Last evening I returned from the Spring Conference of the
New England Center for Expository Preaching (NECEP). More than 120 ministry leaders (most of them pastors) participated in this conference. The theme had to do with the primacy and power of preaching in the local church. Our two keynotes were Drs. Derek Thomas and Mark Dever.
On Monday afternoon, Dr. Thomas preached a message on "Christ's Design for the Church" from Matthew 16. One of the outstanding features of the sermon was the tremendous price Jesus paid to purchase His church: His own blood. Those who would be true followers of Christ and be involved in the building of His church must also pay a price - what Paul referred to as "filling up in my flesh what is still lacking in regards to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church" (Col. 1:24). Dr. Thomas, who serves as Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, pointed out that one of the prevailing challenges that seminary faculties face in regards to incoming students is that they stride in with an air of entitlement.
Today I read a one-paragraph article that captures the essence of the problem that Dr. Thomas was describing. Those pastors who were middle-aged and older knew exactly what he was talking about. It is amazing how many aspiring young pastors have a mouthful, when they have yet to be faithful! On the other hand, I had the privilege of interacting with many pastors attending the conference who have persevered in their place of ministry for many years. For the most part, they struck me as "faithful plodders" - and I thank God for them!
A Call for Faithful Plodders
From Kevin DeYoung's Tabletalk article:
"My generation in particular is prone to radicalism without followthrough. We have dreams of changing the world, and the world should take notice accordingly. But we've not proved faithful in much of anything yet. We haven't held a steady job or raised godly kids or done our time in VBSor, in some cases, even moved off the parental dole. We want global change and expect a few more dollars to the ONE campaign or Habitat for Humanity chapter to just about wrap things up. What the church and the world needs, we imagine, is for us to be another Bono -- Christian, but more spiritual than religious and more into social justice than the church. As great as it is that Bono is using his fame for some noble purpose, I just don't believe that the happy future of the church, or the world for that matter, rests on our ability to raise up a million more Bonos (as at least one author suggests). With all due respect, what's harder: to be an idolized rock star who travels around the world touting good causes and chiding governments for their lack of foreign aid, or to be a line worker at GM with four kids and a mortgage, who tithes to his church, sings in the choir every week, serves on the school board, and supports a Christian relief agency and a few missionaries from his disposable income?"
