Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 190

Did Jesus have a sin nature?

First, we need to define sin nature. The “nature” of a person or object is commonly thought of as its essential qualities or attributes; that which makes it what it is. Therefore if something has a “sin nature” sin is a defining attribute of that thing.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us Jesus is “without sin.” Since He is without sin, sin cannot be one of His essential qualities or attributes. You cannot have a sin nature, and be without sin. Christ’s nature is not sinful. Hebrews also tells us about Jesus’ pure nature. He is “holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26).

Part of the misunderstanding is that a human nature is synonymous with a sin nature, or that one must have a sin nature to be genuinely tempted. Both points are wrong. The proof is Adam was fully human, and though he had no sin nature he was genuinely tempted. So the Last Adam, Jesus, had no sin nature and was genuinely tempted, the difference being that Adam sinned and Jesus didn’t.

There have always been cults, such as the Christadelphians, that teach Jesus had a sin nature. However, some mainstream Christians see the sin nature of Jesus as necessary because He was “like us in every respect,” a “real man” and “tempted in all ways like us,” as Hebrews says (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15). So how could these verses be true if He didn’t have a sin nature?

Some argue that the sin nature is passed on to a child through the father, not the mother. They point out that we are all said to have sinned in Adam, not in Eve (Romans 5:12), even though Eve sinned first. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes: one member of each pair inherited from the mother and the other from the father. This suggests that when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary (Luke 1:35), and Jesus was conceived in His mother, God miraculously supplied the other 23 chromosomes to make the matched pair with Mary’s. These would normally have come from a human father.

If it is true that the sin nature is passed on by the father (there is no biblical proof of this, it is only a supposition based on the human race sinning in Adam), in the case of Jesus there was no human father to pass it on. This might be (we can’t be sure, but it’s possible) what allowed Him to be the only human being conceived since Adam and Eve’s fall not to have a sin nature.

Theologian Bruce Ware argues for this position:

Notice, it is the sins of the fathers visited upon the third and fourth generation. Notice, when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, Eve sinned first and Adam is held accountable for it. And notice the virgin birth of Christ. This accomplishes, in my judgment, at least two things. One, he was fully God and fully man. So the Holy Spirit took the place of a human father and brought about this conception so that the one born would be called the Son of God (Lk 1:35). The second thing was, it prevented the sinful line of Adam from being passed on from the father. Every other human being born, you and me included, had a dad; at least at the point of conception there was a human father involved and sin is passed on. Not with Christ; there was no human father.

Karl Barth taught that Jesus had a FALLEN nature, as all people do, but not a SIN nature. But that’s a distinction hard to make. Obviously He lived under many of the effects of the Fall, including stress and suffering and mortality, but that’s not the same as having a fallen nature.

This is a good article about the extent of Jesus’ humanity.

Note from Randy: Julia doesn’t think there is a strong biblical argument for the idea that the sin nature is passed on through the father. I asked her to explain why, and she makes some very good points to consider. Here’s what she says:

I don’t believe this view is correct for a couple reasons. First, there’s no biblical evidence that male chromosomes are especially sinful or are the source of sin nature while female chromosomes are not. Would not then a woman born of a man only have tainted DNA to pass on? Or is it that females have sin in our entire DNA except our gametes? And how would that DNA be protected or separated from the sinful DNA? Isn’t it all just very odd? Sin isn’t a physical trait; it’s a spiritual state. And then there’s the question of female cloning (a cloned female would be sinless? Or is there sin nature in female chromosomes after all?) Not to mention the difficulties in defining “male” in light of sex chromosomal disorders/mutations, hermaphrodites, etc.

