“It takes a crucified man to preach a crucified Savior.” –Alexander Maclaren
“I abhor the thought of God being robbed of his glory…” That was part of the response that a young man was giving in one of my seminary classes. I shudder as I type the latter part of his comment. “…and if that means the damnation of infants then so be it”.
It’s not my concern to throw this dude under the bus. Truthfully, I see some of myself in him. Getting so wrapped in theology, idealism, and the way things ought to be that I forget the way that things actually are. Grace will likely grab hold of this young man and transform him. Jesus has a way of doing that. While we roll our eyes at statements like this (and maybe rightly so) Jesus moves in and administers grace. Grace that crushes…but grace still.
I was concerned that day as I thought about this young man pastoring a church. I was worried for him and for his congregation. Mostly because broken men don’t say things like that. Even if it were theologically true, broken men just don’t speak like that. As I’ve gone through seminary for a few years now I am becoming convinced that students should have to spend at least one semester in the furnace of suffering before we can graduate.
Jesus was 30…
And he didn’t start his public ministry until he was in the wilderness. The wilderness is necessary. As are the wilderness temptations. There in his, dare I say, weakness, Jesus was confronted with the full onslaught of hell.
- Would he trust in God’s sufficient Word or would he rely on a quicker fix?
- Would he plod along God’s redemptive (though rocky) road or would he sell-out to the flash?
- Would he remain faithful to serving the Lord, careful to follow the God-ordained means or would he take the shortcut with no suffering?
Jesus conquered Gethsemane and embraced the Cross because he had already won that victory in the wilderness. The same applies to ministers today. It is in the wilderness that we learn to rely upon the Lord, to trust His narrow and often frightening path.
A broken minister
When the Lord bruises a man in the wilderness he doesn’t hide behind “correct theology” and call it “just speaking the truth”. He, with dust in his throat, simply holds the hand of the mother who lost her infant. He weeps with her. With nothing to say. No sermon to give. No lesson to be learned. No pontificating about the Lord’s glory. A broken man knows how to be silent and speak with only his empathetic brokenness.
Seminaries and churches that are training ministers ought to be careful about unleashing an unbroken man onto a congregation. Put him in the wilderness for awhile. Ministers need the wilderness.
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You can follow Mike on Twitter (@mikeleake), his personal blog, or by tapping his phones.
Perhaps if the man reaches the pulpit unbroken it is because our theology of sin is inadequate.
Maybe not inadequate…but surely unapplied. (Thus, inadequate, eh?)
On a similar but not exactly the same topic, with an eye towards understanding brokenness, I offer this off the blog roll at the top of SBCVoices: http://thomrainer.com/2013/05/29/why-every-pastor-should-read-about-melissas-suicide-2/
Mike,
I have not seen many associate pastors moving into the pastorate position. I’m sure there are some, however, we need more associate pastors. Many go straight into the pastorate and never experience the side-step approach. I think men would be better off if we did that with pastors and teachers. It is a wilderness when we cannot speak until we are ready.
Excellent Article Mike! By the way I am thirty and have been through the wilderness a few times. Being able to relate to the pain of people in the congregation and remaining faithful to the word of Gis tough but rewarding.
“””I am thirty””
You ain’t seen nothing yet!
God bless you as you continue to serve Him.
Preach it, Frank!
Good word. Thank you.
Yep, good stuff.
A friend used to say, until a preacher has a good train-wreck in his life he’s not worth much. And while I’ve learned a lot since I was 30 I’ve known a few who’d learned a lot more than me by that time. I think this is a true thing you have written but don’t know what to do about it. A lot of small churches can’t afford an associate (like most churches) even part time. So I guess, we could tell churches to only hire men who have served as an associate or been in an ‘apprentice’ type setting.… Read more »
I don’t think the answer is to put an age on it. As you said there are some that really have substantially suffered before the age of 30. And some that do after. Nor do I think that the answer is necessarily to require an associate pastor. I’m not trying to set up any hard and fast rules here. I’m simply saying that we need to be cautious about putting an unbroken person in the pulpit. Perhaps when we go to interview men for ministry (young our old) we ought to ask questions about their most painful experiences, their failures,… Read more »
Mike, Going through the furnace of suffering is a harsh reality, if we haven’t been there yet, just wait it’s just around the corner. One thing I would like to point out here, is forgiveness. I hear young preachers get up and preach forgiveness as if it’s the most simple thing to accompolish, when they haven’t even been through the furnace of suffering. I sumit to you that bumping into someone at the mall and saying I’m sorry and getting forgiveness for it, is fairly easy. What if you bumped into the same individual who had a baby in the… Read more »
Jess,
I think it is forgiveness that conforms us to the image of Christ. We have so many opportunities to forgive in family and church. I would love to join a church built around that one act. We seldom understand the need of forgiving that we miss what Christ has done for us. Thanks for pointing that out.
Bruce,
I agree, I would love to be part of a church that is built around forgiveness, all are suppose to be, but they are not.
As I approach 60, I look back and realize that it is my furnace experiences that bring my theology into clearer focus. God at work with me in the furnace in the most painful times of life (like burying a granddaughter) has brought me to a sharper understanding of theology while causing me to see the blurry, fuzziness of people trying to understand, live, and practice our theology. As a matter of fact, my greatest knowledge & convictions concerning the work and wonder of my Lord have come into focus after the fact. Its long after the furnace fires have… Read more »
The young man’s words are unfortunate, but there are many words that young zealous men say. For that matter many old men as well. However, there is a lesson to learn about becoming mature, or as the saying goes, “older and wiser.” Remember, even the Apostle Paul broke up with Barnabas over John Mark because Paul (at that time) refused to forgive Mark and give him a second chance. Immaturity? Quite possible, considering he did reconcile with him later. Jesus certainly could have kicked Peter to the curb for abandoning Him, but he restored quickly… Perhaps the more interesting angle… Read more »
Honestly, I don’t remember much what the professor said. I know that he didn’t outright rebuke him…but you could tell that he was unsettled by the comment and I remember him talking about pastoral sensitivity shortly thereafter. I can’t recall the specifics but I do know that I was not unsettled by his response.
The obvious difference is that Jesus didn’t falter in the wilderness as we often do. There are a couple of tracks that we identify as being in the wilderness. One track is characterized by temptation that most often succumb to. The other track is one of suffering. The wilderness wanderings of the Hebrews during the Exodus were characterized in some ways by both. Their suffering was caused in large part by their falling to temptation. Out of their suffering came the discipline of the generation that grew up in the wilderness to the task of conquering Canaan. However, the minor… Read more »
I very much agree with the premise being presented here, but I also don’t think a seminary or church has a Biblical way of forcing anyone into spiritual wilderness. God has to do that, and He does it to men in His own time.