and pastoring according to biblical standards and emphases, then it is learning gone bad.
By the importance of living to learning, on the other hand, I mean that it is the school of Christian experience under God’s providence that is the testing ground of all true learning. Especially God’s dark providencessuffering, trials, tests, disappointments, "losses and crosses" as the Puritans called themreveal the extent of our learning. Benjamin Disraeli once said that "Seeing much, suffering much, and studying much, are the three pillars of learning." In so doing, he was simply echoing a dictum that can be found from Luther all the way back to the Bible that "Prayer, meditation and temptation [meaning trials and testings] make the Christian." Indeed, Luther put it more provocatively than this, when he said that a preacher is not made by reading books, but by "living and dying and being damned." In other words, God makes preachers in the crucible. Never forget that. God makes a minister of the Gospel by breaking his heart. Isn’t that one thing that Jesus meant when he beckoned us to take up our cross and follow him?
More Mark Dever and Evangelism
My most recent post and my time with Mark yesterday reminded me of one of the finest messages I have heard on evangelism, given by none other than Mark Dever! It was after this message that I began to pester Mark about writing a much-needed book on evangelism that would combine sound theological foundations with compelling personal examples, all rooted in the local church. If you are interested in this message, you can obtain it by clicking here.
This message will give you a preview of Mark’s book that will be written this fall. More importantly, this message will instruct and inspire you and make a difference in your interaction with everyone from your neighbor to the person making your drink at Starbucks tomorrow morning.
Mark, Al, and Lig, please provide us with a short list of the books you recommend on evangelism with a brief description of why you recommend these books. Thanks, my friends.
Pastors – Studying and Reading (2)
The matter of "what to study?" is of vital importance for a pastor in a day when so much of the literature peddled on the Christian market is drivel. In fact, if it is in the Christian Top 50, then it unfortunately has a 90 to 94% probability of falling into that category (which means the only time you are going to read it is an act of pastoral discernment and protection of the flock). So we need to purpose to read wisely. Life is too short to waste on unprofitable reading. Al has already given some good thoughts on this, and I agree with what he has said. Here are a few more thoughts though. In addition to substantial fiction, classics, history, humor and things your read just to keep up with culture, the following need to be a part of your diet.
Naturally, you are going to be reading Bible commentaries in preparation for preaching (make sure you’re reading the good ones see Derek Thomas’s The Essential Commentaries for a Preacher’s Library), but you need to plan to read more than just commentaries. There ought to be a part of your reading designed to foster biblical piety, the doctrines of grace, a biblical view of church and ministry, and the challenge to consecrate your whole heart (mind, will and affections) to ministerial study. Packer, Stott, Piper, Wells, Sproul, Ferguson and others have provided us much gold in this vein.
I’m thinking of books like: J.I. Packer’s Knowing God (IVP), a devotional classic that ought to be plundered often; Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor (Banner of Truth), foundational for thinking about pastoral care; John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (Christian Library), no intelligent Protestant minister should have not read and mastered this book. Another Packer volume, A Quest for Godliness (Crossway Books), is a brilliant set of essays on the Puritan vision of the Christian life. To this we add John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Eerdmans), the classic popular treatment of the ordo salutis; J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Eerdmans), a must for all modern evangelicals; J.C. Ryle, Holiness (Evangelical Press), one of the great modern devotional books; Horatius Bonar’s Words to Winners of Souls (P&R), Thomas Boston’s The Art of Manfishing (Christian Focus), all of David F. Wells books. You get the idea.
In other words, you want to be reading what the Puritans would have called "soul-fatting" books: works that will increase your knowledge, your love for the Lord and your confidence in Scripture. You will, of course, from time to time read things that are not soul-fatting, but you must never allow this best kind of book to be entirely absent from your normal plan of reading.
Additionally, you will want to listen to good MP3s/CDs (like the outstanding interviews by Mark Dever available at 9Marks Ministries; Ken Myers’ interviews at Mars Hill Tape Library are also stimulating and informative, reformation21 often features great audio interviews; get "The Teaching Company" catalog and listen to the best undergraduate lecturers from across the country on important subject areas). You can listen while you take your daily exercise, or as you are driving in to the church or on the way home, or heading out on a visit. And, if you can’t listen to the whole program, listen to the first ten or so minutes of the Albert Mohler Show everyday (you can listen on XM, the internet or about 75 stations nationwide). Al will catch you up on the most important things of the day, from a distinctively biblical perspective.