Romans 5:12 doesn’t answer how sin spread from one man to the rest of humanity, just that it did. I believe that being in Adam’s family (i.e. human) is what causes death to be passed on to all – fallen men and women beget fallen men and women. A few verses later Romans 5:18 makes the same point in a different way, explaining the spread of sin like a much more instantaneous state-of-all-humanity event (by one trespass all people are in condemnation) as opposed to the continual seeding of sin by fathers into humanity (see also 1 Cor. 15:21-22). Also, Ephesians 2:3 says we were all by nature children of wrath, not by our “father’s nature.” Granted, this is an argument from silence, but it makes the point that believing sin is passed through the father is foreign to Scripture. Additionally, there is no Scripture pointing to the virgin birth as an explanation of Jesus’ sinlessness. He’s not sinless because He was born of a virgin; He’s sinless because He’s the God-man.

The virgin birth shows us the beauty of God taking the initiative of incarnating Himself as the means of salvation for mankind; it’s the beginning of Jesus’ earthly life that would culminate in overcoming death and defeating sin while being like us in every respect.

Though nothing in Scripture proves the “sin is from the father” theory explicitly wrong, there is equally nothing in Scripture proving it right, and I feel fine not believing in something the Bible doesn’t teach, especially when it doesn’t really make sense.

         

Related Resources

Blog: Sinless Perfectionism: Are we no longer capable of sinning as Christians?
Resource: What Would Jesus Do…Or What DID Jesus Do?

Background stock photo credit: Cernasite via sxc.hu

Biola University President Apologizes to Prolife Student and Takes a Stand

Some of you are aware of the events at Biola University in May. A fourth year nursing school student, Diana Jimenez, became aware of the truth about abortion, and was so moved and convicted that she sensed God’s leading to publicly display photos of aborted babies on Biola’s campus.

After she refused to stop displaying the photos, a campus security guard threatened to have her arrested, and this was caught on video. Subsequently, the director of the nursing program ordered her staff not to write letters of recommendation on Diana’s behalf, something which would likely stop her nursing career dead in its tracks.

Because of my love for Biola, where I spoke for a week last year, and my respect for Biola’s president Barry Corey, I contacted him in June. No doubt, many others did as well, some expressing similar and others radically different opinions than mine.

Knowing his heart from when I spent time with him, I wrote Barry a lengthy letter in which I shared arguments for students at a Christian university to be able to publicly display photos of aborted children without retaliation. If anything, such students, and a future nurse in particular, should be commended for being willing to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8-9).

I wrote about American college presidents who were outspoken about the injustices of slavery, and who God used to inspire students and faculty to help rescue slaves through the Underground Railroad. I told him that I believe pastors and Christian leaders and college administrators and faculty need to lead the way in encouraging our young people to come to grips with and boldly confront the harsh and sickening reality of what abortion really is. I provided a link to a website started by young people, dedicated to not only telling but also showing their own generation, college students included, the truth about abortion.

I also told Barry, and want to tell readers of this blog, that I believed this had happened at Biola in the providence of God, since at most “Christian” universities a small percentage of the administration, faculties or students are prolife in any meaningful sense. Indeed, as unthinkable as it is from a biblical perspective, many of them favor abortion rights, which means the “right” to kill children before they are born. (I know this firsthand. I have spoken on some of their campuses and had the conversations.)

Without any defensiveness, Barry Corey graciously read and took the time to give a heartfelt and lengthy response to my letter. It’s not for me to publish his response, but I can say that I deeply appreciated what he had to say.  

I could only rejoice when I received a public letter regarding this issue, one posted on the Biola website, written by Barry on August 20. Even though he wasn’t involved in the incident or that misguided letter to the nursing faculty, he apologized personally to Diana Jimenez on behalf of the university and apologized publicly as well.

For a summary of the events at Biola, and key quotes from Barry Corey’s letter, I highly recommend this excellent blog by Jill Stanek (thanks, Jill), which details some other very significant things I haven’t said:

Biola president Dr. Barry Corey, pictured right, has issued a public letter of apology for retaliatory actions staff members of his Christian university took against pro-life student Diana Jimenez in June for showing graphic images of abortion on campus:

For actions on our part that were perceived to be heavy-handed and retaliatory, I have apologized to her and stand by this apology publicly. I acknowledge and regret our errors, and steps have been taken to correct them….

