“This is one of the great challenges of pastoral ministry, and therefore, of preaching too.  We need to grow in sensitivity to the people we care for, and we need to grow in discernment too.  Some of us will tend toward a harshness with others that will bruise and harm many of the sheep.  Some... Continue Reading

“Baptizing yourself is silly. And going to the nations without the support of a local church is a little like baptizing yourself. Being a self-proclaimed lone-ranger missionary is as ridiculous and arrogant as baptizing yourself.”   Recently, I felt a burden in my heart for an unreached people group in the Middle East. So I went and visited.... Continue Reading

One resource for understanding this distinction is in Samuel Miller’s book The Ruling Elder. In the tenth chapter, “The Distinction between the Office of Ruling Elder and Deacon,” Miller develops the biblical and historical foundation of the two offices and their differences. He then summarizes his conclusions at the end of the chapter.

We laugh at the absurdity but evangelical and Reformed folk should not think that it cannot happen to us. We are not any less gullible than those fourth-century Christians who began to look for relics. One of the reasons Reformed folk leave Geneva, as it were, for Alexandria and Rome is for a sense of connection to the past. I have heard “evangelical” radio preachers hawk faux relics on the radio. There is a market for these things. I recall one notorious preacher selling coins “like they put on Jesus’ eyes” and “bowls like they ate out of at the last supper.” Do you think that if a leading evangelical scholar returned from “the holy land” with a certified relic of our Lord’s or of the apostles that evangelicals would not set up a display to admire it? How long before admiration turned to veneration?

“It’s come to our attention that last week when one of our dear sisters was visiting in your home she noticed your children were playing games on computer tablets. You know that sister doesn’t like nosing around, but she knows that they are fairly pricey.”   I have thought a long time about whether I... Continue Reading

“Dear Christian, if you believe, if you have professed faith before the elders in a congregation with the marks of the true church, if you know the greatness of your sin and misery and are trusting alone in Christ for your righteousness, come to the table.”   Who are to come to the table of... Continue Reading

“When someone does something to hurt us, we should pray that God would grant him repentance, give him the same grace we need and make him fruitful. It is a mark of humility when we do so. After all, that is what we should want others to pray for us if we were the offending party.”... Continue Reading

Rather than testify of any worthiness in the recipient, the Lord’s Supper testified of the sole sufficiency of Christ: "we present ourselves to this his Table … to declare and witness before the world that by him alone we have received liberty and life; that by him alone thou dost acknowledge us thy children and heirs; that by him alone we have entrance to the throne of thy grace; that by him alone we are possessed in our spiritual kingdom, to eat and drink at his Table…" (Works, 4:195). Thus, the Lord’s Table is not first or last about any individual, but about the sole sufficiency of Christ, and the wonder of his saving work.

But these examples do not exhaust what the Bible means by “pastoral ministry.” We should not let the soft virtues of pastoral care eclipse the hard virtues so that a “pastoral approach” becomes synonymous with inoffensive, therapeutic, and comforting. We don’t want to think of “pastoral” as what we do when we avoid being preachy and theological. Pastors must be patient and kind, but “pastoral” is not another way of saying nice guy.

In contrast to such an approach to baptism, evangelicals of all stripes insist that those who have had a spiritual experience and have come to Christ in repentance and faith must enter their waters. By virtue of that, Evangelical churches have more adult baptisms than Reformed Churches. This is, of course, nothing new. This is the Anabaptist way. The fanatics (as Calvin called them) were doing the same during the Reformation as they are doing in our day. By the looks of things, they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.