Go to conferences (not "how to" conferences, but conferences that feed your soul or make you think: Desiring God, Ligonier, Banner of Truth, Shepherds, PCRTs, Founders Conferences, Sovereign Grace and such). Keep up with current events (glance at the New York Times, read World magazine and Atlantic Monthly, then visit the Arts and Letters Daily website, or the Access Research Network all of which can be found easily with a Google search on the internet) and think hard about the culture (Phil Ryken charts a helpful course for this in My Father’s World [P&R] and He Speaks to me Everywhere [P&R]).
But above all, determine to read and master the great books of your Reformation heritage. Luther’s Bondage of the Will, Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, Turretin’s Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Ames’ Marrow of Theology, Heppe’s Reformed Dogmatics, John Bunyan, John Owen, B.B. Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, C.H. Spurgeon, and Carl Henry. Read the classics, and read primary sources. Mark has already mentioned C.S. Lewis’ famous comments on this in his "On the Reading on Old Books" (which was originally composed as an introduction to Athanasius’ On the Incarnation). His counsel is wise and worth reading in full. Lewis says:
There is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books. Thus I have found as a tutor in English Literature that if the average student wants to find out something about Platonism, the very last thing he thinks of doing is to take a translation of Plato off the library shelf and read the Symposium. He would rather read some dreary modern book ten times as long, all about "isms" and influences and only once in twelve pages telling him what Plato actually said. The error is rather an amiable one, for it springs from humility. The student is half afraid to meet one of the great philosophers face to face. He feels himself inadequate and thinks he will not understand him. But if he only knew, the great man, just because of his greatness, is much more intelligible than his modern commentator. The simplest student will be able to understand, if not all, yet a very great deal of what Plato said; but hardly anyone can understand some modern books on Platonism. It has always therefore been one of my main endeavours as a teacher to persuade the young that firsthand knowledge is not only more worth acquiring than secondhand knowledge, but is usually much easier and more delightful to acquire.
This mistaken preference for the modern books and this shyness of the old ones is nowhere more rampant than in theology. Wherever you find a little study circle of Christian laity you can be almost certain that they are studying not St. Luke or St. Paul or St. Augustine or Thomas Aquinas or Hooker or Butler, but M. Berdyaev or M. Maritain or M. Niebuhr or Miss Sayers or even myself.
Now this seems to me topsy-turvy. Naturally, since I myself am a writer, I do not wish the ordinary reader to read no modern books. But if he must read only the new or only the old, I would advise him to read the old. And I would give him this advice precisely because he is an amateur and therefore much less protected than the expert against the dangers of an exclusive contemporary diet. A new book is still on its trial and the amateur is not in a position to judge it. It has to be tested against the great body of Christian thought down the ages, and all its hidden implications (often unsuspected by the author himself) have to be brought to light. Often it cannot be fully understood without the knowledge of a good many other modern books. If you join at eleven o’clock a conversation which began at eight you will often not see the real bearing of what is said. Remarks which seem to you very ordinary will produce laughter or irritation and you will not see why – the reason, of course, being that the earlier stages of the conversation have given them a special point. In the same way sentences in a modern book which look quite ordinary may be directed at some other book; in this way you may be led to accept what you would have indignantly rejected if you knew its real significance. The only safety is to have a standard of plain, central Christianity ("mere Christianity" as Baxter called it) which puts the controversies of the moment in their proper perspective. Such a standard can be acquired only from the old books. It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.
Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books. All contemporary writers share to some extent the contemporary outlook – even those, like myself, who seem most opposed to it. Nothing strikes me more when I read the controversies of past ages than the fact that both sides were usually assuming without question a good deal which we should now absolutely deny. They thought that they were as completely opposed as two sides could be, but in fact they were all the time secretly united – united with each other and against earlier and later ages – by a great mass of common assumptions. We may be sure that the characteristic blindness of the twentieth century – the blindness about which posterity will ask, "But how could they have thought that?" – lies where we have never suspected it, and concerns something about which there is untroubled agreement between Hitler and President Roosevelt or between Mr. H. G. Wells and Karl Barth. None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we read only modern books. Where they are true they will give us truths which we half knew already. Where they are false they will aggravate the error with which we are already dangerously ill. The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books. Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us. Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction. To be sure, the books of the future would be just as good a corrective as the books of the past, but unfortunately we cannot get at them.