In so many ways, Diana is the kind of student with the deep Christian convictions I hoped to see when I came to Biola six years ago. In her convictions about saving the unborn, she represents what Biola is about—the desire to speak up against injustices that break the heart of God. Like Diana, Biola is and has been passionately pro-life.

A campus security guard was caught on video threatening to have Jimenez arrested, and the director of the nursing program, Dr. Susan Elliott, ordered her staff not to write letters of recommendation on Jimenez’s behalf.

Going a step further, Dr. Corey outlined in his letter a plan to educate all Biola students via the student newspaper, chapel services, and public displays on campus about the importance of showing the graphic reality of abortion.

In addition, Dr. Corey and his staff are working to ensure all Biola curricula is infused with pro-life teaching:

This year we are accelerating our work and adding leadership to our academic team for the specific purpose of making sure our stated values and theological convictions are evident in our curriculum and learning outcomes and of making changes where we see learning outcomes are not evident. This relates to the sanctity of life, as it is one of our six theological distinctives. We desire that each student graduating from Biola understands and can articulate the biblical message of the sanctity of human life, so that students demonstrate these values in their own communities….

We have begun to consider additional ways to emphasize the tragedy and trauma of abortion so that our students not only embrace the convictions those like Diana champion but also understand there’s help for them in times when they need it.

Dr. Corey’s letter brought tears to my eyes. It is a beautiful Christian example of how to respond when error is recognized and forgiveness and repentance are sought.

For the past seven weeks pro-life leaders John Ensor, M.Div., President, Passion Life Ministries; Scott Klusendorf, M.A., President, Life Training Institute; and Marc Newman, Ph.D., President, Speaker for Life – two of whom are Biola graduates – have been working with Biola to craft a better pro-life policy. As they wrote in a press release today:

Ultimately, the problem at Biola was not about the university’s statement of faith regarding the sanctity of human life. The real problem at Biola was that a fourth-year nursing student could complete that program, yet remain totally unaware of the grisly reality of abortion or the persuasive arguments that support a pro-life perspective. It took exposure to those images, displayed at a student-sponsored pro-life event which drew only a handful of participants, to awaken her to the need to rouse her fellow students to action. And if Diana’s ignorance of abortion was typical in Nursing, what about students in Music, Communication, English, or Biblical Studies?

The trio is hoping to work with Biola and other Christian universities on a larger plan:

We would like to see Biola, and other like-minded universities, take a further step to integrate an inter-disciplinary minor in Applied Bioethics to further equip and professionalize the next generation of pro-life advocates and ministry partners. Such a move takes time, but we are willing to work with Biola – or any interested Christian university – to create and implement such a minor. In fact, we already have a curriculum outlined.

I commend Dr. Corey and Biola for their examples of Christian maturity and the leadership role they are embarking upon among Christian institutions of high learning to stop the atrocity of abortion. I concur with Ensor, Klusendorf, and Newman:

Because of these extraordinary and unprecedented steps, we believe Biola deserves the whole-hearted support of the pro-life community. Few Christian universities take their Biblical convictions concerning life as seriously as does Biola. It is our fervent hope that these collective actions of confession and repentance will prove to anyone with doubts that Biola is a champion for Life. We ask for prayer and for reconciliation between Biola and the wider pro-life community. Our prayer is that God would empower us with a spirit of grace as we seek to work together toward our true task: to save the lives of unborn children created in the image of the God we serve.

One final note, according to the pro-life groups’ press release, several weeks ago the Biola administration overturned nursing Elliott’s directive.

I am also told Dr. Elliott has retired.

         

Related Resources

Blog: Biola University: A Place for Students to Nurture Their Faith
Blog: The Evidence Doesn't Lie: The Unborn Are Children
Book: Why ProLife?

 

How has God used stress in your life?

