We are Just Men

A biblical insight into humanity’s tendency toward human-worship

“When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.” 

~Acts 10:25-26

I didn’t know what kind of greeting to expect. Each culture has their own way of showing honor and hospitality to a visiting pastor, minister, or theologian who they’ve invite to speak at their church or fellowship. I’m on the younger end, but I’m not new to the guest keynote speaker ministry. Over the last ten years, I’ve received honorarium checks, gift baskets, dried mangoes, T-shirts, local-fabric-woven backpacks, soccer jerseys, signed poster boards, and more. So I didn’t think much of the beautiful, massive flower wreath that they placed around my neck when we stepped foot into a local church in Asia where I was invited as a keynote speaker for their regional pastor’s conference (the name of the country will remain anonymous). It was, after all, their way of showing honor and esteem to visiting minister. At least, that’s what I thought. Sitting next to me was a local pastor from that particular country (though he was not local to that particular region). He, too, was invited to speak at the conference. He, too, had a flower wreath placed around his neck. Only, he took it off shortly after – and kept it off through the entirety of the afternoon. The Americans, including myself, asked him why. We knew that, as a native of that country, he was well-versed in its culture and the meaning of particular gestures. He explained with the following (paraphrased):

“People here have a tendency to treat pastors like deity. It’s baggage from their polytheistic background. And one of the ways they indicate this is by putting this wreath around your neck.” 

A few months later, now back in America, I was watching a NetFlix documentary on the particular country mentioned above. Part of the documentary was an interview with a family that worshipped a particular animal that they considered sacred that they kept in their home. Once a year, they would throw a religious worship festival for that animal by putting around its neck – you guessed it – the same massive flower wreath that had been placed around neck at the pastor’s conference. 

Men have a tendency to make much of men

The truth is that man has a tendency to make much of men. To put it more pointedly, man has a tendency to make other human beings objects of worship. Cornelius, a reputable Gentile on his own right in both his ability  and his works of charity (cf Acts 10:1-2, 22) tried to worship Peter when the later entered his home. 

“When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshipped him.”

The irony can’t afford to be missed. That a Roman centurion of his societal stature and reputability vested – not to mention the amount of authority vested in him as a centurion (cf Luke 7:8) – would fall down to an uneducated (formally) Jewish ex-fisherman and worship him in the times of the Roman Empire when military soldiers were esteemed above all others is indicative of the natural tendency of humans, no matter how accomplished, to glorify other humans, and to ascribe to another human the worth and honor that is deserved only by God Himself. It would have been like watching Shaquille O’Neal walk into my home, getting on his knees, and kissing my feet (as I was trying to get his autograph!). What Cornelius tried to do to Peter may seem ironic, but it is revelatory of the natural tendency of the human heart to make other humans objects of worship. We American’s are the the furthest thing from the exception. Bowing down before statues, animal worship, pantheism, and ancestor worship may not be as prevalent in Western civilization and American society as it is in other parts of the world, but idolatry is every bit as rampant. And for Western culture – whose foundations of both politics and philosophy can be traced back to Greco-Roman culture and Europe’s post-medieval humanism – those idols take the form not of totem pole statues, but actual human beings based on perceived merit. If you’re not convinced, watch the way young boys respond when they see Stephen Curry; watch the way young girls react when they see Justin Bieber. I’ve often wondered why conferences try to capitalize on the so-called faith of many athletes and artists, and have them speak at their conferences. On one hand, it doesn’t make sense. Why grab an NBA player and have him speak at a conference where people are supposed to hear the preaching of the Word, when his craft is in shooting a basketball and not biblical exegesis?  On the other hand, it’s only too predictable. If you want people who on most days have no interest in the things of God to attend your conference where God is spoken of, then bring in a speaker who they treat as God. In America, it’s not that difficult to do. We’re a nation obsessed with the GOAT’s (Greatest of All Time), because we’re a nation obsessed with merit, accomplishments, feats, and record-breaking. Whether it’s our politicians, our stage artists, our musicians, our athletes, or our scholars, we instinctively like to make much of people and we ourselves desire to be made much of. 

Christians should not make much of men

Christians, however, shouldn’t make much of men, because there’s really nothing to be made much of. When Cornelius bowed down and worshipped Peter, Peter had the choice to receive it and embrace it. After all, he was the one who God spoke of in the vision to Cornelius. Instead, Peter responded in the way every man should when people try to worship him:

“But Peter raised him up, saying, ‘Stand up, I too am just a man.’”

It reminds me of how seventeen-year old Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario responded when asked how she would deal with the intimidation and awe of having to play top-ranked Steffi Graf, who was on a five-grand slam win streak, on the eve of the French Open final: “I came to play her, not to pray to her,” she firmly said (she defeated Graf the next day). Maybe Sanchez-Vicario thought of the apostle Peter during her pre-match press-conference. Peter wasn’t being falsely humble or self-deprecating when he refused Cornelius’ worship. He was being sensible. To bow down and worship a man – a finite, created being – is senseless, in the same way that praying to the Mauna Kea volcano is senseless. Peter refused Cornelius’ worship not just internally, but formally – physically getting Cornelius out of his prostration – because it was worship he was unwarranted to receive. As humans, we don’t worship other humans because humans are not worthy of worship. And as humans, we don’t receive worship or anything even remotely resembling because we aren’t worthy of it. No matter how many 3-point buzzers you’ve made, no matter how many academic papers you’ve written, no matter how much you’ve proliferated your business product, no matter how much governing authority has been entrusted to you, you are not worthy of anyone bowing down to you and ascribing to you the glory and honor that ought to be given to God because, as Peter reminded Cornelius, you too are just a man. And the last time I checked, God is taking no applications for additional persons to the Trinity. 

Conclusion

Only one man ever rightfully received worship during His time on earth – Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ and the Son of God. In Him alone does the fullness of deity dwell in bodily form. He alone came down from heaven to die for sinners and pay the full penalty of our sins. He alone resurrected from the dead into a glorified body that is now the first fruits of all who believe in Him for eternal life. He alone is worthy of worship. For though He is a man, He is not just a man. He is God, and God Incarnate. Let it be Him – and Him alone – who we make much of as men. 

Speak Confidently, and They’ll Live Seriously

The inextricable relationship between the character of preaching and the condition of the people.

“…and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds.”

~Titus 3:8

I thought I was being humble; really, I was being timid. I had just turned 24, had just started a full-time load in seminary, and was preaching my first-ever Sunday sermon to a congregation where the majority of the saints were older than me. “What can I say to ensure that they don’t disregard me because of my age and lack of life experience?” I thought. And so, before I exposited the text, I apologized. I apologized to the people listening to me for being young, and that they had to listen to me. The sermon itself, from the feedback I received, apparently was fine. But that week, the pastor who was in charge of evaluating my sermon referred to the pre-exposition apology. “Don’t ever do that again,” he said straight-faced. “Just preach.” 

It was a rookie mistake on my end. Rookie, because it’s young preachers who tend to do it. Mistake, because you shouldn’t do it. For the man of God, the biblical commission from the Lord Jesus Christ to preach His Word with authority and boldness is both commanded and consequences. It is commanded in the Word of God; it has consequences on the people of God. And no one wants to disobey God’s Word or tamper with God’s people. 

Truthfully, it’s not easy to preach authoritatively and confidently nowadays. The post-modern relativism of the culture in which Christians find themselves makes it so. Truth, the culture says, is relative to the individual. How dare, the culture says, any man go behind a pulpit and preach as if what he is saying is truth absolute and truth absolute! Though there may be a resurgence (perhaps in a parallel universe) of young people seeking the truth and seeking teachers who believe what they say as truth, the majority isn’t quite like this. As a whole, at least in our nation, people don’t want to be corrected or confronted. They don’t want to be told that what they believe is wrong and how they’re living is wrong. And they especially don’t want it to be done from a pulpit. It’s not just that people don’t want to hear a man preach truth in a way that corrects and rebukes; they don’t want to hear people preach, period. Preaching is deemed by the culture as anachronistic. The sage from the stage is a massive brontosaurus in a land of springing gazelles and migrating wildebeest according to most so-called pedagogical experts. People today are seeking motivational speakers who are either conversationalist who replace the pulpit with a coffee table or story-tellers who can convert the message into a movie. 

But the reality that authoritative proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the instruction of the Scripture is no longer palatable to the culture because of both post-modernism and progressive education models does not change the fact that God commands it, and the man of God must do it. The Bible was meant to be preached, and preaching is thus a vital and non-negotiable element of a healthy biblical church. You can’t be a servant of God while concurrently trying to please people (Galatians 1:10). To preach Christ through the Scriptures – His person, His work, His commandments, His promises, His return – is no mere suggestion. It is a heavenly mandate from the Lord Jesus Himself (2 Tim 4:2). And God commands for the man of God not only to be biblical in His preaching, but to be confident in it. Paul tells Titus in Titus 3:8: 

“…and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently,” 

The English verse phrase “to speak confidently” is a translation of the Greek word which means “to state something with certainty and with confidence” or “to insist.” In other words, the character – not just the content – of a man’s preaching matters. These things – the call to good deeds in one’s community and the reality of justification by faith and regeneration upon which is founded – ought to be stated with certainty. Speak, in other words, as if what you are saying is right because it is right. Speak as a man who doesn’t question whether he’s the right person to preach. Speak with no apologies and leave no room for negotiation, because of the certainty of truth in your preaching. Exhort and rebuke them with all authority, allowing no one to disregard you (Titus 2:15). Don’t second guess yourself, and don’t allow others to second-guess you, because God Himself commissioned you. Speak then as someone who knows that God has called you to speak these exact words to these people. Speak with authority because the Bible is authoritative. Preach the Bible as if it is the truth because it is the truth. Proclaim Christ as Lord and Savior, because He alone is Lord of the earth and Savior to those who believe. Speak as a herald because Christ gave Himself up for us to purify for Himself a people of His own possession who are zealous for good deeds (Titus 2:14). 