So, one way you can avoid being caught up in the banalities, trivialities and fads of current "learning" is to interact with the best thinkers of the past. Against the backdrop of my call to reading though, remember the wise counsel of Thomas Brooks: "Christ, the Scripture, your own hearts, and Satan’s devices, are the four prime things that should be first and most studied and searched. If any cast off the study of these, they cannot be safe here, nor happy hereafter. It is my work as a Christian, but much more as I am a Watchman, to do my best to discover the fullness of Christ, the emptiness of the creature, and the snares of the great deceiver."
Meeting Mark Dever and Evangelism
In a recent post (Snow and Evangelism), my good friend Mark Dever humbly asked for our prayers. He wrote, "Pray that I be a better, more obedient, more active personal evangelist." My friend, I will pray for you, but first I want to express my gratefulness to God for your compelling example of personal and pastoral evangelism.
Reading your post on evangelism reminded me of when I first had the joy of meeting you. As I arrived at CHBC for our lunch together, I had no idea that God was about to introduce me to someone who would become a close friend and from whom I would learn much. The first lesson I learned from your life was your heart for the lost and your passion to reach them with the gospel.
You asked me that day if we could eat at Subway, and I gladly followed (trying to keep up with you, as I immediately discovered you walk as fast as you talk) on the brief walk to this location. And just before we entered Subway, you informed me that you ate there often–not because of the cuisine, but in order to reach those who worked there with the gospel. I then observed your conversation and interaction with those who served us. As we sat down, I immediately began to draw you out about your heart and strategy for reaching the lost. You told me that you try to frequent the same places when you eat out, run errands etc. for the purpose of sharing the gospel. Since that day, I have followed your example and have shared the gospel with many I have come to know. Whatever heart I have for the lost is the result of your example and influence (second only to that of my very good friend Kenneth Maresco).
And just last week you served me big time once again. On Tuesday you devoted an entire day teaching pastors and future pastors at the Sovereign Grace Pastors’ College. And I was not surprised when I received the following e-mail from Kenneth Maresco (who appropriately led the conference): "Mark Dever opened us up, and no one–and I mean no one–could have done a better job with the theological, historical, gospel-centered view of evangelism he provided." For those wondering, Mark taught the following sessions:
What is Evangelism?
A Biblical Theology of Evangelism and the Evangel
The Pastoral Practice of Evangelism-Personally and in the Pulpit
The Church’s Practice of Evangelism
In my experience both personally and as a pastor, there is no area that is more difficult or challenging than evangelism. So Mark, thanks for your example and teaching. You can’t write your book on evangelism fast enough, and there is no one I would rather write this important and much needed book than you. By the way, where are we in the writing and publishing process of this book that I have been pleading with you to write for years now? I will continue to annoy you until I hold this book in my hands. I need you to write this book. The church needs this book. Please write this book.
I am looking forward to lunch tomorrow, my friend. Let’s go to Subway.
Ministry for Members
Let me make myself unpopular. One of the reasons we (Capitol Hill Baptist Church) are called a cult is because we limit responsibility for ministry (from leading Bible studies, to being responsible for refreshments after church) to members of our congregation. We figure that we best serve the individuals wanting to minister by requiring them to give us their testimony before we allow them to represent us for others. We first want to know what they agree with or disagree with in what we believe (statement of faith) and how we intend to live (church covenant). We also would like to see some commitment to us as a congregation.
Wayne Mack (who has never been a member of our church!) in his recent book on church membership expressed this idea well: “Whatever the reason, this unwillingness to formally identify with a local church is an indication that they’re not totally committed to that church and therefore should not be given regular, formal, service opportunities. Regular, formal ministry opportunities are a privilege given to people who are willing to commit and submit without reservation to the total ministry of the church.” See Wayne Mack, To Be or Not to Be A Church Member? That is the Question! (2004), page 53.
Piper's Surgery
Brothers, just a reminder to pray. John Piper is scheduled for his surgery tomorrow morning.
Great Post, Al
Al, great review on your blog today about Barna’s Revolution!
