Beloved: Growing in Pastoral Affection in 2021

2021 will not be a pastoral vacation. Much as we might like it to be, after the challenges of 2020! This last year has required a heightened level of vigilance and teaching and patience and endurance.  All of us feel the burden of caring for God's flock as we've faced challenges unique in our lifetime.  But January 1st will not magically remove the pastoral challenges that we have been facing this year.  Members will still need care for their own fears, help to understand the role of conscience in the Christian life, exhortations to love others who disagree with them in secondary matters, encouragements to prioritize the gathering of the church and the calling of evangelism as the Covid season continues. And these will simply be added to the normal list of ordinary Christian struggles and growth. 

Wisdom from above will certainly be needed.  How good to pastor on behalf of the One who gives generously to all without finding fault!   In the midst of our myriad of pastoral obligations, I'd like to remind us of one we easily forget: pastoral affection.   If we take our pastoral guide from the ministry of Christ and the epistles of the New Testament, then we must certainly be affectionate pastors! Below I've listed just a quick search of the English word beloved, in the ESV.  Consider how often the pastors and apostles of the New Testament communicated their love for their readers in the churches.  And as we absorb these passages, let's ask the question: How often are we saying to our congregation, "We love you."  

If we are fatigued from 2020, then surely our dear members are as well.  Let us encourage them by letting the affection of Christ flow through us to them. Pastoral affection is not unmanly, it is not superficial, it is not archaic, it is not secondary. It is essential.  Christ loves his sheep, and to shepherd for him means we must communicate affection on a regular basis.  

Let's allow these examples to motivate our affection in 2021.

Acts 15:25 - it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 

Romans 12:19 - Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”  

Romans 16:5 -Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.

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Romans 16:8 - Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.

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Romans 16:9 - Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys.

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Romans 16:12 - Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.

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1 Corinthians 4:14 - I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

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1 Corinthians 4:17 - That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.

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1 Corinthians 10:14 - Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

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1 Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

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2 Corinthians 7:1 - Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. 

2 Corinthians 12:19 -  It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved.

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Ephesians 6:21 - So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything.

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Philippians 2:12 - Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

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Philippians 4:1 - Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

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Colossians 1:7 - just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf

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Colossians 4:7 - Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.

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Colossians 4:9 - and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

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Colossians 4:14 - Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas

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2 Timothy 1:2 - To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Philemon 1 -To Philemon our beloved fellow worker

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Hebrews 6:9 - Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.

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James 1:16 - Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

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James 1:19 - Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 

James 2:5 - Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

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1 Peter 2:11 - Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

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1 Peter 4:12 - Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

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2 Peter 3:1 - This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,

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2 Peter 3:8 - But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

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2 Peter 3:14 - Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

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2 Peter 3:15 - And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,

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2 Peter 3:17 - You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

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1 John 2:7 - Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.

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1 John 3:2 - Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

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1 John 3:21 - Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

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1 John 4:1 - Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

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1 John 4:7 - Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

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1 John 4:11 - Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

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3 John 1 - The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

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3 John 2 - Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

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3 John 5 - Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are,

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3 John 11 - Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

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Jude 3 - Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

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Jude 17 - But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Jude 20 - But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

 

 

The 2020 Gospel Test

 

2020 has provided a host of cultural and personal challenges.  Churches face division over preferences and perspectives about the right way to live in a shaking culture.  Political parties are simultaneously outraged and divided. The political, medical, and economic future of our country is uncertain, except in the perfect knowledge of our Lord. 

There are many issues that require Biblical teaching in 2020.  How does the Bible address death? Or race? Or loving our neighbors? Or politics? Or economics? Or government? Or issues of conscience? Or the end times? The wise pastor will not try to address every issue that the culture is facing, but will prioritize those issues most necessary for the faithfulness of his own congregation. These are issues that do need Biblical teaching. He is a fool who will not bring God's word to bear on the most challenging cultural and personal issues of his own church members.  But the wisest pastor will, above all, be determined to keep the gospel central and prioritized. Being a gospel pastor in times when the culture is largely placid is simple, unifying, enjoyable.  2020 has tested this determination.  It is one thing to talk about Christ and him crucified when few other topics shout for our attention. It is much harder when the culture and sectors of the church are demanding that we speak to many legitimate moral and theological issues.   

Being gospel centered means that whenever we address another topic, we discuss it in terms of its theological relationship to the gospel. We are determined to view our discussion of death, or race, or love, or politics, or economics, or government from a gospel centric perspective. In other words, we refuse to make these gospel implications the central point of our teaching, such that everything we teach begins to revolve around them.   Everything is not centered around health, or love, or race, or politics, or generosity--all of those topics are centered around Christ.

We are also determined to keep the gospel prioritized, so that our passion and our greatest effort and time is given to extolling Christ and him crucified and risen.  This means, of course, that we must be self-controlled in addressing other topics, however urgent or culturally central they are at the time.  We do not ignore them, but we do not apportion to them the height of our passion or the majority of our content.  Our highest goal in preaching and teaching and leading is that our churches would know Christ and him crucified.  Our desire is that the person and work of Christ would outshine, in our ministry, every other light, even as we allow those other lights to shine in right proportion to Christ. 

Let us test ourselves, pastor brothers, by the 2020 test. Are we preaching Christ and him crucified as the first thing, even as we navigate the many other needs of our churches in this tumultuous year?  I thank God for the many brothers who are, and I pray God will give me strength to follow their example.   And wherever we have not passed the 2020 test, may we resolve with fresh dependence to keep Christ first in 2021.

Prayer and Preaching

When I begin to lack fervency in prayer for my preaching, I should only return to Psalm 19:10.   Unless people love the Word more than much fine gold, enjoy it more than an incomparable dessert, my preaching still has far to go to reveal the true value of the Word.   Reading this verse, and considering my weak efforts, I feel (more appropriately, in my case!) Lloyd Jones sad admission that he felt he had never truly preached in his life.  My the Lord anoint his word, and use this broken farmer to sow his perfect seed. 

