Teaching Matthew’s gospel as a discipleship manual

I am probably not the only preacher who when choosing to preach a gospel has not often gone first to Matthew.

Like many others perhaps, I’ve favoured Mark (‘punchy’ style), John (rich in metaphor and Christology) or Luke (carefully researched and emphasising the distinction of rich/poor).

But I have recently changed my mind about Matthew.

The standard summary account of this gospel is that it is “written for Jewish readers” – to reinforce the Jewishness of Jesus as Messiah. His purpose may be evangelistic or to encourage believers (or both). But his intended audience is Jewish.

That may be originally true – although it is debated. But aside from the clear evidence that Matthew not only expected but welcomed Gentile evangelism (15:21-28 for example) here is the problem with leaving our sketch of Matthew as “gospel written for Jews”: it puts a barrier between this great gospel and the Gentile reader (which is most of us).

The fact that Matthew is first of the four gospels in the canon of the New Testament, and has been widely regarded as first in importance ever since, should make us pause before turning straight to Mark, Luke and John. There must be a great deal more to Matthew than reading the famous “Immanuel” conception narrative at a carol service, the magi at Epiphany or the temptation of Jesus and Sermon on the Mount in Lent for sceptics, seekers or Christians, and whether Gentile or Jewish.

The key verses of Matthew suggest this: Jesus declares in conclusion,

“All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (28:18-20)

Preaching through Matthew 8-12 and 13-18 in two sermon series recently a number of other points suggest to some commentators, persuasively in my view, that

Matthew is writing a “gospel handbook for Christian workers”:

this is suggested by at least two features of his gospel: his inclusion of disciplemaking material not in the so-called “Synptiocs” Mark and Luke, and his apparent editing of some accounts common to focus attention on Jesus’ training the 12 for their future mission continuing his work. For example

The five “teaching” sections are largely unique to Matthew and consist primarily of material training Jesus’ followers as disciples and gospel workers. This is especially the case for chapter 10.

In chapters 13-18 Matthew not only draws out the separation of Jesus/disciples from the uncomprehending crowds and Pharisees but emphasises the distinction between occasions when Jesus teaches the former and the latter. This is very evident in the to-ing and fro-ing in chapter 13 (see verse 2, 10, 36 and probably in between)

In feeding the 5000 (14:13-21) Matthew focusses on Jesus’ interaction with the 12, reducing the details in Mark (such as the food bill estimated by the disciples) so as to bring the interaction of Jesus with them to the fore.

In the following story of Jesus walking on the water (14:22-33), two features appear that are not present in Mark: Peter’s doubt and faith in stepping out to Jesus, and the worshipful response of the 12. We don’t need to get into discussoins about papal succession to agree that Peter has a prominent place in Matthew than in the other gospels, and that might well be because he is for the gospel writer a model (however flawed) of the Christian worker

Two of the above features of Matthew appear again in the succeeding conversation about religion and the human heart (15:1-20): Matthew places the teaching of Jesus to the crowd first and then separately records Jesus’ explanation to the disciples.

One more example: most obviously chapter 18 comprises material exclusively about disciplemaking and discipleship in the Christian community that is not found i the other gospels, covering spiritual care of self and others, discipline and forgiveness.

Agree that Matthew is a “manual for disciplemakers”? I’d love to hear more examples of how that works.

The Next Ten Books To Recommend to a growing Christian

In a previous post I outlined the philosophy behind a pastor having a collection of ten “first” books to give or recommend to a young Christian, for which credit goes to Tim Keller’s ‘Redeemer’ Church in Manhattan. I also suggested which ten I would have on that “first read these” book table.

So what about the believer who has read most of them and is hungry for further spiritual encouragement?

I’d have the following “read next” books to hand, the intention being to give a young believer a taste of some older classics (and some more recent writers) in a range from Christian life, church history, doctrine, devotional, culture and ecclesiology.

The Cost of Discipleship – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Holiness – JC Ryle

Amazing Grace – John Pollock

Communion with God – John Owen

The Bruised Reed  – Richard Sibbes

Enchiridion – On Faith, Hope and Love – Augustine

A Simple way to Pray – Martin Luther

Generous Justice – Tim Keller

Christ and His People – Mark Ashton

The Universe Next Door – James Sire

It’s hard to know which popular-level book to recommend on the theory and practice of evangelism, a topic that none of these 20 “start here” or “read next” books cover; so I’ll explore that in a later post, but would love to hear your suggestions on that, or on any other area not listed above that you think essential for a growing Christian to be thinking through.