Nanci and I have definitely seen God use stress in our life. In this video, I share more:

Not that we wished for stress, because we never did. It came anyway. Certainly there was the stress of raising young children. We had two well-behaved little girls. But were they a handful? Sure, at times. You know how kids are. :) There’s the normal kind of stresses in life.

We found ourselves facing some things like my becoming an insulin-dependent diabetic. I have a disease that at times can have fairly serious symptoms. We’ve been able to live a normal life, but certainly there’s stress involved.

We had the stress related to my taking a stand on the abortion issue, in peaceful, non-violent disobedience at abortion clinics. I had the stress of seeing my picture on the front page of the Sunday Oregonian. Everybody was asking me, “What are you doing out there? You stand there with a Bible, and you’re reading outside of an abortion clinic?” I’ve had the stress of major lawsuits, and the stress of going to jail for a few days, being arrested seven times or so.

Those things took a toll on us. On the other hand, we really learned from them to say, “You know what? This is life in a world under the curse. One day this world will be delivered from the curse.” But it helped us to know that God has called us to do some things in life, and not all of them are going to be popular or easy.

Some of the things that have created stress are things that we’ve chosen, and we felt God’s leading to do so. Other stressful things God has brought into our lives or allowed into our lives (or whatever terminology you want to use). The fact is, God is sovereign and has a purpose and an intention. He has used those things to bring about perseverance and character-growth, to help us learn joy, love, and dedication to our family and ministry.

One of the stresses that Nanci and I found was the number of people who really questioned the choices that we made related to intervening for the unborn, even people at our own church. Some were wonderfully supportive; others felt we were doing the wrong thing. We learned that some of the stresses in life come from doing what’s unpopular. But at the end of the day, we had to practice what Peter wrote about—entrusting ourselves to a faithful Creator who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23). We had to say, let’s live our lives in the sight of the Audience of One and seek to please Him.

Realize that stresses can come. But in the end, God will use them to bring us into conformity to the image of Christ. God will also bring great good out of them—and in fact, Nanci and I can testify that He has brought great good out of the stresses in our own lives.

         

Related Resources

Blog: Trials, Trust and Growing Christ-like Character
Resource: How God Uses Stress for Our Good and His Glory
Book: Help for Women Under Stress

Photo credit: ajmac via sxc.hu

Randy’s Novel Dominion, Background Research, and a Story

Randy’s second novel, Dominion, came as a semi-sequel to his very first, Deadline. The book allowed Randy to tackle the issues of racism and reconciliation as seen through the eyes of the African-American main character, Clarence Abernathy.

At 603 pages, it’s also one of his longer books and required an incredible amount of background research. Randy spent a lot of time with black men and women, relying heavily on their personal accounts and paying particular attention to the recurring stories he heard from them. He used thousands of notecards to jot down thoughts and ideas about the book. He also read at least 60 books by and about African Americans. Randy writes, “I asked God to give me insight, as it was way beyond me as a suburban white to write with a black viewpoint character. Very difficult, but very rewarding—hope I never forget what I learned.”

In this video, he shares more:

When asked about what kind of response he’s received from the African-American community, Randy said, “I've found some are surprised to find out I'm actually white. One man wrote to me just to confirm that I was black, because he’d placed a bet on it! Then he wrote me back an hour later, before I’d been able to respond and said ‘Never mind, I checked on your website and saw your picture. You cost me fifty bucks!’” (Several years ago EPM was sent a copy of the bookmark partially pictured here, which lists African American Christian Authors. At the top of the alphabetical list was Randy’s name, mistakenly included.)