 More to be desired are they than gold,
  even much fine gold;
 sweeter also than honey
  and drippings of the honeycomb.
(Psalm 19:10 ESV)

The Spirit and Preaching

Without the eyes of the Spirit, the preacher cannot see the truth of the Word.

Without the heart of the Spirit, the preacher cannot feel the value of the Word.

Without the passion of the Spirit, the preacher cannot long for the impact of the Word.

Without the wisdom of the Spirit the preacher cannot trace the unity of the Word

Without the guidance of the Spirit the preacher cannot summarize the point of the Word.

Without the Spirit—the Word will not be preached, but only a man’s thoughts, worthless as a mist against a mountain.

But When the Spirit moves, the mountains may be throne into the sea.

Hope for Preaching

Hope for a Biblical message does not lie in rhetorical power, or vocabulary, or theological insight, or dramatic delivery, or brilliant illustration, or effective timing, or clear organization, or pastoral experience, or even empathy and discernment in connecting to the listeners, or in the ethos of internalization and the integrity of personal application.  The only hope for the success of a message is the Spirit of God.  Without the Spirit’s work, even the diamonds of preaching will easily be swept off the porch of our listeners’ minds as accumulating verbal dust or bothersome ideological cobwebs.  Worse, the listeners may be impressed only with the preaching.  But when the Spirit moves, our words of dust convey the light of eternal glory, shining undimmed into darkened souls.   The Spirit alone can reveal the diamond treasure of the glory of Christ. 

So, let us denounce false hope or false despair in looking at our words, and cry out with desperate confidence in the Spirit of God.  

Spirit of God, speak the glory of the Word of Christ to us.

Don't Canonize Your Structure

I love strategizing church ministry structures--deciding the most effective way to apply Biblical principles in our current church situation and cultural context.  However, a danger lurks in this expression of Biblical leadership.  Pastors can sometimes decide that their ministry structure--not the goals, the principles, or the practices mandated by the Bible--but their particular church schedule or emphasis, is as Biblical as the Bible itself.  We canonize our structure. 

Here's how it works:
Teaching is crucial to the people of God. People need to hear more of God's Word.  A church that doesn't provide mutliple teaching contexts a week is being unbiblical. 

Christians of every maturity need to evangelize.  Our teenage Christians need to evangelize.  A church that doesn't prioritize evangelism in their youth ministry structure is unbiblical. 

 Christians need to grow in their study of the Word. Non Christians should not be burdened with deep Biblical studies, they need to focus on the simple gospel.  Allowing non-Christians or young Christians to attend a discipleship meetings undermines transparency and sanctification or burdens unbelievers and is therefore unbiblical.  

Christian singles have extra time and energy to focus on discipleship.  Singles should experience the full life of the church.  A singles ministry that does not provide every aspect of the christian life is unbiblical. 

God created families. The gospel is for every generation.  A Church that creates ministries focused on specific seasons of life is unbiblical. 

Of course the examples could be numerous.  The tricky part is that we might never actually verbalize the italicized conclusion, even to ourselves. But functionally, relationally, we hold that conclusion with a grip that should be reserved for the Bible itself.  For a given church, in a given time in its own history and culture, to structure their ministries in accordance with the italicized accent could just be wise, discerning leadership.  But the leaders must carefully inform their own hearts and their people of the difference between a choice of accent and a Biblical structure.  Such as...

Biblical teaching is crucial for God's people. We've chosen to accent that priority by providing multiple teaching contexts in our church schedule.

Christians of every age need to evangelize. To highlight that truth, we've chosen to accent evangelism in our youth ministry.  

Christians need to grow in their study of the Word. Non-Christians should not be burdened with deep Biblical studies, they need to focus on the simple gospel.  We've chosen to provide ministries that focus on rigorous Bible study, better for mature Christians, and others that focus on the basic truths of the faith, better for non-Christians.

Christian singles have extra time and energy to focus on discipleship.  Singles should experience the fullness of the Christian life.  We've chosen to create a singles ministry that provides many of the aspects of church life with a schedule that conforms to Singles' typical availability.

God created families. The gospel is for every generation.  We've chosen to eliminate age-specific ministries to highlight the value of families worshiping and learning together. 

Of course, a wise pastor will recognize that every ministry structure is a choice to emphasize one accent rather than another.  There may come a day when a different accent may be needed in his church and in order to reach his culture. In that moment, the pastor that differentiated between legitimate accents and canonizing his structure will find it easier to lead his church toward a transition.

It's also important to recognize that some practices do receive priority in the Bible. We should make sure that those practices receive priority in our structure.  But we should be honest with ourselves. All of us have particular burdens and gifts and our structures (and Bible references!) normally tend in those directions.  This is part of God's sovereign care for his church.  But in order to serve the next generation and the next leader in his Biblical gifts and burdens, we should distinguish between accents and the Bible. We should not canonize our structure.








 

The Shuttered Window

If only experiencing spiritual joy were as easy as opening the window shutters.

One moment the room is gloomy, the next it is cheerful and bright.  But then again,  window shutters are a good reminder that my experience of gloom is not the same experience I would have if the sun suddenly disappeared. I may feel a certain darkness inside the house of my soul, I may not even have the strength to open the shutters, but the earth is still spinning in its orbit and I have not frozen to death in the darkness of a sunless space.  The Sun is still doing its job even when my soul is shuttered. 

And God is doing his job as well, however I may be feeling today. Shine on, Lord God, and sustain us by your grace, and forgive me for how often I define you by my current feelings.