 

Four reasons to preach from the Old Testament.

“From every town, village, and little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London… and so from every text in Scripture there is a
road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. Your business is, when you get to a text, to say, ‘Now, what is the road to Christ?’ and then preach a sermon, running along the road towards the great metropolis. “¹

Charles Spurgeon thus challenges preachers to regard any part of the Bible as a place from which to preach Christ, including (we presume) Deuteronomy, Job and Jonah.

But how many sermons on Deuteronomy or Job have your heard in evangelical churches, and how many on the gospels, Acts or epistles? A brief survey of sermons published on the web in the UK in the last year suggested that 90% of sermons even in churches that follow a systematic Bible-based programme are based on New Testament texts. So only one in ten sermons is based on over three-quarters of the Bible.

This is not surprising. The gospels especially have a special attraction for Christian preachers who rightly want to “preach Christ”. The Old Testament includes lengthy historical, ethical and prophetic books that are intimidating to most preachers. A preacher may want to preach more Old Testament, but fear the reaction of their congregation if they do. The Old Testament spans a much greater period of history, and therefore raises many more questions of culture and interpretation, than the New. The Old Testament has been on the receiving end of greater criticism of its historical reliability than the New: did Noah’s flood happen, or the Exodus, or Jonah’s escape from the fish, or Job’s suffering? The God of the Old Testament is accused of being violent and moralistic, where Jesus in the New Testament is seen by contrast as merciful and liberating.

Nonetheless I have personally found it deeply enriching to my love of Christ to preach often from the Old Testament, and I believe our congregation have felt the same! In the church of which I became pastor a year ago, we have enjoyed series in Daniel, Ruth, Genesis 12-20 and the early Psalms. Then, having completed a series of seven sermons on Ecclesiastes this autumn prior to Advent (which itself presents so many canonical prophetic opportunities, especially in Isaiah 7-12), we embark upon Exodus 1-18 through New Year and Lent to Easter.

Even so I find we only preached about 30% of sermons this year from Old Testament texts, but it has been a healthy step in the right direction.

The subject of how to preach Christian sermons from the Old Testament is the subject of several great books. But to answer the question why preach more from the Old Testament, here are four reasons:

Jesus and the apostles preach from it.
Jesus came, the Synoptic gospels agree, to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. Although it can be debated exactly what that entailed, it seems a good place to start to examine the recorded teaching of Jesus in the same gospels for the detail. Matthew especially is generally agreed to place special emphasis upon Jesus as a teacher/preacher, and to be perhaps a manual for pastors/preachers to follow. So how does Jesus preach according to Matthew? Often by reference to or explanation of the Old Testament, and most clearly in the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7). Here it is that Jesus importantly preaches, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the prophets: I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfil them” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus interprets the Law in new ways, bringing ‘new wine’ as well as continuity. He does not simply parrot Scripture without explaining its true meaning, but like the apostles in Acts later, Jesus preaches from His “Bible”, the Old Testament.

The gospel is revealed in it.
Paul says that the Scriptures are God-breathed and able to make us wise for salvation (2 Timothy 3:15-16). Jesus says that the Scriptures “testify about me” (John 5:39). Although there is some debate amongst evangelical theologians about how assiduously one should “Look for Christ” in every Old Testament text, it is clear not only that the gospel is in the Old Testament but so is Christ. The rediscovery of Biblical theology as a discipline in the last generation has recovered confidence that the whole Bible points to God’s saving work in Christ. On the road to Emmaus Jesus opens “the Scriptures” (the Old Testament) to his disciples, beginning with Moses and all the prophets to show what they said “concerning himself” (Luke 24:27, 32, 44-45). The gospel pattern of human fall and divine redemption is repeated again and again in Genesis-2 Kings and epitomised in the experiences of the Psalmist, Job and many others. The search for a king and a restored kingdom for God’s people emerges in Samuel and the prophets, and leaves us with the longing for Christ. Adam, Moses, Joshua, David and others act as “types” that prepare us for Him. So preach the Old Testament with Christ as the “prism” (Sinclair B Ferguson’s happy image²) and the gospel will shine from it.