While Randy was writing Dominion, several people gathered together more than once to pray not only for Randy’s strength and perseverance but also for the eternal impact it would have on people’s lives. God has faithfully answered those prayers hundreds and thousands of times over. Here’s a recent story we received:

Years ago, I was looking for garage sales as a last chance to stock up on books for the winter. I stopped at a house and scanned. There didn’t seem to be any books. As I was heading back to the car, I spotted a large thick trade paperback that had obviously been read by more than one person, titled Dominion. I don't buy romances and this didn't look like one so I bought it without even determining what it was about. Later, I picked it up to determine its genre and quickly saw that the story was based here or at least started in Gresham. I grew up in Portland so I just started to read still not knowing anything about the book. Not my normal MO. I became more and more deeply involved in a very short time. I fell in love with Clarence, Jake and Ollie. Obadiah, however, opened a new door for me and whupped me upside the head with a cast-iron frying pan. I gave myself to Jesus right then and there. I have since read the other two and am anxiously waiting to see Ollie converted. He is my second favorite character after Obadiah. I have since read countless of Randy's books including Heaven, Safely Home and Courageous. I've given them as gifts to friends and family. 

In short, Jesus tapped me on the shoulder through Dominion and I am so very grateful. —K.H.

Stephanie
Eternal Perspective Ministries

This week, Dominion is part of our Ahh-gust Staff Picks (sale price $7.49, retail $16.99). EPM staff member Doreen writes, "Dominion opened my eyes to racial issues in a way I couldn't ignore and still think about years later."

All our staff picks are available at the discounted pricing until Friday, August 23, 11:59 p.m. PT. See more books.

 

What is the doctrine of immutability?

In this video and the following transcript, I discuss the question what’s the doctrine of immutability and why is it important?

Immutability, referring to God, means He does not change. He never changes. This is clearly taught in Scripture. You see it in Malachi 3:6, where He says, “I the Lord do not change.” We also see it in James 1:17 where it says, “the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” I think in both cases, part of the reason the Lord said it is to tell us, “You can count on Me. You can believe in my promises.”

Suppose we believe that God is a god of love. Well, what if He changes? He used to be a god of love. Maybe He no longer is. Some people think that way. They say, “I think God used to love me. But He no longer does.” What if God used to be all-powerful and sovereign, but some day He becomes no longer sovereign?

So in some ways, the doctrine of immutability and changeability, when it comes to God, is basic to all other doctrines. Because for them to be true, but not always true, would mean we couldn’t count on them. The fact that I can depend on God, as He is, to never change is so important.

Aren’t there examples in the Bible where God does change?

Yes. You have the passages in the King James Version and some other versions where it says that God “repented of what He was going to do.” We can ask, “God repented”? As humans we associate repentance with sin. So that’s not a good word, because it does appear to be saying God changed His mind. But God was being consistent with His promise and with His law.

For instance, God says, “I will bless you” in the book of Deuteronomy. And He also says, “I will curse you.” He says He will bless you if you do this, and curse you if you do this. So, when God intends to bring blessing on people, that’s if they honor Him. But when they choose to do the wrong thing, then He brings curses on them. It appears that God changed His mind—He was going to bless them, now He’s cursing them. But in reality God was consistent with His nature all along. He’s doing what He said He was going to do, and the human being is the one who changed and needs to repent.

         

Related Resources

Blog: Is Love God's Defining Attribute?
Resource: Knowing God by J. I. Packer, Chapter 1
Book: 90 Days of God's Goodness

photo credit: Neal. via photopin cc

Proof of Heaven and the Dangerous Downward Spiral of My-Visit-to-Heaven Books

Dr. Eben Alexander’s Proof of Heaven has now been on the New York Times Bestseller List for 41 weeks and is estimated to have sold over two million copies. With a lot of discussion going on about the book, and after being asked several times what I thought of it, it seemed time to blog about it.

My first thought is that it appears Christians have become increasingly gullible and accepting of these personal accounts of near death experiences. First came books by believing evangelicals with mostly good theology (Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven and Todd Burpo’s To Heaven and Back), then came books by evangelicals with some good theology but some very bad as well (Mary Neal’s To Heaven and Back). In my opinion, people have now been set up to believe books with utterly bad theology (such as Dr. Alexander’s Proof of Heaven).