The man of God must speak confidently not only because it is commanded by God but because of the consequences it will have upon God’s people. The command in Titus 3:8 to speak confidently the sound doctrine of the gospel and the living that necessarily flows from it is followed by the reason for the command: 

“…so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds.”

The word “careful” in this verse is a translation of the Greek word that literally means “to give serious consideration to something.” Whether or not the culture admits it, authoritative, biblical, gospel-centered, Christ-exalting preaching results in saints who are serious about Christian living. The opposite is also true. Timid preaching produces timid Christians. Negotiable preaching produces compromising Christians. Story-telling produces a church filled with Peter Pan’s lost boys. Shirk into this kind of preaching, and your people won’t be serious. Not only will they not take you seriously; they won’t take their own lives seriously. Wishy-washy speaking produces wishy-washy saints. The reason why the man of God is called to speak confidently is because there is an inextricable link between the confidence with which he speaks of the Lord and the seriousness by which his people live for the Lord. Confident, biblical preaching produces saints who are serious about their faith and serious about their evangelistic function as salt and light in the world that so desperately needs Jesus Christ. Observe it yourself. Christians who are fervent and zealous about Christ, His gospel, and His ministry usually belong to a church whose pastor preaches the Bible like he means it.  

And so before you, o man of God, grow frustrated and discouraged that your people are not as committed to the work of God and ministry of the gospel as you’d hope, examine first your own preaching and teaching. For they’ll only live if you preach confidently.  

The Word of God is Effective

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heave, and do not return without watering the earth and making to bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and the bread to the eater; so will My word which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

~Isaiah 55:10-11

There are a lot of questions about the Word of God – everything from its authorship, its constitution, its inerrancy, its authority, its reliability, its sufficiency, and its purpose. But for the man who is entrenched in the vocational ministry of the Word – be it the preacher, pastor, evangelist, missionary, or committed teacher of the Word – there lies in his bosom a burning question concerning the efficacy of God’s Word. Is the ministry of the Word (when carried out the way it was meant to be carried out) ever in vain? To put it simply, many subjectively struggle with the question, “Is the ministry of the Word truly effective?” 

This question can’t be swept under the rug, because it has led many otherwise faithful ministers to the point of quitting. The Francis Shaeffer institute of Church Leadership has recently reported that 35-40% ministers last less than 5 years in the ministry, and that between 60-80% of ministers will no longer be in their vocation 10 years later. For the record, many ministers of the Word throw in the towel for various reasons – most of which won’t be discussed in this entry. But do your own google search as to why many aren’t persevering, and you’ll find that one of the top reasons is discouragement. And such discouragement stems from questioning whether or not their ministry is truly making any kind of a significant impact on the people to whom they preach and minister. 

I am thankful that, at the very moment I burst out of the starting blocks of seminary, my disciple-lab mentor asked me to read R. Kent Hugh’s book Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome (it was the very first book I read in seminary, alongside Christian Living Beyond Belief by our very own Cliff McManis!). It has served to protect my heart against the discouragement from apparently (key word, apparently) unsuccessful results. Humans, after all, tend to measure success by results. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily, when it comes to practical occupation. Doctors measure their success based on the increasing health of their patients. Teachers measure their success based on the aptitude and competence of their students in a particular subject area. Marketing teams measure their success based on the volume of inquiry of their product. To measure success by results and outcome is not a bad thing.

It’s just that such a paradigm can’t exactly be translated into the ministry of the Word. When it comes to the Bible and its proclamation, the results are as diverse as a botanical survey. I remember one pastor who told me that, in his first ministry experience, the youth group he pastored (and therefore preached to) grew from tens of students to hundreds of students within a year. That’s exponential growth even greater than Australia’s rabbit growth curve! But when he began a church plant in another state (which he is currently pastoring), the last 10 years have shown little “fruit.” The results of preaching the Word, in some ways, seem to be ever so unrecognizable in their pattern – a nightmare for statisticians looking for correlative patterns. Every pastor or preacher will tell you, in other words, that the immediate (and perhaps even long-term) results of his preaching have been inconsistent at best. You preach to one group of people, and they grow. You preach those same sermons to another group five miles a way, and they die! This is a source of tremendous frustration, confusion, and discouragement for many. And thus, you have a lot of ministers silently struggling with whether or not they even belong in the ministry. To solve this question, we need to go back to what the Word of God says about its own efficacy. That is the point of this entry. 

To say that the Word of God is effective is to say that the Word of God (when ministered the way it ought to) will always accomplish what God desires for it to accomplish. The parenthetical is important. For instance, if I ask someone to place a Macarthur Study Bible underneath his pillow every night, the only “impact” he will experience is a sore neck. That’s because this, to the obvious, is not proper way of ministering the Word of God. But when it is indeed properly ministered as God designed and by those who He commissioned, it will always accomplish its decreed purpose. This is what it means to say that God’s Word is effective. Hear the words of Isaiah 55:10-11:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heave, and do not return without watering the earth and making to bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and the bread to the eater; so will My word which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

What God has purposed for HIs Word to accomplish is in His sovereign decree, and it often differs from that of the human vessel from which it is proclaimed. As a pastor, I can assure you for instance that I preach for one purpose – the salvation of souls (2 Tim 2:9-10, Col 1:28-29). We preach for the holiness of people. I don’t know a preacher (at least, not a godly one) who preaches with the goal of hardening people’s hearts or turning them away from the Scriptures. It’s for this very reason that seeming such a result is heart-breaking to any minister. However, God has a sovereign decree or “desire” (as this verse says) for each person to whom the Word is preached, each event when the Word is preached, each location where the Word is preached, and each generation to whom the Word is preached. For some, that purpose is salvific; God has decreed for that person to be saved and regenerated through the preached Word. For others, the purpose is revelatory; God has decreed for that person’s true character and colors to be revealed through the preached Word. And for yet others, the purpose is hardening; God has decreed that the preaching of the Word will result in the hardening of the hearts of certain people. Whenever the Word is preached, these three purposes are accomplished. 

Such is precisely the reason for unpredictable results. Survey the Bible for proof. When Elijah preached, he turned the hearts of people back to God. When Isaiah and Jeremiah preached, the people hardened themselves toward God. When Ezra preached, the people were rebuilt and worship was restored to the community. When Peter preached at Pentecost, thousands came to faith. When Stephen preached before the council, he was stoned. All of these men were faithful preachers, and proclaimed the message of God to the people whom God intended. The outcome was different from one preaching endeavor to another. The same sun that softened the wax also hardened the clay. But in every case, the desire and will of God for that particular proclamation was accomplished. World history was moved; redemptive history was administered. 

As ministers of the Word and as a church that supports the proclamation of the Word, we must realize not only that results will differ based on God’s sovereign (and unsearchable) decrees, but that the true effect of the Word of God as God desired will be seen over the course of time. We must be careful to judge the effect of our ministry by the immediate results or feedback. The impact of the ministry of the Word – the results of its efficacy – are seen over the course the long haul. Our duty, then, is not to focus on the results. God will take care of that, and we must be careful not to measure our “success” based on them. When it comes to the ministry of the Word, our duty is to be faithful. We must faithfully live it, and we must faithfully proclaim it. 

Devotion to God during Your Youth

An encouragement to both youth and ministers of youth 

“For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images.” ~2 Chronicles 34:3

For as long as I’ve been alive and been in ministry, I have rarely (if ever) heard of a church whose most happening ministry was its youth ministry. I’ve yet to attend a church service where the people who were flocking the pastor after his Sunday sermon to ask questions and receive prayer were the youth. I’ve yet to be a part of a church where the community demographic that the church most effectively reached was the community’s youth. Without a doubt, the church is struggling to minister to its youth, and the community’s youth. Likewise, the youth are struggling to find their place in the ministry of the local church. By enlarge, the area of youth ministry can be a difficult and discouraging endeavor, both for the youth as well as for youth workers.

For youth, it can be difficult because the atmosphere of a church (at least, one that functions correctly) is strikingly different from any other atmosphere in which they’ll find themselves in today’s youth culture. From the attire that people wear to the kind of music that people are singing to the sermon they have to listen to (in what other endeavor do you see young people having to listen to preaching!) to the things people believe, church life is distinct. It doesn’t have to be boring, but it will be distinct. Church life and everything about it is nothing like school. It’s nothing like sports. It’s nothing like a friend’s birthday party. It’s nothing like anything. And for American youth embedded in an American culture that is ever-so drifting from the worship of the one true God, going to church can be an out-of-this-world experience. And because of this, many find it difficult. 