The New Testament is interpreted by it. 
Whilst we cannot fully understand the Old Testament without the New, the reverse is also true. What did Jesus mean by claiming in Mark 10 to be the servant of God and ransom for many? Or in John to be the bread of life, good shepherd, and light of the world? If we don’t preach Isaiah and Exodus, just to pick two of the most important Old Testament texts, we will leave New Testament readers in the dark. Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 can easily be shown to interpret the Old Testament in light of the New, but it also does the reverse. The meaning of the Pentecost signs (disciples speaking in languages/tongues)  is that Christ has been exalted; and the dramatic events witnessed in his life, death and resurrection are explained in Joel 2. Why is sacrifice, priesthood and atonement so important to the writer of Hebrews? If we don’t preach Leviticus and Deuteronomy we will not really know. So preach the Old Testament and your congregation will have a richer grasp of the New. Not only that…

The gospel is impoverished without it.
It was the early church teacher Marcion who tried to argue that Christianity does not need the Old Testament, and that attempt to cut loose from Scripture’s moorings found sinister embodiment last century in Hitler’s anti-Semitic ideology. Modern versions of Marcionism write off the Old Testament as portraying God as immoral and vindictive. So why can’t we just carry a New Testament in our pocket and do away with the Old?

The answer? Because so many examples from the Old Testament highlight both the depths of human depravity and the heights of God’s grace that preaching them adds colour and beauty to the gospel of Christ. What does the fulfilment of a promise mean to us if we don’t appreciate what the promise was? How much more can we worship Christ as the antitype of Old Testament types if we preach those types and their fulfilment? How can we rejoice that men and women of faith such as Abraham, Moses and Rahab are justified and sanctified along with us by faith in the promised Saviour, as Romans 4 and Hebrews 11 tell us? The Old Testament gives us so many sparkling jewels that adorn the gospel’s crown and without which it loses its lustre.

Brothers and sisters, let’s preach the Old Testament, and through it the gospel about Christ, and we will see God’s people become more wise for salvation.

Footnotes
¹ C. H. Spurgeon, in a sermon entitled “Christ Precious to Believers” in “The New Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit”(Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1994 reprint).

² Sinclair B Ferguson,  “Preaching Christ from the Old Testament” , in Part 4

Further reading

Bryan Chappell, “A Redemptive Approach to Preaching”, in his “Christ-centred Preaching”  (Baker Books, 1994)

Ed Clowney, “Preaching Christ in All of Scripture” (Crossway, 2003)

J. Ligon Duncan III, “Preaching Christ from the Old Testament”,  in “Preaching the Cross”, Eds Mark Dever, J. Ligon Duncan III, R. Albert Mohler Jr, C.J. Mahaney (Crossway, 2007)

Sinclair B. Ferguson Preaching Christ from the Old Testament , (in ten parts),  August 2014

Sidney Greidanus, “Preaching Christ from the Old Testament” (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999)

R. Albert Mohler Jr, “Studying the Scriptures and Finding Jesus (John 5:31-47), in “The Scriptures Testify About Me: Jesus and the Gospel in the Old Testament”, Ed. D.A. Carson (Crossway, 2013)

Alec Motyer, “Look to the Rock” (IVP, 1996)

Ten books to recommend to a new Christian

Have you ever wished you had something to give a new Christian to read alongside the Bible, to encourage them in their faith and help them begin to live for Christ from a Christ-centred Biblical worldview? Over the years I have recommended countless good books 1:1 or from the pulpit, but I thought it was about time to be more intentional about this habit, for my own sake, and that of our church members. Maybe what follows will help you too.

The idea of a “top ten” list (yes, I realise that such a thing is usually shameless marketing) came from a visit to Tim Keller’s Redeemer Church in Manhattan two years ago during a sabbatical. The service was thoughtful and deeply Christ-honouring, but one of my main take-homes came afterwards, over coffee a couple of floors up from the worship auditorium. An unremarkable folding table was set out to one side of the room, with a selection of books for sale,  a couple of signs, and a friendly church member on hand.