Pastors – Studying and Reading (1)
Protestant pastors don’t read or study very much these days, and most churches don’t encourage them to do so. There are fewer pastor-readers than ever before (and surfing the web, dabbling in this oddity and that, doesn’t count!). Church members and even officers sometimes have a hard time appreciating how much time a good message from God’s word takes to develop, and furthermore don’t see the importance of the pastor studying anything else than for preaching and devotions. There is a strong dose of anti-intellectualism in our circles and it doesn’t encourage a man to do the hard work of developing the mind and expanding his knowledge.
But precisely because our people are bathed in trivial information in this day and age, they need a shepherd with real knowledge, much discernment and a nose for truth. This knowledge must be acquired and those qualities cultivated, and both require that you become a permanent student. This call to study is, of course, entirely biblical.
The Bible emphasizes the importance of pursuit of sound learning for the wise in general, and for pastors in particular. Proverbs 15:14 says that “The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on folly.” Proverbs 18:15 reiterates the principle when it says “The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” Proverbs 24:5, “A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power,” reminds us of the old dictum “knowledge is power.” I don’t need to tell you that the wisdom literature of the Bible is replete with calls to the believer to pursue knowledge. But the Bible says more than this. It emphasizes that ministers need to pursue study of the truth.
Ezra 7:10 describes this great Old Testament leader in this way: “Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Hosea laments the want of spiritual leaders like Ezra when it says “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (4:6). The same aspiration and complaint can be found in the last book of the Old Testament: “For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 2:7).
But it is in the pastoral epistles that we find some of the most direct words of instruction and exhortation regarding ministerial study. Paul can say to his Timothy “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Here we have an apostolic directive for a young minister to study with the equivalent exertion and effort of a tireless day-laborer. The true minister is a workman (Paul really likes this metaphor!). He works hard at his task. The true minister is to work hard at study so as to know and preach the Truth rightly.
Furthermore, Paul gives Timothy a sterling example of studiousness from his own practice and priorities. Think of his astonishing request in 2 Timothy 4:13 where he asks “When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.” Now think of it. Paul is only months away from death. He has written the bulk of the letters of the New Testament. He has a lifetime of ministry behind him. And what does he want to do? Study! Winter is approaching and so Paul asks for his cloak, but more importantly he asks for books and parchments. Though almost at the end of his course, Paul aims to keep learning and growing by spiritual reading.
Nobody has ever uttered a more poignant pastoral meditation on this little verse than C.H. Spurgeon. Here is what he says:
How rebuked are they by the apostle! He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least for thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things which it was unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy and so he says to every preacher, "GIVE THYSELF UNTO READING."
The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains, proves that he has no brains of his own. Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. YOU need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers, and expositions of the Bible. We are quite persuaded that the best way for you to be spending your leisure, is to be either reading or praying. You may get much instruction from books which afterwards you may use as a true weapon in your Lord and Master’s service. Paul cries, "Bring the books" join in the cry.
Paul herein is a picture of industry. He is in prison; he cannot preach: WHAT will he do? As he cannot preach, he will read. As we read of the fishermen of old and their boats. The fishermen were gone out of them. What were they doing? Mending their nets. So if providence has laid you upon a sick bed, and you cannot teach your class if you cannot be working for God in public, mend your nets by reading. If one occupation is taken from you, take another, and let the books of the apostle read you a lesson of industry" (from Spurgeon’s sermon #542 "PAUL – His Cloak And His Books" in the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit 9 (1863): 668-669).
Paul is a life learner, and you should be too.
Revisiting the Revolution
Mark asked for responses to George Barna’s latest book, Revolution. I promised to do so and I have now published a full review, available here. It may spark some further discussion — at least I hope so. In one sense, the book is something of a poison pill for evangelical Christianity. Oddly enough, some denominational publishing houses (insert great SBC embarrassment here) have even advertised the book prominently, causing me to paraphrase Vladimir Lenin to the effect that when it comes time to hang the evangelicals, the evangelicals will fight over the contract for the rope.
Almost everything Barna says about the shortcomings and failures of evangelical churches is accurate. Superficiality and worse mark so many churches, and it is no wonder that so many believers never develop into mature Christians and so many churches never experience the power and glory of God in congregational life. Unfortunately, Barna’s approach is even worse — abandoning the local church altogether as the normative context for Christian involvement.
I say much more in the review, so I will leave it there. But there is something seriously and tragically wrong with a book that includes just this one sentence alone: There is nothing inherently wrong with being involved in a local church.