But it’s not just the youth who find this atmosphere difficult, but also those who serve them. It’s almost easier to work with youth as a school teacher or an athletic coach than as a youth minister because, for the first two, you’re almost guaranteed an audience. Whether or not they like school, youth have to be in school. And whether or not they have to be in sports, youth love sports. Kids will spend hours studying for a chemistry test even when they don’t want to, and spend hours working on a jump shot even when they don’t have to. And thus, the endeavor of mentoring youth in the areas of school and sports will be a happening one. The difficulty that youth ministers are facing this day and age is that the youth not only don’t want to be at church, but aren’t at church. And so you have youth ministers who are doing everything they can to make their youth events look as much like the secular events that the community’s youth are typically at, out of sheer desperation to have an audience.   

This entry, then, is an exhortation to both youth and youth ministers. For youth, it’s an admonition against the temptation to hold off pursuing God until your later adult years. For youth workers, it’s an encouragement to persevere ministering to the community’s and church’s youth. Why? Because many of the men and women who God used significantly in HIs glorious redemptive work were those whose whole-hearted devotion to God’s work began in the years of their youth. The Bible testify of this. Through these biblical accounts, God shows that it’s possible for one to give his life wholly to God and His work, to do so with integrity, and never look back…beginning in one’s youth. The life of Josiah testifies of this. Youth and youth workers alike, pay attention. 

Josiah’s faith as a youth

The account of Josiah’s devotion to God at a young age is seen in 2 Chronicles 34:3: “For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David.” You do the math. If he was eight years old when he became king (cf 2 Chronicles 34:1) and it was in the eighth year of his reign that he began to seek God, it reveals that Josiah was sixteen years old when he began to seek God whole-heartedly. Sixteen – the age of a high school sophomore or junior. It’s the age when most young men are in the thick of puberty, when testosterone is raging throughout a transitioning physique like a California wildfire and elevating them to their sexual peak. It’s the age when most mothers start to struggle communicating with their teenage sons and when most youth start experimenting with newfound independence while shirking from all forms of responsibility. Sixteen, according to some sources, is the average age of virginity loss for American men, and around the age when most young men begin dabbling with illegal substances. Sixteen is the age when the world begins viciously competing for both the attention, affections, and devotion of young men. It’s the age when many youth begin seriously seeking the pleasure of the world and neglect God. Ever wonder why Solomon had to remind young people to remember their Creator in the days of their youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1)? By the time they’re twenty, many young men are not only seeking worldly pleasures; they’re fully entangled in them – unmarried yet sexually active, not working, not involved in church, regularly consuming illegal substances, cheating their way through college, and become a most disliked demographic by society. 

But at sixteen years old, Josiah’s transition into young manhood was marked not by straying from God but by seeking Him. With the growth of his physical stature and mind came the growth of his faith and the elevation of his sense of purpose. By twenty years old, when most young men are fully embedded in the lusts of the world, Josiah was embarking on a quest to restore his nation back to the true worship of God. Yes, at twenty. 

Josiah’s devotion wasn’t merely a feeling

For Josiah, seeking the Lord at sixteen wasn’t characterized by mere emotion; it was characterized by conviction. It was a deliberate choice to follow the Lord’s ways and walk away from the ways of corruption and wickedness of his father Amon (cf 2 Chronicles 33:21-25) and grandfather Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:1-20). For four years, from sixteen to twenty, he sincerely sought the Lord the way David did as a man after God’s own heart. By the time he was twenty, he began the process of executing the most deliberate cleansing of idolatry and reformation of worship in the land of Judah. His faith was not merely a feeling, but was followed up by radical and purposeful action. 

My beef with a lot of modern-day youth ministries is that, in an effort to win an audience, they fail to challenge youth with exactly how they ought to live out the Christian faith and show them their place in the greater picture of God’s kingdom work. Many high school youth groups, even if well-intended, are nothing more than glorified jamborees and rock-n-jump sessions guised as leadership training. Bible classes and chapels in Christian schools offer nothing more than feel-good sentimental sermonettes. Is it any surprise that many of the church’s youth are absolutely clueless as to what exactly it is that God expects from them both in their conduct and in their service? They’ll remember church as either a place where they had fun or they learned a lot of rules, but with no clear set of convictions as to who God is and His commission for them in this world. Josiah’s life, however, is just one of many examples of how a youth can earnestly and faithfully seek the Lord, develop a clear conviction as to what God wants from him, and live it out. His life proves that young people can truly devote themselves to the will and work of God. 

Josiah’s devotion wasn’t a fad

Josiah’s life and reign wasn’t free of mistakes. In fact, his death was a result of overzealousness to go to battle against one who wasn’t actually an enemy. But the integrity of his devotion to God lasted for a lifetime, as attested in 2 Chronicles 34:2: “He did right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of his father David, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.” The devotion that began in the days of his youth carried over to his adulthood and remained with him till the day of his death. His earnest and fervent devotion to God and His work was no fad, but endured for the entirety of his life and characterized the entirety of his reign. 

Have we forgotten that it’s possible to be ignited for the work of God as a youth and stay ignited? The world doesn’t think so. I remember when I first decided that I wanted to give myself to vocational ministry and attend seminary as a young 22-year old (for the record, I was no Josiah!), I was told by some that such was just a fad and that – as soon as I realize that I need to be responsible in life – I would eventually grow out of it. I obviously proved those people wrong, as it’s hard for a fad to last for 15 years! But it’s not just the world that communicates this to our youth, but also older adults in the church. I’ve witnessed older Christians go up to youth who are indeed excited and fervent about their faith, who are diligently serving in the church (yes, they exist!) and tell them things like, “It’s good that you’re on fire now, because just wait…eventually, it will die out.” I’m not sure what they were trying to accomplish by saying such. Perhaps they were convicted by their own lack of fervency and commitment. But whatever the reason, such is terrible counsel, wholly unnecessary, and pointless. For the truth is that there are youth who develop a fervency for Christ and His work that endures for the entirety of their lives. It’s not always the case with youth, but keep in mind that most believers do come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ during the years of their youth. The fervency for God and His work that a young person may show need not to be dismissed as a fad. 

Josiah’s legacy

World historians don’t speak much of Josiah the same way they speak of Nebuchadnezzar or Alexander the Great, because his military endeavors were not that impressive. Nor is he spoken of like the emperors of the Han dynasty, because he didn’t spearhead industrial developments that reached a global level. But it is God’s evaluation, not that of world historians, that matters. The word of God in 2 Kings 23:25 sums his legacy into one sentence: “Before him there was no king like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.” Josiah, in the eyes of the the Creator Himself, stands in the books, and in the Book, as the greatest political ruler this world has ever known outside of Christ Himself. How’s that for a legacy, bestowed to us by a man who decided to give his life entirely to the Lord and His work as a sixteen year old!

To the readers

To the youth reading this, now is the time. Now is the time to seek the Lord. Now is the time to give yourself entirely to Him and His work. You may not be be cleansing temples of idols, but the risen Christ who reigns from heaven over all creation has summoned you to suffer hardship as His soldier in the battle to make disciples of all peoples in a world that hates Him. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, who summons you for His army. Give yourself to Him and His kingdom work entirely, and  you’ll leave a legacy that God Himself deems great.

To the youth ministers reading this, remember that amidst a sea of young people who seem more interested in pizza than preaching and in girls than the gospel, youth the likes of Josiah are out there. Identify them. And against the luring efforts of the world to ensnare them, you must step up and compete for their souls. They’re waiting for you to fight for them. And trust me – they’re worth the battle!

You Can’t and You Shouldn’t

Knowing when to withhold your ministry from people

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” 

~Matthew 7:6

You can’t minister to everyone. You shouldn’t minister to everyone. 

As a minister of the gospel, your capacity is limited. Unlike Jesus who reigns with all authority from heaven and earth who is with every man and is only a prayer away, the minister of the gospel can only be at one place at one time. He has a limited amount of time. He has a limited amount of energy. While some have a greater capacity for work and ministry than others, there is no one minister who can do everything. It’s often said that the greatest enemy of “best” is “good.” Even if he wants to, a minister cannot minister to everyone to whom he desires to serve. But the point of this entry is not to argue the thesis that a minister can’t minister to everyone, but that he shouldn’t minister to everyone. A minister not only has a limited capacity, but he must have defined boundaries. According to Jesus, there is a certain territory – a certain kind of people – from whom a minister must withhold his ministry. 

This isn’t being partial; it’s being shrewd. This isn’t playing favorites with people; it’s being faithful to Jesus. For Jesus does tell us who to withhold our ministry from: dogs and swine. He instructs His disciples pointedly in the Sermon on the Mount, specifically in Matthew 7:6:

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

This is not merely a suggestion for best practice; this is a command from the King. In other words, there is a certain kind of people to whom one must not preach the gospel repeatedly, and to whom one must not give their time indefinitely. Energy and resources must be spent rescuing straying sheep, not trying to entertain dogs and swine. Christ’s directive to withhold the ministry of the gospel and kingdom (the holy things and pearls) from the dogs and swine has three components. 

