Does the typical Christian pastor come to a point in his life when everything important is essentially learned so that he can therefore pastor and preach for the rest of his ministry with the skills that he accumulated up to that point? You may want to think about this for it's not as easy a question as it might at first seem.
Just about every pastor is going to answer this question in the negative but that doesn't mean that it would be an honest answer for no one would readily admit to coming to such a point in ministry. So they will say that they must continue to learn and study. The question then must be fine-tuned a little bit. What exactly is continuing to learn and study?
I would think that most professions offer some sort of continuing education to keep skills up to date. In most cases this might be taking a couple of classes or seminars every few years. Is this what our pastors consider continuing to learn and to study. I obviously think that it is or I wouldn't be posting on this topic nor would so many of my past posts have mentioned a Christian clergy that has fallen asleep in a tempest of biblical (no pun intended) proportions.
I know this for certain....we....simple everyday Christians....are afforded no such luxury.....we aren't granted tenure so that we can teach one class a semester and but get every benefit of full professorship until we retire.
So if we are in a position where we must learn and grow or wither and die as the years pass....why would our shepherds be any different? One would think that they would study even more than we do because-one....they will be held responsible for how they shepherded the sheep.....and-two, the rewards of seeing something new in the Bible every year if not every month for an entire lifetime even if that lifetime exceeds 100 years are of almost indescribable joy......surely the would not only know this but pass it on to their flock.
Let me use as an example here Reformed or Calvinist theology in Presbyterian or Baptist denominations. There are many examples I'm sure but I only picked one.....Presbyterian pastor and teacher R. C. Sproul. I could use Baptist pastor and teacher John MacArthur or any one of a number of others. R. C. Sproul has been teaching consistently for I don't know how many decades....maybe four. This is one of those whom God has gifted mightily! Do Presbyterian pastors devour anything and everything thing that he puts out? We do.....are pastors any less needy? Do pastors wear the pages out on Pilgrim's Progress or Spurgeon's sermons? Spurgeon himself read Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress 100 times in his relatively short life! I've read it a dozen or more times. Are pastors exempt from needing the works of these men?
As I was raised in Roman Catholicism I had to be aware of the sacrament of Extreme Unction....we all did. I knew what the sacrament was but had no idea how the word 'unction' tied into it. I understand the meaning of the word today...particularly Merriam-Webster's third definition of it...."religious or spiritual fervor..." Where has the unction gone from our pulpits? Where are the tears? Where is the pleading? Where are the sermons such as Jonathan Edwards Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God? Where has Whitefield gone? Where has Spurgeon gone? Billy Graham is 98 years old and his unction, as he expressed it in his latest and what will be his last book Where I Am....Billy Graham's unction has somehow increased over the years!
I know that these faithful pastors are far better men than I.... who love our Lord so much that they sacrificed lucrative professions to minister in the gospel. They are who God called....and it is they who God is most definitely calling once again.....to rejuvenate that love into an unquenchable unction! Pray for your pastors. How often have I written that? For....once again.....we Christians need prayer......I'm sure they are praying for me....those who read this.....for my ears are ringing.....so why would they not need even more prayer for strength and wisdom?
Just about every pastor is going to answer this question in the negative but that doesn't mean that it would be an honest answer for no one would readily admit to coming to such a point in ministry. So they will say that they must continue to learn and study. The question then must be fine-tuned a little bit. What exactly is continuing to learn and study?
I would think that most professions offer some sort of continuing education to keep skills up to date. In most cases this might be taking a couple of classes or seminars every few years. Is this what our pastors consider continuing to learn and to study. I obviously think that it is or I wouldn't be posting on this topic nor would so many of my past posts have mentioned a Christian clergy that has fallen asleep in a tempest of biblical (no pun intended) proportions.
I know this for certain....we....simple everyday Christians....are afforded no such luxury.....we aren't granted tenure so that we can teach one class a semester and but get every benefit of full professorship until we retire.
So if we are in a position where we must learn and grow or wither and die as the years pass....why would our shepherds be any different? One would think that they would study even more than we do because-one....they will be held responsible for how they shepherded the sheep.....and-two, the rewards of seeing something new in the Bible every year if not every month for an entire lifetime even if that lifetime exceeds 100 years are of almost indescribable joy......surely the would not only know this but pass it on to their flock.
Let me use as an example here Reformed or Calvinist theology in Presbyterian or Baptist denominations. There are many examples I'm sure but I only picked one.....Presbyterian pastor and teacher R. C. Sproul. I could use Baptist pastor and teacher John MacArthur or any one of a number of others. R. C. Sproul has been teaching consistently for I don't know how many decades....maybe four. This is one of those whom God has gifted mightily! Do Presbyterian pastors devour anything and everything thing that he puts out? We do.....are pastors any less needy? Do pastors wear the pages out on Pilgrim's Progress or Spurgeon's sermons? Spurgeon himself read Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress 100 times in his relatively short life! I've read it a dozen or more times. Are pastors exempt from needing the works of these men?
As I was raised in Roman Catholicism I had to be aware of the sacrament of Extreme Unction....we all did. I knew what the sacrament was but had no idea how the word 'unction' tied into it. I understand the meaning of the word today...particularly Merriam-Webster's third definition of it...."religious or spiritual fervor..." Where has the unction gone from our pulpits? Where are the tears? Where is the pleading? Where are the sermons such as Jonathan Edwards Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God? Where has Whitefield gone? Where has Spurgeon gone? Billy Graham is 98 years old and his unction, as he expressed it in his latest and what will be his last book Where I Am....Billy Graham's unction has somehow increased over the years!
I know that these faithful pastors are far better men than I.... who love our Lord so much that they sacrificed lucrative professions to minister in the gospel. They are who God called....and it is they who God is most definitely calling once again.....to rejuvenate that love into an unquenchable unction! Pray for your pastors. How often have I written that? For....once again.....we Christians need prayer......I'm sure they are praying for me....those who read this.....for my ears are ringing.....so why would they not need even more prayer for strength and wisdom?