Not only is the theology bad, but others are now coming forward contradicting Alexander’s account of what happened in the hospital. It’s mostly small things, like what the weather was that week and that it’d be impossible for Alexander to cry out “God help me” since there was a tube down his throat. But, significantly, Dr. Alexander didn’t slip into a coma void of brain activity due to meningitis, but was in a medically induced coma where his brain retained consciousness. So, there is no compelling reason to believe it was anything more than a powerful and vivid dream.

In Alexander’s account, he describes being given the “universal wisdom”:

“You are loved and cherished, dearly, forever.”
“You have nothing to fear.”
“There is nothing you can do wrong.”

Contrary to this, in Scripture we are told:

Though God loves the world (John 3:16) he also hates the wicked: “The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence” (Psalm 11:5).
We are to fear God: “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Sin is a wrong that separates us from God: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

As I shared in previous blogs, I’ve read many accounts of such experiences in which people who do not know Christ claim to have gone to Heaven, or its outskirts, and were reassured by a “being of light” that all is well with them.

Obviously, Satan has great vested interests in deceiving unbelievers into thinking that what awaits them after death is a place of serenity rather than of eternal punishment. Scripture says, “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:15).

While I am not the judge of who has really been to Heaven or Hell, I emphatically believe every near-death (or supposed “after-death”) experience must be evaluated in light of God’s Word. Where the experience contradicts the revealed Word of God, the Word must be accepted over the experience. For the Christian, there simply is no other option. We dare not ground our beliefs about God and Heaven on people’s memories of their personal experiences.

         

Related Resources

Blog: “Heaven Is for Real,” “90 Minutes in Heaven,” and other books about visits to Heaven or Hell
Audio: Thoughts on Near Death Experiences
Book: Heaven 

Advice for Parents of Teenagers

In this video and the following transcript, I share some thoughts:

I would say, be sure to listen to your kids. Treat them as human beings. They are human beings.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” How would you like your parents to have treated you when you were your children’s ages?

Show respect to them and listen to them, and you’ll have a grounds for mentoring your teenagers. This is a huge responsibility of parenthood—mentoring your children and pouring yourselves into them. Part of that is to ask them questions and encourage them to ask you questions (and not be shocked at some of the questions they ask!). Even if you are shocked, don’t act shocked—because after all, the questions they’re asking you are right from their hearts and their lives. You don’t want to shut them down.

Teach your children it’s okay to ask hard questions, like about the problem of evil and suffering. People all the time are talking about these problems and issues out in the world. Don’t have your kids wait until they get to a secular high school or off to college to hear the hard questions. Bring them up. Say, “Let’s talk about the fact that there’s a lot of evil and suffering in this world. Why do you think God allows all that? God could make that stuff not happen, right? He’s all powerful. Why does He allow these things to happen? Why does He bring some of these things into people’s lives?”

After being raised in a non-Christian home, I am convinced the Christian worldview has a greater explanatory power than any other worldview. (And everyone, by the way, has a worldview.) So encourage your kids to come to grips with a Christian worldview—so it’s not your worldview they’re just automatically accepting, until one day they’re challenged and reject it because they didn’t have any basis for their own worldview.

Instead, help them look at the explanatory power of the Christian worldview and what the Bible says. It really truly does make sense. Don’t discourage their questions. Encourage their questions, and then go read some good books yourself. Bring valuable insights to them to help them understand the Christian faith and hopefully to hang onto it and develop it as their own worldview.

         

Related Resources

Book: The Goodness of God
Blog: “Look-at-ers” and “See-through-ers”: Having Perspective in a Fallen World
Article: Parenting Teens: Leaving a Lasting Spiritual Heritage

photo credit: Ana Eugenio Photography via photopin cc

John Wesley on the Importance of Reading

One of his biographers says that evangelist John Wesley "rode 250,000 miles, gave away 30,000 pounds...and preached more than 40,000 sermons.” (Edward T. Oakes, John Wesley: A Biography, First Things, 2004.)