Proper Identification

The first component is the identification. Biblical discernment is required, for all men are sinners and innately hostile to the truth of God. Everyone is born in sin, is blind to the truth, has a natural hatred for Christ, and has a bent for lawlessness and rebellion. But not all sinners are dogs and swine; some sinners, as Luke 15:4-7, are straying sheep. And while dogs and swine must be avoided, straying sheep must be pursued and rescued. Was this not why Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, who disdained Him for spending time with sinners and tax collectors (Luke 15:1-3)? Is not the gospel of Luke all about the Son of Man seeking, pursuing, and rescuing lost sheep? Identifying one from the other requires the minister to be, figuratively speaking, a theological zoologist. What the Bible shows is that we most not use demographics as our standard for identification. The gospel and the kingdom ought to be offered to people of every demographic – people of every ethnicity, every age, every culture, every kind of history, and every socio-economic status. It is not a person’s demographic that we must use as our standard of identification, but rather a person’s disposition. When Christ mentions dogs and swine, he refers to those who simply do not value the ministry of the gospel, who show no reverence for it, and who treat it lightly. Dogs are those who tear; swine, those who trample. Tearing dogs figuratively refer to individuals who will aim to harm you for your ministry, like the inhabitants of Nazareth who tried to hurl Christ off of a cliff when He preached there. Trampling swine figuratively refer to individuals who make a mockery of the gospel and adamantly reject it. The gospel minister must not discriminate, but he must be discerning. He must know how to identify those individuals who will trample upon the gospel and tear you apart for ministering it. 

Heeding the Admonition

The second component is the admonition. Once the gospel minister identifies the dogs and swine, he must heed the admonition of Christ: “Do not give what is holy…do not cast your pearls.” Dogs and swine are not to be hunted; they are not to be harmed. But they are not to be fed, and not to be pampered. Ministers are not called to make trophies out of dogs and swine, but neither are they to spend their time trying to minister to or convert them. Again, this is just saying that we can’t minister to everyone because of limited capacity; Christ is saying that we shouldn’t minister to everyone. Such an admonition has nothing to do with our limitations, but rather has everything to do with the value and dignity of the gospel ministry. What is precious cannot be continually thrown or cast upon those who will dishonor it. The gospel ministry is indeed a treasure contained, though contained in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7). When a person proves to be one who will either trample on the gospel message (mocks the message) or tear apart its minister (abuses the minister), from him must the minister withhold his ministry. Jesus Himself would later instruct His twelve apostles: “And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Certainly, we must work to persuade men to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). But the minister must remember that the glory and honor of God along with the dignity of His gospel must be protected. God is not some needy person who will desperately do any and everything – no matter what the cost – for people to believe in Him. To those who will make sport of His ministers and make a mocker of His gospel, God commands us to withhold our ministry. There are some people who are simply not worth your precious time and energy, and simply not worthy to continually receive the ministry of the gospel. 

Knowing the Repercussion

The third component is the repercussion. Why must we withhold our ministry from those who trample and tear? It is because if we don’t, the message will be trampled on and the minister will be torn apart. While the minister of the gospel is an earthen vessel, the gospel message itself is a true treasure, and the pearl of great price. For the minister of the gospel to allow the gospel message to be mocked is to allow the greatest and more precious message be mocked and blasphemed. While God is a God who saves, He is first and foremost a God who is passionate about the display of His glory. Hell exists because God seeks to preserve His glory and honor. Judgment exists because God’s passion for His glory is prioritized over His desire to see all men be saved (Romans 9:21-24). And while the minister of the gospel is a humble servant who must endure hardship and persecution, God never calls for ministers of the gospel to remain with those who abuse and make sport of them. Every man who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will indeed be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). At the same time, ministers are never to communicate that such abuse is permissible in God’s eyes. By withholding one’s ministry from those who abuse and make a mockery of him, the minister testifies to the dogs that he is currently facing the judgment of God. While the gospel minister must know how to endure the persecution that comes from the world, he must not allow any group of people to continually abuse him while he ministers to them. Otherwise, he will be torn into pieces and his ability to further minister the gospel will be severely hindered. 

Christ died for the Sheep

Such an instruction to withhold one’s ministry from dogs and swine must never be driven by hatred. We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves, whether those neighbors are friends or enemies. Rather, such an instruction must be driven one’s understanding of the dignity of the gospel and the good of the sheep. Time, as the currency of life, is precious; once given, it cannot be taken back. Time and energy given to dogs and swine is time and energy not given to God’s sheep. But it is the sheep – not the dogs and the swine – for whom Christ died (John 10:14). It is the sheep who Christ is bringing to Himself (John 10:16). It is the sheep who Christ commissioned to feed and protect (John 21:15-17). To the sheep, we must throw what is holy and cast our pearls. We withhold our ministry from the dogs and the swine not because we hate dogs and swine, but because Christ loves His sheep. 

You can’t minister to everyone. You shouldn’t minister to everyone.

What I Live For is Not Where I Live In

Biblical implications of living for the kingdom of God in a fallen world

“Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:36)

What the Christian lives for is not where the Christian lives.

Without a doubt, the Christian is not meant to escape from this world – at least for as long God has allotted him to be in this world – but rather to minister to the world. The Church (I say “Church” as opposed to “church” because I’m referring to the entire body of believers around the world that make up the universal church, rather than the endeavors of a particular local assembly) was meant to be in the world but not of the world (John 17:15-16). And for as long as the church will be in this world, the world will continue to pressure the church to conform to worldliness. It’s not merely for the hypothetical that Paul exhorts Christians in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Pressure to conform to the ways of the world will always be present.

Granted, there are certain times and seasons where the world looks at the Church with disdain but with a kind of “You do what you do as long as you don’t make me do it with you,” attitude. Persecution is never eradicated, but exhibits seasons of dormancy. This latest season of the Spring of 2020 has not been one of those. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the seemingly global issuance of Shelter-in-Place orders around mid-March, the week to week decisions of local churches around the world of “to open or not to open” and “to submit to the government or to defy it” were placed in the spotlight and on national news. The freedom and tranquility that churches across our nation had enjoyed when it came to assembling and worshipping Christ – that I myself had made a habit of thanking God for every pre-Sunday-Service elders meeting – was suddenly in jeopardy in spite of the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. And then came the killing of George Floyd in late-May, fueling the onset of mass protests and riots across the country that are still happening as I write. All of a sudden, it wasn’t just “to open or not to open” that was the question; “to protest or not to protest” was added. Phrases such as “Black Lives Matter” and “All Lives Matter” – both of which are biblically true – became antagonistic chants from one group to another, and even resulted in the termination of employees from companies. Speaking and conversing with many Christians of all ages, ethnicities, demographics, and denominations gave me more insight into the current relationship between the Church and the world.

No longer is the world simply dealing with the Church with the “aloof tolerance” that had characterized much of the last several decades – at least, for as long as I myself had been living in the United States. As we speak, the world has decided to confront and corner the Church. First, the world is interrogating the Church and scrutinizing her answers. Second, the world is pressuring the Church to conform to both her ideologies and methodologies, whatever the side. In my particular region, a recent open letter was sent to a local Christian school by former alumni “imploring” the school administration and faculty to implement changes in policy and philosophy that would satisfy nothing short of a liberal millennial agenda with a petition of over one hundred signatures to back it up (I spoke to a friend of mine who actually knew these alumni; they’re apparently non-Christians, no surprise). Third, the world is categorizing the Church based on man-made categories – rather than biblically-instructed categories based on the church’s response. More and more Christians who I talk to are fearful of being labeled as liberal, Marxist, racist, passive and lawless based on what their choice of words or actions. Fourth, the world is persecuting the church. Articles are now being written by the media blaming churches for the recent spikes in COVID-19 cases (which doesn’t seem too different from Nero’s blaming Christians for the fires that destroyed Rome).

The Church cannot afford to remain either silent or passive about the COVID-19 pandemic, and it definitely cannot remain silent about the racism, injustice, police brutality, and violent riots that exist in our country. A city upon a hill cannot be hidden; the voice of Christians must not be muzzled, and the hands of Christians must not be handcuffed. Christians must address the political issues that both plague and pressure the Church. But the problem this season for Christ’s Church has not been that she has been silent or unresponsive, but rather that she has responded in a manner that is characteristically worldly. First, many Christians have adopted the mob mentality and simply saying what everyone else is saying. For instance, I’m was not anti-blackout Tuesday; I was and am not anti-protest when done in a civil, peaceful, noble, and purposeful manner. What I am against, however, is Christians – who Christ redeemed to live sensibly (Titus 2:12) to be putting slogans on their facebook or instagram pages such as “Justice for —- and —-” when they themselves haven’t done any research on the investigations on those cases over which they’re writing slogans. I’m against Christians screaming just because everybody else is screaming, and remaining silent just because everybody else is remaining silent. But more importantly, Christians are succumbing to the fear of man. Many in the Church are basing their responses not simply on prudence, but in a way that seeks to appease the masses and keep themselves out of trouble. I’m watching Christians replace one extreme facebook slogan with another within a matter of days (we all know that it takes more than several days for a person to undergo any measure of philosophical transformation). Christians are falling into the traps of both fearing criticism as well as obsessing over affirmation. When either words or works are driven by the fear of man – be it the desire of affirmation or the fear of condemnation – then one cannot be a servant of God (Galatians 1:10).

