Christ’s Calling to the Church
Pastor Kevin DeYoung blogged yesterday on The Most Urgent Need in the Church. In his post, DeYoung quoted twice from Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ book Preaching and Preachers.
Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) and DeYoung
Lloyd-Jones’ first quote included:
…to me the work of preaching is the highest and greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called…. the most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching…
DeYoung responded, in part, by asking pastors:
Do believe that you have been called to the highest and greatest and most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called? Do you believe the most urgent need in the church is not for better programs or for better leadership principles, but for better preaching? Do you believe, pastor, that the best way for you to serve the world is to study yourself full every week and preach yourself empty every Sunday?
The Controversy
Many people commented that they thought it was a tad arrogant for two pastors (Lloyd-Jones and DeYoung) to claim that their calling was somehow greater than the calling to any “non-pastor.” While the wording could cause people to interpret the quotes in that way, knowing the ministry and writing of Lloyd-Jones and DeYoung, I assume they were simply saying, “The greatest calling of the pastor is to preach the Word.”
I had a different disagreement with DeYoung and Lloyd-Jones. I think they erred in their summary of the pastor’s highest calling.
The Pastor’s Personal-Life Highest Calling: Matthew 22:35-40
While I doubt that DeYoung and Lloyd Jones would disagree with the following, I think it is a vital clarification. Pastors are, first and foremost, Christians with the same highest calling of every Christian. Jesus clearly states the highest calling of every person.
One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Emphasizing what Jesus emphasized might have taken the tension out of the blog post. It would have clarified that every Christian shares the same highest calling: loving God and loving others.
The Pastor’s Ministry Highest Calling: Ephesians 4:11-16
Lloyd-Jones’ second quote attempts to address the pastor’s ministry highest calling. In part, he says:
We are here to preach this Word, this is the first thing, ‘We will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word.’ Now there are the priorities laid down once and for ever. This is the primary task of the Church, the primary task of the leaders of the Church, the people who are sit in this position of authority…
Many pastors take the calling of the Apostles to be their primary calling (Acts 6:4). Certainly, Paul repeats the message that prayer and preaching are two vital responsibilities of pastors (1 Timothy 2:1; 2 Timothy 4:2). However, in Ephesians 4:11-16, Paul presents Christ’s grand vision for His Church—including the pastor-teacher’s highest calling.
The Résumé of Pastors
Here’s how I summarize the calling of pastors in my upcoming book Equipping Counselors for Your Church (http://bit.ly/dJFGj).
In Ephesians 4:11-16, the Apostle Paul highlights the Bible’s most powerful, focused vision statement for the Church. This passage offers God’s ministry description for church leaders and for every member. By distilling the essence of God’s call, His vision captures our imagination and motivates the shift in ministry mindset that changes everything.
Most pastoral search committees would be thrilled to read a candidate’s résumé that demonstrated the ability to preach, counsel, and administrate. Most seminaries would be delighted if graduate exit interviews indicated that pastoral ministry students perceived that their seminary training equipped them for preaching, counseling, and administrating. Being equipped to do the work of the ministry seems to be everyone’s ideal goal for church leaders.
Everyone but Christ. His pastoral ministry description demands the ability to equip others to do the work of the ministry. If seminaries followed Christ’s vision for pastoral ministry, they would focus on training trainers. If pastoral search committees desired in a pastor what Christ desires, they would throw out every résumé that failed to emphasize experience in and passion for equipping the saints.
Under the Spirit’s inspiration, Paul launches verse 12 with a tiny Greek word (pros) translated by an even smaller English word (“to”) with giant meaning: with the conscious purpose of, in order for, for the sake of, with a view to. The word indicates the future aim and ultimate goal of a current action. That is, by definition, a vision statement—Christ’s grand vision statement for every pastor/teacher.
What is the future view, the future vision to which Christ sovereignly gave His Church pastors and teachers? Paul says it succinctly: “To prepare God’s people for works of service.” These eight words must be every church leader’s reason for existence.
One central word—“prepare”—must capture every leader’s passion for ministry. “Prepare” comes from the word for artist, craftsman. Local church leader—your special craft, your opus is people, equipped people, disciple-makers. Your spiritual craft or gift is to help others to scout out their spiritual gift, identify that area of ministry, and empower them to use that gift.
In Paul’s day, people commonly used “prepare” in the context of conditioning an athlete.
Local church leader—you are a spiritual conditioning coach. Your job is not to play all the positions on the team, but to coach every player on the team, to strengthen their spiritual condition so they are able to do works of service. This fits perfectly with how Paul uses the word prepare—to train someone so they are fully fit and mature enough to complete their calling. The leader’s calling is to help God’s people to fulfill their calling.
These weren’t just words for Paul. He made making disciple-makers his personal ministry description—Colossians 1:28-29. He made equipping equippers his personal ministry practice—Acts 20:13-38. Christ’s grand vision so captured Paul’s ministry mindset that at the end of his life he passed onto Timothy the vision of equipping equippers of equippers—2 Timothy 2:2. The baton of equipping passed from Christ’s hands, to Paul’s hands, to Timothy’s hands, to the hands of reliable disciple-makers who passed it on yet again.
Let’s not drop the baton. Let’s keep Christ’s grand vision alive and moving into the future.
Yes, But
I continue in Equipping Counselors for Your Church by responding to the inevitable “yes, but.”
Some may ask, “Are you saying that pastors should not preach the Word, counsel, and administrate?” Not at all. Christ, the Head of the Church, has written the primary ministry description for all pastors. Pastors should equip equippers for the work of the ministry. Within this overriding calling, pastors preach, counsel, and administrate.
When I was Sr. Pastor, every time I preached, I asked myself, “How does this message further my calling to be a catalyst for equipping the saints for the work of ministry?” As a player-coach, when I counseled, I had trainees in the room with me. When I visited the hospital, I took apprentices with me. My goal wasn’t to be the church’s primary care-giver, but to equip a church of care-givers. In my administrative role, I sought to oversee the equipping of every member. Yes, I preached, counseled, and administrated—always within the context of Christ’s grand vision for the Church—the pastor as the equipper of equippers.
The Rest of the Story
In tomorrow’s post, I’ll further develop the highest calling of the people of God according to Ephesians 4:11-16.
Join the Conversation
What do you think the Bible says is the pastor’s highest calling?