What was the stroke of genius? A simple guideline as to which books to read, and in what order. The books were arranged into three groups, not by the usual categories, “Bible”, “Christian living”, “Prayer” etc, but as “Read first”, “Read next”, and “After those”  (maybe not the precise titles, but you get the idea). Keller had written a short explanation of the book-recommendation policy he had followed,

“instead of a bookstore for the whole community, we offer a book table carrying “next step” reading for worshippers at Redeemer…the order in which you read books has a big impact on the kind of believer you become…That is why many people will ask me – “Is this a good book to read?” and my answer is, ‘Yes – eventually, later, in the right place – but not now’.”

Keller had thought hard about the best books to start young believers with, and those to recommend later. I think that is incredibly good pastoral care, and am planning to introduce this wise approach when we move to pastor our new church in Norwich in the summer.

So here are my ten “Read First” books, copies of which I’d have always on hand to give away or to sell. The order doesn’t mean much. In future posts I will suggest my “Read next” and “After those” selections.

Read First (Top Ten):

Knowing God (J.I. Packer)

The Prodigal God (Tim Keller)

How to read the Bible for all its Worth (Gordon Fee/Douglas Stuart)

The Freedom of a Christian (Martin Luther)

Just do Something (Kevin DeYoung)

Discipling (Mark Dever)

How to Walk into Church (Tony Payne/Colin Marshall)

God’s Big Picture (Vaughan Roberts)

The Cross of Christ (John Stott)

Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)

 

I hope this gets you asking what you would recommend to a new believer – and what you’d agree they should read, but only later. Let me know what you think.

Why it’s not always best to preach expository sermons

OK, I realise this depends upon how you define “expository”. If you mean that when you preach, every sermon should allow a text (or more than one) to set the agenda for what is said, then I’d have to agree that every sermon should be expository.

“Expository” defined as the opposite of “thought for the day” or “context-driven” has to be right because it reflects the Bible’s presentation of preaching as coming as words “from God” not just “from the preacher’s head”. Expository as “exposing the sense of a Bible text” is (for me) a non-negotiable. That is surely true whether preaching evangelistically or to edify believers. All sermons should (in my view) be not only Christ-centred and gospel-rich (good news) but Bible-driven and derived from the Bible text they are based upon.

My argument with expository sermons here is not that expository sermons can be boring, either, though they can. “Exposing” the text can become a dry lecture that fills the mind and doesn’t speak to the heart or will. But if I am boring, it is not the fault of the Bible or its logic – DM Lloyd-Jones called this kind of preaching “logic on fire”, and it should be! Others* have convincingly and rightly listed the benefits of “expository” preaching in the true sense of the word.

But if you define “expository” more narrowly than that – as “preaching from the same book of the Bible in sequential order” then I’d argue that is not always wise as the long-term diet of a church family. The main diet, yes, but not the only. To say this may alarm those not from traditions like the Anglican one, where our lectionaries and feast days encourage us to mix it up. What about Charles Simeon and D.M. Lloyd-Jones, you asked, who (it is said) just “preached the Bible in order” and let the Word do the work?

Here are three reasons I can see for not always preaching the Bible “in order”:

1. Biblical: The Bible doesn’t always work that way. I’m not arguing the textual critic point – that texts are out of order compared to their original composition – here. But some books of the Bible just to not lend themselves to preaching every part of a text in order. Maybe the text is repetitive (Revelation from Chapter 4 onwards, for example) and mirroring that in a sermon series is not going to do justice to the meaning. Maybe the text was not designed to be read aloud in sequential order in the way it is printed in our Bibles today (the Psalms, for instance, seem to be a collection of liturgical and pastoral songs to be sung, and who would argue we have to preach 1-150 in order, with no omission or cherry-picking?) Maybe the text was designed to be read for impact in one sitting, but expository preachers so often pride ourselves upon taking an inordinately long time to preach through a book (Romans, or Hebrews, are two letters many take years over, but I would put in the category of “read fast for impact and overall message”). Maybe the text lends itself to being linked with other similar ones that are not found in immediate proximity in the Bible (a series on the Parables, for instance).
2. Pastoral: The people of God need help constructing a doctrinal framework for life. A member of our staff team recently asked why we do so many sermon series that don’t just “go through a Bible book in order”. The answer I gave is that the people of God need the preacher of God to help them see what the whole Word of God says about the mind and works of God. We might do this by digressing on doctrinal points when a text invites it (the Puritan John Owen did this when preaching through Hebrews) but that simply makes my point that only preaching what a text says is not always enough. We might also do it by preaching every text of the Bible over (say) a ten-year period, but how many church members will hear every sermon, and make the connections between them all? But we can certainly do this by preaching sermon series that teach “systematically” the truths of the Bible about God and the world. Over my seventeen years in my church we have typically included one or two series each year on themes such as Creation, God’s Attributes, the Cross, the Holy Spirit, The Church, Prayer, Personal Evangelism, A Theology of the City, Church Planting, Service and Ministry, Stewardship/Giving, Spiritual Disciplines, Desiring God, Seven Deadly Sins, Biblical view of Humanity, Temptation/idolatry.
3. Apologetic: Seekers in our congregations need help grappling with big questions. These are stumbling blocks to hearing the gospel unless we address them. Some preachers find this comes more naturally than others (Tim Keller is especially good at connecting with the seeker and sceptic in his sermon series) but we all, I would argue, need to try. The obvious way is to pick up the big questions in one series every couple of years: The Meaning of Life, The Existence and Knowability of God, the Issue of Science and Faith, the Challenges of Religious Exclusivism, Hypocrisy and Extremism, the Problem of Suffering. We’ve also tried to connect with the non-believing culture when a public moment demands or offers an opportunity: debunking the Da Vinci Code when it was published, responding to publications from new atheists like Dawkins, or events like 9/11 or natural disasters. Such moments are on open door for the gospel.

So there are three reasons why I don’t always preach sermon series through a section of the Bible in order. I could add that evangelistic sermons are better done from texts that clearly portray the heart of the gospel, and that even great preachers like Spurgeon did not preach from the same book of the Bible each week at all, though his sermons brilliantly expound the texts he chose.  

I am sure there are lots more reasons why preachers should stick to preaching through a text in sequence, and lots more why we should keep mixing it up. Let me know your thoughts.

 

• eg Peter Adam, Speaking God’s Words: A Practical Theology of Preaching (IVP, 1996), Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centred Preaching (Baker, 1994), David Helm, Expositional Preaching (Crossway, 2014), William Perkins, The Art of Prophesying (Banner of Truth, 1996), John Stott, I Believe in Preaching (Hodder and Stoughton, 1983)

How is Jesus still serving you today?

Forty days after the resurrection comes the ascension of Jesus. He was “declared Son of God” through his resurrection (Acts 13:33; Romans 1:4) and now he returned to God’s throne, having completed his work in atoning for our sins and giving his life to serve us (Mark 10:45).

Yet Jesus’ work for us does not end there. He  serves us still in his life in heaven, interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25), sending his Spirit to teach us the truth (John 14:26), and giving gifts to the church in the manner of a conquering king handing out treasures to his victorious people – except these gifts are not silver coins but spiritual roles in the Church (Ephesians 4:7-12).

The significance of Jesus’ ascension is not only that he reigns – now, today – over all things. This Sovereign also serves his people. Our risen Lord is still, wonderfully, our servant. He intercedes for us, teaches us, and equips us to serve Him.

In our book Of The Term “Serving without Sinking” (a unique gospel-shaped book about grace, not a guilt-inducing one about sacrifice) I have loved reading the three middle chapters which illustrate how Christ serves us.  His grace defines the nature of our serving Him in grateful response.

The three metaphors the author finds in the Bible for Christian life are all stunning privileges: we are not servants but friends of Jesus, not a self-justifying client but a forgiven bride of Christ, and not convenient slaves but forgiven sons of God. These chapters alone are worth the book price and worthy of reading over and over again.

Is Jesus serving you today? If you want to know more, “Serving without Sinking” is highly recommended.

 

 

Every week around 6000 or more adults take on the role of godparent to a child baptised in the…

via Why the C of E’s first Godparents Sunday is a time to celebrate our big promises to young people — Church of England Communications

How (not) to serve Christ

What makes you volunteer to serve at church? When the notices include an appeal for new people on the welcomers’ rota, what makes you stick your hand up? Are you motivated by what  I call the “NAG” way for churches to fill gaps: there is a Need, you are Available, and if you don’t do it, you would feel Guilty?