The Church must follow the steps of the Savior of the Church, Christ Himself. In John 18:36, He said to Pontius Pilate before the masses:

“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:36).

These words weren’t part of a crafted and prepared sermon. They came out of His mouth during the most intense and pressure-packed interrogation during His trial for crucifixion. By this point, He was deserted by His disciples and denied by Peter. He had endured a sleepless night that consist of being arrested, unjustly accused, mocked, tried, and beaten. Pilate understood the arrest and trial to be a political one, and interrogated Jesus as such. Never at any point in His ministry did Jesus have to address the political realities in the way He did here. But with the joy set before Him and the salvation of His people as His ambition, He responded with these words of truth that contain three principles that ought to fuel a Christian’s to the world’s political pressure.

Principal #1: Christians must pursue a political agenda (“My kingdom”)

Jesus starts of His response with, “My kingdom.” This is what the gospel of Matthew continually refers to as the “kingdom of heaven” and what the gospel of Luke continually refers to the “kingdom of God.” It is the kingdom that Christ exhorted His believers to pray for its arrival (Matthew 6:9) and to continually seek even before one’s own personal provision (Matthew 6:33). This kingdom is not a mere spiritual entity (though there is a spiritual component to it). This kingdom will be realized when Christ physically returns to the earth and reigns over the earth (Revelation 20:1-4, Acts 1:6). This kingdom is a political entity, of which all Christians are citizens. Thus, in order to practically seek God’s kingdom, Christians have to be political.

Yes, I said it. Christians are to be political. Our agenda is to be politically-driven. We are to live for a kingdom of an actual earthly entity. It is a coming kingdom with a present reality (oh the tension of the already-not-yet nature of the kingdom), but a kingdom nevertheless. Christians are not just called to be nice people. We are called to be politically minded. Much the same way that political parties seek to prepare the nation for the coming election, so Christians must prepare the world for Christ’s coming reign. We are to seek the kingdom, prepare the world’s people for this kingdom, and usher people into this kingdom. We are ambassadors of this kingdom, called to proclaim the good news of salvation and redemption, and called to summon every creature to repentance and reconciliation to the coming King before He arrives and rules over every inch of the planet with a rod of iron – giving eternal life to the righteous (who lived by faith) and pronouncing eternal judgment to rebels.

As a Christian, you are indeed called to pursue a political agenda. The kingdom of God, when fulfilled in the eschaton, is a political entity. In order to seek it, you must be politically-minded. You can’t possibly read through the gospel accounts and be anything otherwise. 

Principal #2: Christians are to be eschatological in their political ideology

The word “eschatological” is key. Before Pilate, Christ not only affirmed the reality of His kingdom over which He will be king, but also the nature of it. He states that His kingdom, contrary to what many were saying or assuming, “is not of this world.” While Christ’s kingdom for which we live has a present spiritual realization (Colossians 1:13), it is eschatological in its political realization. The political nature of Christ’s kingdom, in other words, is something that the world has not known and has not seen up to date. The implication: Christians must be ones who are “patriotic” in the fullest sense for a political entity that is not currently realized but that one day will be.

While it indeed healthy for Christians to have a healthy sense of patriotism for the nation in which they currently live (Jeremiah 29:4-7) and for the people group from whom they are anthropologically rooted (Romans 9:1-3), this is different from a kind of political nationalism meant to further the political agenda of a particular nation or people group in this world. Why? Because we are citizens of a kingdom that is “not of this world.” At the end of the day, we traverse this planet as aliens and strangers (1 Peter 2:11), as our true lasting citizenship belongs to a political realm that is yet to come. If we are not of this world, then why give ourselves to political agendas of this world? In other words, the Church’s goal is not to promote the geopolitical exaltation of any one particular people group – white, black, brown yellow, or mixtures – in this world. We are called to love every people group of every ethnicity as we do ourselves (Luke 10:30-37) – called to defend the dignity of people of every ethnicity, and promote justice and show mercy to people of every ethnic group (Micah 6:8). But upholding the dignity of a particular people group is far different than furthering the political agenda of that group. God has revealed His plan for all nations ethnicities: the citizenship of His kingdom will consist of people from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people group (Revelation 5:9-19). All nations will be equally exalted in the kingdom. Hence, the mission of the church today is to make disciples of people of all nations and usher them into God’s kingdom where those people groups will thrive and reign over the earth with Christ.

Principal #3: Christians are to abstain from worldliness in their political methodology

Because His kingdom is not of this world, Christ does not resort to worldly methods to further His kingdom and achieve the goals of His kingdom. He said, “If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over.” Fighting and warfare are worldly methods used to further earthly political agendas. In other words, because Christ’s kingdom was not of this world, His servants and disciples would not be employing worldly methodologies for the furthering of His coming kingdom. If His kingdom were of this world, then yes, we should be engaging in current worldly political affairs and furthering ethnocentric political agendas and supporting all of the worldly and secular organizations that promote these causes. Even Christ said that if His kingdom were of this world, then He would not allow Himself to get arrested. If Christ had come to further Himself and exalt Himself and His followers and His citizens in this world, then willingly handing Himself over to crucifixion would have been nothing short of nonsense. Kings trying to protect their kingdom go down fighting; they don’t hand themselves over to their enemies with a defenseless posture. Do your world history reading; there has been no kingdom, empire, or nation that has risen to power apart from the employment of warfare. No nation has risen to power and conquered lands because the land’s existing nations thought they were cool and voluntarily adopted their culture and gladly submitted to their rulership. Lands were conquered and nations rose through protests, warfare, bloodshed, and battles – not by mere negotiation. The rising of one people group always results in the defeat of another; the establishment of one ruler results in the removal of another (Daniel 2:21). America is no different. Jesus was saying that, if His kingdom was of this world, then He would be fighting. His people would be fighting for Him. They wouldn’t be merely negotiating with Pilate.

But His kingdom isn’t of this world. That’s the point. He has commissioned His Church not to wage warfare, but to preach the gospel. He has commissioned His Church not to exalt certain people groups over another, but to make disciples of all people groups with a spirit of impartiality. The methods used to accomplish such a Great Commission are vastly different from the methods used by this world. Thus, a church that caves into the pressure of supporting every worldly organization and movement is not fulfilling its agenda before Christ. Christ came with a different agenda than what was expected of Him by those awaiting the Messiah. And thus, He resorted to a different course of action. They expected Him to bring deliverance to the Jews from Roman oppression; He came to bring deliverance from sin and and wrath of God. They expected Him to restore the kingdom of Israel; He came proclaiming the kingdom of God. They expected Him to wage warfare; He instead gave Himself up to crucifixion. And He calls for His follower to be do the same. He came preaching the gospel and the kingdom of God, and lived and ministered in such a way that furthered it. His ambassadors are to do the same.

The commission is clear. Proclaim the good news of salvation to all creation. Summon all creation to repentance and faith. Make disciples of all nations. As a Christian, you do have a political agenda to which to give yourself, but it is one that is not of this world. In other words, if you give yourself to such an agenda, every non-Christian in the room should look at you and think, “What kingdom are you living for? What political agenda are you driven by?”

So as I said earlier, don’t to protest just because everyone is protesting…and don’t to be silent just because everyone is silent. Speak what our Lord commands you to speak, when He wants you to speak it, and how He wants you to speak it. As a preacher, I am a herald; I deliver the message of my King to His people in the world. And that message I will deliver clearly, authoritatively, and faithfully. As a Christian, quite trying to appease the masses. Quite trying to conform to the culture. Quit trying to busy yourself with every tending movement and agenda that comes and goes like the waves of the sea. And quit trying to explain yourself. Give yourself to the furtherance of Christ’s kingdom that is not of this world.

Remember that what you live for is not found where you live in.

Taking Charge while Staying Submissive

The Great Paradox of Spiritual Leadership

“Only the LORD give you discretion and understanding, and give you charge over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the LORD your God.”

1 Chronicles 22:12

I was ambitious for many things as a young man. But, in full honesty, leadership wasn’t one of them. I had a thirst to learn, achieve, and discover the gems of God’s great universe. Without a doubt, my desires and ambitions were reoriented upon regeneration, but even upon the decision to give my life to vocational ministry I didn’t envision myself in any realm of leadership. Surely, I wanted to see the gospel be furthered into the regions of my roots. I wanted to see disciples be made of all nations. The burden to preach God’s Word and disciple God’s people had started to boil and began to fuel me into shape my life direction. But if you had told me back when I first entered ministry that I would be a pastor at a local church and a principal at a Christian school, I would have laughed at you. I didn’t necessarily equate vocational ministry with leadership.