250,000 miles on horseback? That’s a staggering distance. It’s equivalent to circling the globe ten times…on a horse! (I’d advise against trying this even once, with the oceans and all.)

Often, Wesley had a book open in front of him as he rode. He loved to learn, and read books incessantly, which gave freshness to the sermons he preached about three times a day. Whether at a desk or on a horse, Wesley wrote this letter to a pastor, John Premboth, on August 17, 1760:

What has exceedingly hurt you in time past, nay, and I fear to this day, is want of reading.

I scarce ever knew a preacher read so little. And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the taste for it. Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety, there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian.

O begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercises. You may acquire the taste which you have not: what is tedious at first, will afterwards be pleasant.

Whether you like it or no, read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a petty, superficial preacher. Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer. Take up your cross and be a Christian altogether. Then will all children of God rejoice (not grieve) over you in particular.

         

Related Resources

Book: Money, Possessions and Eternity
Blog: Will there be books and reading on the New Earth?
Article: Wesley's Covenant Prayer

Advice for a Young Pastor, Part 2

In part two of this two part video interview, I sit down with Jason, a young pastor I just met, and we discuss some questions he has about ministry. (See also part one.)

Randy: Jason, you’re a youth pastor, married about a year, and you’re expecting a child in about a month.  Congratulations! Do you have a question?

Jason: Yes. My question has to do with the area of church leadership. I love being in and serving in ministry. I wrestle with the idea of being prepared enough, getting the right experience, but also not spending my whole life waiting. Being bold and following 1 Timothy 4:12, and setting an example. What advice would you give me in the area of knowing when I should go for it, and knowing when to learn and sit under other leadership?

Randy: Great question. The 1 Timothy 4 passage relates to not letting anyone look down on you because of your youthfulness. I have vivid memories of being a full-time pastor when I was 22 years old. Looking back at it, was there a lot I didn’t know? Oh yes! I mean, the world could be filled with what I didn’t know. Did I make a lot of mistakes? Yes. And before that I’d been a part-time youth pastor and made a lot of mistakes.

But was I grateful for the opportunity! How do you learn and grow without the opportunity to make those mistakes? You’re 27. So you are five years older than I was.

I would say approach it with a humility that says, “Yes, I’m not always going to be right. Some of the things where I’m positive I’m right (and I’m not thinking so much of doctrine but in terms of strategy), are going to prove to be wrong. But then I don’t know what those are. I need to listen carefully to people. I need to be humble. I need to respect the ‘grey hairs’ that Scripture talks about—those who are older and wiser. But I also need to say, ‘You know what? God has gifted me. God has called me. And with all the mistakes I’m going to make, I want to be His servant. And I’d like the opportunity to serve.’”

Sometimes that opportunity to serve means doing a lot of hands-on, behind the scenes type of service, not just preaching all the time or whatever. So there’s humility but there’s also stepping forward to serve.

Jason: That makes sense. So with that in mind, what are some of the best experiences that you had that really developed you as a leader—in your character, your training? Like you said, you’re going to go for things, but you’re also going to fall on your face. How do you best prepare yourself for really taking that next step?

Randy: I think in terms of preparation, the most important thing is your own personal walk with God—time in His Word and time in prayer. Read great books, books that move you toward God and deepen your walk with Him. A. W. Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy was extremely formative to me when I first read it at 19 or 20 years old. Knowing God by J. I. Packer came out when I was 21 years old and I read it as soon as it was released. It is a powerful book and had a profound influence on me. Read books about God—not just books about us, books about the church, books about youth ministry—but books that are really about God and walking with Him.

Then I would say what really helped me was simply being given the opportunity to succeed or fail. What that means is, how does a duck know that it has the spirit of swimming? It gets out on the water. You’ve got to be in the water before you discover whether you can swim or how to swim. What happens sometimes is that in the church we keep waiting for people to rise up to some profound great high level before we give them opportunity.