The trouble with “nag” volunteering is that it misrepresents God (as if He is unable to run His Church and I have to come to the rescue!) and it misrepresents church membership (as if anyone should serve God motivated by guilt). There are much healthier ways to serve God with the personality, passions and gifts I have, and our church has found the “SHAPE” course from Purpose-Driven church really helpful here. But in the first of these three articles about Christian service, prompted in part by reading our book of the term, the excellent “Serving Without Sinking” by John Hindley, I want to ask why serving Christ sometimes goes wrong and  becomes a burden to us instead of a joy.

For anyone who has taken on a serving role and it has become dry or burdensome, it may be good to take a break for a while or find a new ministry for a change. But it may also be good to ask if somewhere I am serving for the wrong motives, arising from a skewed image of God. I recommend John Hindley’s chapters 1-5. Here are three false images of God that make serving Him a burden instead of a delight:

Slot machine God. I may tell myself I know God loves me  as I am but in reality, deep down if I am honest, part of me is serving because I think that by what I do I put God in my debt. If I turn up and give two hours every Sunday to Him, He will give me something in return, like getting chocolate from a machine. He will mend my relationships, or further my career, or answer my prayers more. Of course, this is a false image of God, who showers blessings on us all the time not because we do good things but because He is a good God.

Am I serving God thinking I will get something in return?

Loan-shark God. It is good to recognise how much I am in debt to God for the gift of grace and forgiveness in Christ. It is good to serve in gratitude for what God has done for me. But gratitude can slide into grudging guilt: “God did me a favour, so I owe Him in return. Eternal life comes not as a gift”, I think to myself, “but like a loan which I am paying back every time I do something good.”

Am I serving God thinking that what I do will keep Him loving me?

Damsel-in-distress God. I look around at church and see gaps in the ministry teams: the creche has no helpers, nor does the youth ministry, and the catering team is clearly stressed and undermanned too. “Thank goodness I am here”, I think, “to rescue these people who clearly need my multiple gifts and dedication. I am here to get them, and their God, out of a hole. God needs me to do the things He clearly cannot take care of without me”.

Am I serving because “God needs me” as indispensable to the life of His Church?

All of these three images of God are false ones. God is not a slot machine, a loan-shark or a damsel-in-distress, but a beautiful and bountiful Being¹. His service is perfect freedom. Work done for Him is delightful worship. False images dishonour Him and discourage me. They make serving a burden, where it should be “our duty and joy“².

So what is the healthy way to serve God? We start with a more accurate image of who God is as revealed in Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve us by giving his life for us³. That is where we pick up in the next article reflecting on “Serving Without Sinking”.

^{1   James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights.”
2  Communion Service Eucharistic Prayer A & C, Common Worship
3 Mark 10:45}

Review of “The Call” by Trevor Archer and Paul Mallard

This is an admirably  concise but deceptively thorough book to give to members of our congregations who are considering “the call” to full-time (paid, ordained – the right term eludes us) ministry in the local church. Written from a Free Church perspective (this becomes more and more apparent in the second and third parts of the book) I nonetheless found it useful to consider giving to potential Anglican ordinands.

The strengths of the book are its broad wisdom in describing both what to look for in oneself if considering the ordained path (part one), and in plotting the course through a process of discernment and training (part two). Obviously the examples given for the latter are not the same as in the Anglican process, although similar. I especially liked the emphasis in part one upon Christian character as foundational before any discussion of gifting – and the three “g’s” (evidence of the considerable ministry experience of both authors) of grit, grace and gumption. Judicious quotes are included from Richard Baxter, and the inclusion of discussion of other models such as bi-vocational ministry is welcome. It was good to see that one of the 12 “marks of ministry” highlighted is a heart for the lost, and the all-too-true comment that too many pastors are happier feeding the flock than reaching lost sheep! The potential danger of making it appear that “call” is a subjective and individualistic matter is well avoided by sections reminding us that “calling” is in large part the fruit of proven ministry and local church recognition. As my own director of ordinands said to me over 20 years ago, “The Church cannot give you a ministry, we simply recognise one that God has already given you.”

It would have been interesting to explore more the nature of the pastor’s role as a shepherd in leading the flock. What leadership gifting does a pastor need, or what special heart or skills are needed in pioneer or church planting or youth ministry? Theological reflection on ministry is light: to what extent does the pastor represent the congregation and model discipleship for others (however imperfectly)? That this is missing perhaps reflects lack of space, not just denominational perspective, but as an evangelical Anglican with a reformed bent I looked in vain for a reference to administering sacraments in ministry and how they proclaim the gospel alongside preaching. Preaching may be the key way we pastor, but surely leading the Church to be healthy in displaying her other key marks is essential as part of “the call” too?