But here I am, 17 years (almost exactly to the month) after my high school graduation, serving both as one of the pastors in a local church and one of the principals at a Christian school in the Bay Area of Northern California. I’m still in my mid 30s; by most accounts, I’d still be considered a young man. And apparently, I look about a decade younger than my actual age (not too long ago, some kid asked what year in high school I was). And whether or not I look young, I’m definitely young for the ministry functions I’m currently in; I’m the youngest member of our church’s pastors, and I’m the youngest one of our school’s principals. And of all three gifts required for vocational ministry – teaching, exhortation, and leadership (cf Romans 12:6-7) – leadership has unquestionably been the one that has taken the longest to develop. In fact, close to ten years ago, a former professor and mentor of mine exhorted me to “make it a hobby of yours to study what leadership looks like” after watching me struggle through the initial years of pastoral ministry. He believed that I was a gifted preacher and teacher, but he also saw a timid Timothy and charged me not just to lead, but to learn how to lead. It’s been a journey since. My associates and colleagues say that they don’t see the same problems in leadership that I claimed to have had in my twenties. It’s a sign of growth, I suppose, which I thank the Lord for. Nevertheless, leadership is the area of vocational ministry where I’ve experienced the steepest growth curve.

And the integrity of that growth has truly been bested in the last several months. With the COVID-19 pandemic, SIP orders, and BLM protests all taking place at the same time, the Spring of 2020 has been a unique season of unrest, chaos, affliction, and confusion for God’s people. It’s not everyday that a city finds itself sheltered at home during the day because of a virus pandemic and with a curfew at night due to the outbreak of riots. The last several months have forced me to exercise true spiritual leadership in a way that I haven’t before, and it has reminded me of why spiritual leadership can be so difficult. It’s true for me, and it’s true for many. The reason why spiritual leadership is so difficult is because the spiritual leader must be one who takes charge in submission. Listen to the words of David to Solomon at the advent of Solomon’s reign in 1 Chronicles 22:12:

“Only the LORD give you discretion and understanding, and give you charge over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the LORD your God.”

This is the great paradox of spiritual leadership. And thus, spiritual leaders falter when they either fail to take charge or fail to submit. Leaders are prone to both failures. Both ought to be discussed.

The spiritual leader falters when he shrinks from taking charge

First, the spiritual leader falters when he shrinks from taking charge. David reminded Solomon that God has given him “charge over Israel.” To take charge over God’s people is the duty of the spiritual leader. If he fails to take charge, he fails to leave. When he relinquishes the reigns to someone else, he relinquishes his leadership. Relinquishing reigns is different from delegating tasks. For the record, a leaders can also fall into being dangerously controlling, and fall into the reproach of  being one who lords it over the people. Leaders must know how to delegate; they must know how to entrust because they know how to give trust to those under their care. Controlling and micro-managing people who want everything done their way and want their hands in everything make poor spiritual leaders. But with all of his delegation and entrusting, there is a higher sense in which a leader needs to take charge. And it’s oh so easy for one to shrink from this call for several reasons. For one, the decision-making that comes with the territory often requires a seemingly unattainable level of wisdom (1 Kings 3:9-10). Other times, leaders shrink from taking charge because of the criticism that results from it. Once the honeymoon period between the leader and the people he leads ends, taking charge means making unpopular decisions that will be met with push-back and even rebellion (read Numbers and Moses’ experience with the people of Israel in the wilderness). Thus, men who are consumed with the fear of man and the ambition to please man will shrink from the task of doing anything that may cause them to lose temporary favor. Other times, the persecution comes not from within but from the outside. Leading God’s people through seasons of persecution is akin to leading distressed sheep through dark valleys and turbulent waters. Even if the sheep don’t criticize you for it, they’ll still be in a state of distress. And when the sheep are distressed, so the leader can be also.

The task of taking charge is a weighty responsibility, and the spiritual leader needs to be able to bear that weight on his shoulders. Hence, whenever someone is critical of a decision that you have made, it’s always easier to say, “Well, I’m not in charge of the call on this. I’m just doing as I’m told.” At some point, the buck stops with someone. And that person is the leader. The reality of that burden can weigh down even the strongest of men to the point of despair and even suicide (yes, Moses asked God to take his life during the wilderness journey in Numbers). Taking charge requires one to be both strong and courageous (cf Joshua 1:5-9).

The spiritual leader falters when he neglects submission

Second, the spiritual leader falters when he neglects submission. It sounds like a paradox, because worldly leadership indeed lords it over others (cf Matthew 20:25). And thus, even amongst Christian circles, so many leadership seminars are all about “vision” and about “taking God’s people where they have never been.” I agree that there needs to be vision. But what differentiates spiritual leadership from worldly leadership is precisely that worldly leaders lord it over people and spiritual leaders don’t (cf Luke 22:25-26). The leaders of God’s people don’t lead according to their own ambition or desires, but according to the desires and vision of another. Christ made it clear that He is the only true Leader, and that no one else be called that (cf Matthew 23:10). God’s people are to walk in the will and ways of Christ, period. Thus, everyone in a position of spiritual leadership must not only take charge, but must also be sensitive and submissive to the will of Christ and lead people accordingly (cf 1 Peter 5:3). In other words, when God’s people see where their spiritual leader is taking them, they need to see that the path he is exhorting them to walk is a path that prescribed in the Bible. They need to see that their leaders are shepherding them in a manner that is consistent with the will of the Great Shepherd. This is precisely the difference between leading by worldly ambition and leading by biblical conviction. It’s not about knowing what you want and making people do it. It’s about knowing what God wants and directing to it. What a spiritual leader desires is irrelevant. What God desires is what matters, and a spiritual leader must lead in a way that submits to it.

For the spiritual leader then, there’s no way around it. To lead according to the Word of God, the leader must be well-versed and continually nourished by the Word of God (cf 1 Tim 4:6, 2 Tim 3:15). A leader who isn’t continually studying and submitting himself personally to the Word of God is one who will also fail to lead God’s people according to the Word of God. The failure to do this results in a leader falling prey to leading by either personal ambition or man-made tradition as the Pharisees did. The will of God must trump both. For any given spiritual leader, one of the difficulties of the job is that he simply doesn’t know what the Word of God has to say comprehensively about a particular issue at hand and thus how to lead God’s people through it. This has certainly been the case with this Spring 2020 season. The SIP orders and BLM protests have taken center state in country, and one of the great difficulties for me in my leadership function has not been overcoming fear, but overcoming a knowledge deficit. And how can I blame myself, when so many well-respected and seasoned evangelical leaders are landing on different side with compelling arguments. Hence, I’ve found that in times like this I can’t hide behind others, but need to act out of personal conviction based on what I know about what the Bible says concerning the topic. And in order to be convicted, I need to be well-versed. And that takes time. These past few months, I’ve had to dig deeper into the Scriptures concerning the topic of the church’s relationship to the government and sociological issues more than ever before. Thankfully, I’ve found that the answers truly are in the the Bible. Just because I don’t know what the Bible says about the issue doesn’t mean it doesn’t address it. It just means I have to study.

Spiritual leadership is a skill, one that is very different from worldly leadership. Spiritual leaders how how to take charge with submission.

Remote, Distance, Virtual, Zoom!

Reflections on teaching my first-ever Virtual Distance Middle School Bible Class

Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17)

“Next week, I’m taking a break from all (Bible) teaching,” I told my wife in a semi-celebratory fashion.

It was a Friday evening. Just two days before, the middle school Bible class that I’d been teaching came to a close for the academic year, and I had finished teaching the last of what was a 9-lesson series for one of our church’s several mid-week Bible studies. I was looking forward to week of light reprieve. My 9-year old son, eavesdropping on the conversation while chewing the last bits from his dinner plate, interjected.

“Dad, why are you doing that? Do you love Jesus or what?,” he said, with a Pokémon-character-like grin.

I was stunned. I wanted to tell him, “Son, I do love Jesus…and I’m also Zoom-ed out!” (This Shelter-in-Place season has given “Zoom” an entirely different meaning than the traditional dictionary definition). For some reason, his words resonated in my brain the following morning. It was a reminder to me that, for the man of God, there is an inextricable link between loving Christ and teaching His people. It was for this very reason that I indeed felt “Zoom-ed out.”

While I’ve been teaching the Scriptures formally and vocationally for the past twelve years, this past six-week stretch of teaching a virtual Bible class to the middle school students of Legacy Christian School will go down without a doubt as a hallmark event in my race of faith. To be transparent, I lacked faith in the beginning of it all.

When the Shelter-in-Place order was initially set to last for just 3 weeks, I decided to put Bible class on hold for several reasons. First, as both a teacher and school assistant principal, I didn’t want the students (and their parents) to feel overwhelmed as the school started hiking the oh-so-steep curve of virtual distance learning. We had initially decided that Math and Language Arts would be the focus during the 3 weeks, and sought to keep students on course in these two subjects. But more importantly, I honestly didn’t want to teach a virtual Bible class through Zoom, Facebook, Google Classroom, or any other online platform. There was no class in seminary that taught us how to do this. Add to this that I’m all but the epitome of techie ineptitude. And even if I was tech-savvy, how was I supposed to realistically pull this off with 36 middle schoolers? So initially decided to put the class on hold.

But when the SIP order was extended through May, I knew I had no choice but to get over my own insecurity about teaching the Bible remotely. Didn’t the apostle Paul teach remotely by writing epistles from prison? Aren’t we called to preach in season and out of season (and, by implication, during the Shelter-In-Place season)? My reluctance didn’t change the fact that the Word of God is not imprisoned, and that I needed to endure all things – including the practical difficulty and lower quality of online instruction – in order to get the Word of God out to people (2 Tim 2:9-10). Further, I realized that – regardless of how our state governors and public health officials define “essential” activities – the teaching of God’s Word is absolutely essential for the growth and sustenance of a person (Matthew 4:4). And so on April 6, 2020 – with faith the size of a mustard seed – I launched the LCS Zoom Bible Class.

