I related this anecdote many times. In November of 2008 our dog Special died suddenly. Looking for something to occupy my mind....and having no idea of blog posts or anything like that....I started writing here....the day before Thanksgiving. It is almost fifteen years and this is the 3000th post. Many have been repeated but even there I usually add a preface. So I have been waiting for this opportunity and pondering what to say....and here it is....
To any pastors who may read this: Some may stumble across it....others may have had it brought to their attention and came here in order to prepare a rebuke....and yet others may have had it recommended to them.The thought only occasionally flashes through my mind....and I immediately dispel it....not because it is a horrible thought....but because one has to be very careful in something like this. I put myself in a pulpit....somewhere....anywhere....never anywhere specific....such has been my desire for people to hear preaching as men of the past once preached.....even if I had to do it....this since so few others are feeding the sheep! Now I could not do what I imagine at these times. God had not called me to this....and for good reason. These men in the pulpits that I'm referring to have skills....but that's not the problem. The problem is the lack of unction and the passion to save souls.
They may have fifty people in their congregation....or they may have thousands....but if they only had ten they should be on their knees throughout the week for the awesome responsibility of ten souls put under their care! After forty years of observing....more than observing actually for I do a fair amount of research in this area....the vast majority of these men preach like it is just a job. They may have pulled anecdotes out of a book....or they may even have vivid imaginations themselves.....and their voice may be strong.....and their language and vocabulary eloquent....but their sermons are no more helpful in the life of their hearers than a loudspeaker announcing what train track to go to.
This is the human condition. It may be....and has been....times too many to list....that a general in time of war has had no ability to lead men. Now that general may be in a great sweat over concern for his men....or he may not. He may function well in times of peace....but lead men to their deaths in times of war. Well to the pastor....we are never in a time of peace....and the moment that we think we are we are taken by surprise by the enemy. There is a difference between peace....and returning to the rear for a needed rest.
Pastors used mightily by God often if not all the time pay a dear price. Luther and Bunyan and Calvin and the many of the Puritans and Edwards and Whitefield and Spurgeon and Machen....all paid dearly....usually in their health. Jeremiah was rejected by his family and his friends throughout his entire life! One might think that Billy Graham did not pay such a price but that is not the case as he labored for decades watching our nation sink into idolatry....while knowing that judgment was coming. Surely his last years were full of sadness for our recalcitrance. R. C. Sproul paid a price. MacArthur is paying it right now. Piper does not show it but in his faithfulness he might be taking a huge toll that we do not see. The finest preacher that I had ever heard in person....never pastored to more than a few dozen people. I know preachers today who preach wonderfully the glories of Christ but always seem to have a foot out the door of their congregations.
These men in the pulpits today need to be very careful not too think highly of themselves....and never to be satisfied. I could rightfully send a text every week telling my pastor how his sermon wonderfully magnified our glorious Savior but I do not do it....although I do it occasionally.....for these men do not need constant praise....that can be quicksand....but they do need constant encouragement....and supporting prayer
So to these men who for whatever reason are here....if God has called you....then He has called you to give everything. Sheep are literally dying all around you....probably in your pews. Rush to God and plead for the courage and the strength and the wisdom and unction to save them!
If indeed a ministry was given to you then along with it came great responsibility. You might be able to fend off my words but every minute on this earth brings you closer to accountability. What gives me the right to say these things to you? Well....God may be demonstrating to you right now that He will call the most unlikely to advise you....simply to test your humility.
You will need grace for this....so go to the men who God has given oceans of grace to dispense through their preaching. Pray to God that you might glean from them....for that is probably what they themselves did at one time. Spurgeon....the Prince of Preachers....read John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress one hundred times in his life of 57 years....and while ministering not only to thousands in his church but tens of thousand in England and even more around the world!
Lest you think that I think myself better than you.....consider this....God has given to you what I wish that He had given to me....but you are the one....that He has called to preach....and I hope and pray it is so. Buck up and receive this blessing as God meant it to be received. Hold on to the robe of Jesus until He heals you! Climb the tree if necessary to hear Spurgeon or Ryle or Lloyd-Jones preach!