The bibliography includes greats like CH Spurgeon, John Piper, Richard Coekin and Derek Prime, yet is a bit selective beyond those.

A great little book, probably most useful for pastors and potential pastors in free evangelical churches.

 

How to walk out of church

The music finishes, the minister says the blessing: what next? Do I head for the door? Do I check my phone? Do I start thinking about work tomorrow?

During this series of articles about “church” we have discovered how transformative it can be if we all begin to prepare prayerfully before we walk into church on Sunday, and begin to think how we can encourage others during the service too. From key Bible texts such as Hebrews 10 and 1 Corinthians 14, we have learnt  about corporate (gathered) worship . We have seen how the Gospel about Jesus is to be the central theme and celebration of our services. We have noticed that much of our worship owes its forms to those in the Old Testament (Scripture reading, confession, praise, the language of sacrifice and priesthood) but that those forms were transformed in the coming of Jesus and the worship of the Church. I have recommended several excellent books about gathered worship in two previous articles for those who want to dig deeper.

What I have not found (others may help me here) is a book about what happens after “Amen”: how to walk out of church when the service finishes – or what to do even before I walk out. I now believe that this is a serious omission, as the time between the final prayer and the final exit is also a vitally important opportunity for worship through meeting and encouraging others, as Tony Payne points out in “How to Walk Into Church”.

Horizontal and vertical

We have seen in previous articles that although some say “worship” is all about my offering myself to God during a service, or (conversely) “worship”is all about my whole-life walk with God, strong Bible texts can be quote in support of BOTH – worship is adoration AND action. Similarly David Peterson argued that when we gather the focus should not be on God but on edifying (building up) each other. Again, we concluded this is a helpful focus since we can ONLY encourage each other when together (unless you count texts and emails), but that we gather BOTH for God AND for each other. Writers like DA Carson, John M Frame and Tim Keller come to the conclusion that when we gather, and indeed when not with other Christians, we ascribe God “worth” BOTH by praising Him and by encouraging others – what we call the  “vertical” and “horizontal” aspects of Church. I think this is right and wise.

So in Colossians 3:16 Paul tells us to “let the message of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratitude in your hearts to God“. We sing to God AND each other. And see Ephesians 5:19,”Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” We sing to God AND each other. Gospel-shaped Words (brought to life in the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion) form the core means of worshipping God and encouraging each other. As so often, John Calvin achieved a wise balance of Word and symbol, avoiding over-theatrical display without rejecting all ceremony, as some Reformers were doing. “To secure due moderation, it is necessary to retain that fewness in number, facility in performance and significance of meaning which consists in clarity.” (Institutes 4.10.14).

During and ‘after’

I also believe that we can exercise the horizontal and vertical dimensions of worship (God and others) not only by how we sing, or listen, or pray, during a service, but in what we do after the “Amen.” How is this possible over coffee, you ask? Here are four suggestions:

1. Take notes on the sermon, so that afterwards you have a question in mind which interests you and which you can discuss with someone. “You know what the preacher said about prayer: what did you think of that?”
2. Instead of talking to someone over coffee about the weather, football scores, children, or perils of Christmas shopping, ask them what they found most helpful in the service, or if there was a verse in the Bible reading they want to remember and use.
3. Ask each other “What can I pray for you this week?” That not only encourages us that someone has our back in prayer, it reminds us that it is good to pray for whole-life discipleship at work, in the family, in our own personal walk with God.
4. Resolve to gather with the others at church next week, again. As Tony Payne suggests, there are some who leave churches because of disillusionment with the gospel, or scandals affecting members or leaders, but the commonest way people leave churches is just drifting away through distraction or lack of discipline. We miss weeks out, we get into the habit of arriving very late. Beware this drift by resolving to be here on time before you leave: the walk into church next week starts as I walk out of church this week.

So let’s pray for God to have the glory, and ourselves to be richly encouraged, as we gather this Sunday again,

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving, and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is a great God; the great King above all gods.”

(Psalm 95:1-3)