Detouring from the gospel of John that we had been covering during the 2nd semester up until the SIP order was issued, I decided to take the students through the first six chapters of the book of Daniel, covering one chapter per week (each of the middle school teachers held one zoom class per week for each of the grades). It was partly logistical. There were six weeks of instruction left in the semester, and I needed a 6-lesson series. But more importantly, amidst this global pandemic and the loss of normalcy, I wanted to turn their eyes upward toward the sovereign God who works all things for His glory and purpose. I wanted them to see the example of faith in a youth who was in a situation worse than theirs, whose life also lost all sense of normalcy upon being taken captive into Babylon.

It was a behemoth of a task. I was preparing not only lesson outlines and student handouts, but power-point slides to help fill some of the gap that was caused by the lack of proximity. My techie-ineptness began to surface; for every hour spent preparing the lesson content, I would spend two hours trying to make it virtual-friendly! Frustration and discouragement were constant enemies; I knew that I was putting three times the effort for half the quality. The truth is, there is no replacement for an in-person Bible exposition, and that gap couldn’t be fully filled. On top of this, learning how to actually manage a class over Zoom – everything from disabling annotations and chats, switching between muting and unmuting, sharing screens – was a curve in and of itself. By the end of the 6 weeks, I was wiped. Zoom-ed out, if you will. At several points during the stretch, I would tell friends, “This is when I wish I had graduated with a computer science degree from MIT.”

But with all the virtual gymnastics, I tried to keep the classroom lesson structure constant. They had their “bell-work” at the first five minutes of class. Lectures (yes, I made them interactive) would last approximately a half-hour, and each class session was capped with a quiz. And though I value flexibility and adaptability, I did not move from the method of Bible teaching I was trained in from seminary days – expository teaching and preaching. Lessons – all power-point slides aside – were straightforward. I would read the text, explain the meaning of the text, and exhort them practically with the truths from the text in a way that culminated to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Running a Bible class virtually in no way mandated the abandonment of biblical exposition.

And so how did things turn out? At a human level, I give all the credit to the students. The littleness of my faith was more than made up for by their efforts and diligence. They knew that this wasn’t a “mandatory” class. They knew that their presence (or lack of) would not affect their grades or GPA. Their parents didn’t supervise or require them to participate. But just about all of them showed up each week with nearly impeccable attendance (those who missed would e-mail me asking for material to study on their own). Students would log into the zoom room several minutes early, even before I did. When in class, the kids participated, raised their hands, volunteered thoughts, answered critical thinking questions, and listened attentively. They would smile upon hearing some of Daniel’s greatest acts of faith and would shake their heads upon hearing some of the things the pagan rulers did. The quality of instruction may have inevitably dipped, but they adapted. By the end of the six-weeks, the overall quiz average for both grades was 100%.

I’m hopeful that our state and county will reopen by late summer, and that the 2020-2021 academic school year will see a return to residential on-site instruction and in-class learning. But if, for whatever reason, we have to resort back to virtual distance instruction, I’m committed to doing so. These students have shown me that it’s possible. More importantly, as my Pokémon-like-grinning son has caused me to consider, there is indeed an inextricable link between loving Christ and teaching those sheep He entrusted to my care. John 21:15-17 makes it clear. If I love Him, I must – whether on-site or online – feed His sheep.

Responding Biblically to Our Government in Light of COVID-19

Understanding the biblical instructions for all Christians toward the government

There are things that we as a general humanity do because of what is globally accepted and understood to be good. We take showers. We brush our teeth. We exercise. We go to the doctor annually. We eat three meals a day and sleep for eight hours a day. But the reality is that sheltering in our homes in light of the corona virus outbreak is not something that’s happening because the mass of humanity was convinced by scientific evidence, in the same way that mass humanity is convinced that vitamin C boosts your immune system. Our schools are closed, our churches are not gathering physically, our restaurants are in take-out-only mode, and our professional sporting events have been postponed not because California citizens (or American citizens) are unanimously scientifically convinced that self-quarantining and social-distancing is the best way for our population to overcome COVID-19. There is a range of opinions as wide as the California Condor’s wingspan, about the virus if you haven’t figured that out yet. There are those who began social-quarantining and mask-wearing long before any ordinance was passed by the county. There are also those who, even with the ordinance, refuse to social quarantine themselves and are now under the threat of facing law enforcement. The reason why the millions of Americans, and virtually all Californians, are currently sheltering at home is because our government has issued it. It is a political ordinance, rather than scientific discovery, that has moved humanity to stay at homes. I’m both a pastor and a principal. I can assure you that, had the county ordinance for the banning of gatherings 100 and over not been passed, our school would have remained in session without a noticeable drop in attendance. I can assure you that, had the Shelter-at-Home ordinance not been passed, that our church would have continued meeting. The majority of Christians right now – save a few who have either been given over to insensible paranoia – would have continued to do their daily business and normal life routines (with a few more cautionary disciplines, of course) had the governing authorities not passed these ordinances. And the majority of Christians right now – save a few who are convinced that Romans 13 doesn’t apply to their plans to gather – are indeed sheltered at home. And it’s because of what the government has decreed and ordained. Given the uncertainty looming in the horizon, God has not called His people to sit helplessly in light of what is happening on a governmental level. He has called us to indeed respond. He has called us to act. There are a lot of opinions out there, and I don’t mean to add more. I’m not, in this entry, going to give my perspective on the deadliness (or harmlessness) or the corona virus, because I was not trained as a virologist, pathologist, or epidemiologist. Nor am I going to give my perspective on whether or not Gavin Newsom is being sensible or stupid in his decree for a state-wide shelter-at-home ordinance, because I was not trained as a politician. I was trained as an biblical expositor, and I will thus remind us of the instructions God has given us that, perhaps in light of the fear and frustration and fluster, we may have forgotten or are simply neglecting.

In light of how we ought to respond to the government during this time, here are six biblical instructions from God to us:

#1: SENSIBILITY about the sovereignty of our government

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1)

It’s easy to become imbalanced and irrational in our thinking. With government opinions turning into recommendations turning into ordinances/decrees seemingly every hour, it’s tempting to think that we’re at the full mercy of our government, and to grow either fearful or frustrated. Fear and frustration often clouds perspective. And the perspective we need to have first and foremost is that every decree passed by the government on behalf of the people is under the sovereignty of God. It is He who turns every governing authority’s heart as He pleases. It was He who hardened Pharaoh’s heart to formally forbid Israel from leaving Egypt, and it was He who stirred Cyrus’ heart to decree Israel’s return to Jerusalem. It is He who ultimately moved our governor’s heart to ordain a Shelter-at-Home. It is He who will move our governor’s and county authority’s hearts to ordain its end, whenever He does. Be careful that your frustration with life as how it is is not frustration toward God. Look to Him. Lean on Him. Live by faith in Him. The God who moves the heart of the government is the God who promised to work all things – including government ordinances – for the good of those who love Him (Rom 8:28-32). He did not spare His Son from us; how will He fail to give us all things, including a time like this? Our government may have lifted his hand against the one true God, but God is not in a struggle against our government. God is not in a struggle against Satan. God is not in a struggle against anyone. Our God is in the heavens; He does what He pleases (Ps 115:3)

#2: SUBMISSION to the decrees and ordinances of our government

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed.” (Romans 13:1-2)

Before God calls us to form opinions about our governing authorities, He calls us to submit to them. To submit to God is to submit to the government. In the same way that a child obeys God by obeying His parents and a wife honors God by submitting to her husband, so submission to God flushes itself out practically in submission to our governing authorities in whose jurisdiction we live. In the same light, to resist the government is to resist God who established them. Unless our government is commanding us to sin, we have an obligation to submit. Period. Unless you are currently part of the governor’s cabinet, God has not given you authority nor has He deemed you as competent to ordain or overturn the laws and ordinances of the land. If the government issues a Shelter-at-Home ordinance, then we need to Shelter-at-Home. Why? Not because we necessarily deem it to be beneficial ourselves, but because we have a biblical obligation to. Listen to God by obeying our government. Making yourself look like an expert politician or an apostolic reformer could result in you looking like an idiot. Your hope is not in our nation, but in the coming kingdom of God. Blessed are the meek – those who do not force the goods or rights of the world for themselves in this life – for they shall inherit the earth. The kingdom of God is being prepared for you when it comes. Until then, practice deference.   