Years ago when I was a pastor, I would recruit people to be over youth groups and small groups and small groups within youth groups. Maybe they weren’t ready. But they became ready through having that experience.

         

Related Resources

Blog: Humility: Recognizing Who We Really Are
Article: The Leader's Character

photo credit: Stefán Freyr | Skyzography via photopin cc

Advice for a Young Pastor, Part 1

In part one of this two part video interview, I sit down with Jason, a young pastor I just met, and we discuss some questions he has about ministry.

Jason: This question is definitely related to young leaders in ministry. I know you were young when you helped start your church at 22. I’m about 27 right now. There are some moments when I feel very ready to go and excited and passionate. But there are some moments when it feels like I don’t want to just fall on my face in pursuing leadership and ministry. What are some of the things that helped you, in particular, succeed at such a young age pursuing church leadership?

Randy: I think probably the key to everything was that I was surrounded by more mature people. When we started our church, we had a group of elders. It seems funny to say that I was an elder at 22. But I was surrounded by people who, at the time, I thought were quite old—in their forties. (Now that I’m 57, it doesn’t seem so old! But it did then.) Our oldest elders were in their fifties. We didn’t have anyone in their seventies or eighties.

But those mature lay people had walked in life in places where I never had, and we would meet together to talk and pray. The oldest of our elders was Garland Gabbert. I would sit near or next to Garland whenever I could at elders’ meetings. I just wanted to soak in his wisdom. So, surround yourself with older, wiser people. Get counsel. Scripture says in an abundance of counselors, there is wisdom and victory.

Be willing to put yourself in risky situations (by that I don’t mean situations where you could fall into temptations), but rather risky ministry situations—where you’re taking a chance that God might just speak to you and through you. It’s a situation where you’re scared to death, but you’ve got to try this.

Jason: So when you’re at that young age, and you’re ministering to a church and filling the role of a pastor, how do you minister to people older than you? Or do you just say, “Hands off, nope, that’s for someone else, and I get everyone younger than me”? How do you find that balance?

Randy: Well, certainly you have delegated responsibilities with a youth group or whatever. But as far as other people in the church, whenever you’re given an opportunity to preach, I would seek that out (not press for it). But I would say to the church leadership, “If you’re willing to let me try, I’d like to. I’m not guaranteeing it will be a great sermon; I haven’t maybe preached to the congregation before. I’ve only done it a couple of times. But you had a first time, and at some point, I’d like to have a first time and learn from it. I’d like your feedback. Please meet with me afterwards and explain to me, ‘Here’s what I do that’s different.’”

I recently had someone mention to me that there was a young pastor in their church who had preached a message. They said, “You know, I’m not quite sure that’s his gift.” I said, “Well, what do you think all the older pastors, who you do think it is their gift, sounded like their first time? What did they bring to the congregation?” This man might have sounded way better than they sounded their first time, but they were given an opportunity.

When I took the opportunity to be stretched as a young man, one of the things I remember saying is, “Look. I don’t really know what I’m doing. I haven’t had much experience in this, maybe none at all. All I know is that God is God. This is His work. I’m going to do my best. Please bear with me.”

The moment you do that, you have people out there rooting for you. You have people who are on your side, saying, “Ah, he’s recognizing this.” This shouldn’t be false humility—you need to mean it when you say it, of course. But then they’re praying for you and they’re also more understanding because they’ll think, “He was certainly right. He was going to make some mistakes, and he did. But he said a lot of good things. And I’m going to encourage him with the good things.”

This is what people need. I’ve seen a lot of young pastors get really discouraged because of the negative feedback they’ve gotten, but really encouraged, as I was, by positive feedback. When people said, “You know, Randy, when you said this, God spoke to me through that”, I would think, “Wow! God spoke through me?”  That encouraged me.

         

Related Resources

Book: The Resolution for Men
Blog: How do you enjoy your family and the ministry?
Article: A. W. Tozer on Pastoral Ministry

photo credit: Stefán Freyr | Skyzography via photopin cc