#3: SUPPORT toward the good efforts our government

“Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work…” (Titus 3:1)

Not only are we commanded by God Himself in His inspired Word to be submitted to the governing authorities, but to be supportive of our government. Titus 3:1 says that, on top of submission, we must be “ready for every good work.” Christians are to always be ready for any duty to which they may be called for the good of the city or nation in which we live. Christianity was never meant to be used as an excuse to withhold oneself from fulfilling one’s duties to his city, so long as it doesn’t violate God’s direct prescriptions. Christians are not to submit begrudgingly, but to actively seek to support whatever good our government is trying to do. Right now, in light of COVID-19, our government has issued a state-wide Shelter-at-Home ordinance in order to slow the spread of the virus so that our healthcare system can absorb it. They will not – and cannot – micromanage every single citizen and examine whether or not we are practicing proper sanitization and social-distancing. As Christians, it can be tempting submit to the letter of the law without following the spirit of the law; it’s easy to be submissive without supportive. Our duty is not to attempt to creatively get around the law, but rather understand the overall purpose of why the shelter-in-place order was giving, and do the best we can to support it. Not because it’s what we would have ordained had we been in a position of governing authority (thank goodness we’re not), but because we exist as part of a community, city, county, and country. It’s not about simply obeying the law, but conducting ourselves in such a way that – so long as it doesn’t violate our conscience – supports our government and whatever good they are trying to do in the compelling interest of the state.

#4: SUPPLICATION on behalf of our government

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Tim 2:1-2)

Remember, o Christian, that God is in control of our government. But remember, o Christian, that God listens to His children. And He has reminded us, lest we become faint at heart, that the prayers of the righteous He hears (Proverbs 15:29), and that the prayers of the righteous are effectual not just personally but also for the sake of the land in which dwell (James 5:16ff). He, in His sovereignty, has designed this universe such that the prayers of His saints will move history (Matthew 6:9, 17:20). And because of this, He has commissioned His saints to make supplications and petitions on behalf of our governing authorities for the sake of the city in which we live (1 Tim 3:1-2). One of the means by which God will move the government is through the petitions of Christians on behalf of the government. So instead of rebelling, pray. It is through the prayers of the saints that God will move the government to make decisions and pass decrees and ordinances that will enable us to live in tranquility and quietness in all godliness and dignity. Times are chaotic right now, not just physically but socio-economically. The world is anything but tranquil. The world is anything but quiet. So get your fingers off of social media, get on your knees and, turning your eyes toward heaven, cry out to the Lord God Almighty on behalf of our government. He has promised to listen to you. 

#5: STEADFASTNESS amidst the trials incurred by government

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:(1 Peter 4:7-10)

For the record, I do not believe that as Christians we are undergoing any kind of systematic persecution from the government. The ban for congregating has not been directed toward evangelical churches. Just turn on your TV and try to tune in to a live NBA game if you aren’t convinced! But the truth is that this particular period is one that is a trial by enlarge for most churches. I don’t know of many churches in the country – or in the world for that matter – that are relieved by this Shelter-at-Home ordinance. Churches are distressed. I can’t think of any Christian school or university that is breathing a sigh of relief that this ordinance has been passed. By enlarge, God’s people are not relieved. They are distressed by this particular trial. Distress has the ability to cripple a person from engaging in activity that God has called us to do. But in light of this particular nation-wide and even global trial, God has called His people to be steadfast, immovable, and to continue to abound in His work. We are to continue to love one another, be hospitable to one another, and employ our gifts for the edification of one another. The presence of the corona virus and the Shelter-at-Home ordinance may prevent God’s people from meeting and gathering as we normally do, but it is not a decree that God ordained to stop Christian activity – in the same way that those classic side-cramps is not the cue for a distance runner to stop running his race (I might as well throw in a free personal-training tip here!).

#6: SILENCE about slandering our government (Acts 23:5)

Social media is erupting right now. Journalists are excited and frantic. People who don’t normally write and creating blogs. People who aren’t normally opinionated are producing their own Ted-talks. For the record, God does not call us to be indifferent or without our opinion toward the government. We have the freedom to agree or disagree with our government. Even Jesus referred to Herod as a fox (and no, He wasn’t referring to Herod being cute and cuddly and adaptable). And for the record, unlike in other countries, the first amendment in our constitution grants us the right to the freedom of speech. From a political perspective, we are free to say whatever we want to say about our government and not fear any punishment from it. But one of the ways that the church shines as the light of the world is by engaging in good works that demonstrate our submission to a higher authority than our local or national government – the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given. And although our constitution allows us to say whatever we want to say, our Lord has prescribed us specific instructions as to how to speak. We are to say only which edifies and that gives grace in the time of need, and to wholly abstain from anything that is unwholesome (Ephesians 4:29). He has given us wisdom, in saying that it is foolish to habitually reveal one’s mind through words and to multiply those words (see Proverbs). And specifically, He has commanded His people not to speak evil against our rulers. So, when it comes to our speech regarding our governing authorities – whether or not you think they’re idiots or conspirators – we as Christians need to practice the discipline of silence. Not absolute silence, but silence with regards to unrestrained and unwarranted and unverified speech against our governing authorities. By engaging in such a discipline, perhaps we may distinguish ourselves – as Daniel distinguished himself amongst all of the Persian officials and satraps – as having a more excellent spirit (Daniel 6:3).

May we honor the Word of God during this time in the way we faithfully respond to our government as God has prescribed.

Confident Preaching and a Committed People

Biblical insights on the relationship between the pulpit and the people

“This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.” ~Titus 3:8

If you want a committed people, you need a confident preaching. Where the preaching is weak, so the people are weak. When the preaching is dry, so the people will be dry. When the preaching is sound and dynamic, so the people will be sound and dynamic. Such is a biblical philosophy of church ministry that every church needs to have and that every minister needs to have. It’s no surprise that it’s found in the pastoral epistles – specifically in the book of Titus.

Titus likely wasn’t a seasoned pastor. He was faithful. He was exemplary. But he wasn’t aged. And, like Timothy, there were likely people in the Cretan church who would disregard him for whatever reason. And so the apostle Paul had to remind Titus that when it came to the instruction of sound doctrine and living to the church, he was to speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority, seen in verse 2:15. When it came to the proclamation and exhortation of the gospel doctrine and the good deeds that were fitting to such, Titus wasn’t there to negotiate. He wasn’t there to be diplomatic. He wasn’t there to converse. He wasn’t there to poll opinions. He was to preach and do so with authority. Again Paul reminds him in verse 3:8 that he was to speak confidently. He was not to be sheepish or timid. He was not to be apologetic, even if the truth he spoke was difficult to swallow or met resistance. With authority and confidence, Titus was to instruct the Cretan church.

But for what reason? We’re not left to ourselves to speculate. I love the words “so that” in the Scriptures, as it leaves me with the purpose for which something is stated. For what reason was Titus to teach in the church with authority and confidence? It is seen in the second half of verse 3:8: “so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds.” The Greek word that Paul uses here translated as “be careful” means “to keep on giving serious consideration or contemplation to something.” Strength of teaching produces seriousness in people. Teaching, evidently, wasn’t an end in itself, but a means to an end. And that end was not for Titus, but for the people. Specifically, it was for the good deeds of the people. In short, the reason why Titus was to teach in a certain manner was so that God’s people would live in a certain manner. Confident preaching would result in a committed people.

Such truth is important for several reasons. First, it reveals the inextricable relationship between the church’s preaching and practice. When it comes to the health of a church body, then, one cannot extricate the quality of the pulpit from the ministry of the people. I say this because people often try to extricate the two. For instance, I’ve heard people evaluate churches by saying that a particular church is strong in its teaching but lacking in its discipleship and community involvement. I understand what they’re saying. But what this passage unveils is that a church that is weak in the exhibition of good deeds – be it toward one another in the church or toward the community – is a church that is weak in its teaching as well. It may be teaching precise systematic theology from the pulpit, but sound teaching includes much more than getting your -isms and -ions squared away into clean charts and diagrams. Sound teaching is, by necessity, practical in its exhortation. Paul reminds Timothy of this, saying that the goal of biblical instruction is love (1 Tim 1:5). The relationship between what happens in the pulpit and what happens to the people is inextricable. If you want a people that lives out the gospel soundly, then you need a pulpit that soundly preaches the gospel.

Second, it instructs us as to what kind of a preacher to look for. Or, better yet, that we ought to be looking for a preacher, period. Nowadays, churches don’t seem to be looking for preachers. They’re looking for story-tellers. They’re looking for comedians. They’re looking for entertainers. They’re looking for conversationalists. They’re looking for diplomats. Preachers aren’t viewed much differently as dinosaurs – legends of the past era that have no place in the present culture. Because of that, strong biblical exposition from the pulpit is being abandoned at an alarming rate. Such has become evident to me over the years when talking to youth who I’ve tutored in academics. Impressed with my math and physics skills, more than once have I been told by a teenager, “I’m surprised that you’re a pastor, because you’re really smart.” It was humorous at the least, but very much revealing of how pastors are viewed today. Pastors and preachers are viewed by enlarge by the youth culture as men characterized by scholastic stupidity. And how can you blame them, when so much stupidity is taking place from our church’s pulpits. Sunday after Sunday, youth group after youth group, preachers and youth pastors get up to the pulpit, and say absolutely nothing of substance. Oh, they may converse. They’ll entertain. They’ll tell stories. They’ll make you laugh. They’ll use props. They’ll show movie clips. They’ll rap and euphemistically curse. But open up the Bible and soundly exposit it with authority and confidence, precisely revealing its doctrine while powerfully exhorting its practice? Preachers do that. And apparently, in America’s church culture, they’re outdated.

They’re outdated, alright, unless you want a church that is indeed seriously devoted to doing good works to one another and to the community. For only when you have a confident preaching will you have a committed people.