leadership

Seeking the Wandering

/ Richard Bargas / 1 Comment

The hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was written by the 18th century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson at age 22 in the year 1757. This hymn probably grips most Christian’s hearts because of its honesty when it says,

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Considering the very real fact that we are all prone to wander, I thought that it would be helpful to consider the four ways in which we need to show loving concern for a brother or sister who has gone astray from Matthew 18:10-14:

““See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matthew 18:10–14, ESV)

1. Do not despise the “little ones” (v. 10)

““See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10, ESV)

It’s all too easy to get side tracked on this verse thinking that it somehow points to the notion of “guardian angels.” Without spending much time in this issue, let me say that there is little evidence that is given to hold to such an idea. The main point of this verse teaches that the mature Christians in the Church are to make sure that they do not despise (kataphroneo, lit. think down upon) these “little ones” which are other believers, especially the less mature.

How can we despise other Christians?

In 1 Corinthians 11:22, Paul rebuked the wealthy Christians in that church for despising the poor in the way that they humiliated them in their feast when they would not share with those who had little to eat. So, we can despise the less mature by humiliating others in regards to earthly things such as wealth, education, clothing, social standings and other such things.

In 1 Timothy 4:12, Paul instructed Timothy to not allow others to despise him as their pastor because of his youthfulness, but rather that Timothy should set the example for the church in godliness. So, we can despise others when we look at age as a standard instead of godliness—younger is not always better and older is not always wiser.

In 1 Timothy 6:2, Paul rebuked those Christians who were taking advantage of their Christian masters by not working as hard as they could, because they had misguided ideas about their oneness in Christ. But Paul tells them that they ought to work harder for a Christian master because in doing so we are blessing a brother in Christ. So, we too can be guilty of despising a Christian brother when we take advantage of relationships we have with other Christians because they are Christians and should “understand,” when in fact we would never treat an unbeliever in this manner. There are of course other ways in which we can despise or look down upon our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Besides Jesus’ words in the first 9 verses of Matthew 18, Jesus adds another reason that we should not despise these “little ones” of God—because their angels are constantly bringing updates and are in the presence of the throne of God. As I wrote above, this isn’t saying that each Christian has his or her own guardian angel, and it is definitely not saying babies have a guardian angel (“little ones” are Christians). Hebrews 1:14 states that angels are ministering spirits for the benefit of the children of God as a group. So, God administers his grace through the hands of angelic messengers, but this is not saying that each person is assigned an angel. The major point not to be missed is this: Don’t look down upon God’s children, because they are so precious to him that he has his angels constantly ministering to us and responding to our needs.

2. Go after the straying sheep (v. 12)

“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” (Matthew 18:12, ESV)

As stated in verses 7-9, temptations will come, but we are not to be the ones who lead other believers astray. Now in this verse we see that there will be some who are led astray, and it clarifies how we should respond appropriately. Jesus tells a parable, asking the opening question: “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?

Jesus expects his disciples to answer, “Of course!” It’s like saying to me, “What do you think? If you lost one of your four kids, would you leave the three and go look for the one?” YES!! I wouldn’t say, “Well, I do have three spares. We’ll see if she comes back on her own.” No, no, no. Jesus has already stressed how highly precious his little ones are in his sight. We are precious to the Lord. We, among all the millions of believers, are still precious to him. So what should we do when one of our fellow sheep goes astray? We should go after him or her. “Gone astray” is a passive verb, and suggests that this little lamb may have been led astray by a brother in Christ, possibly by someone placing a stumbling block in their path. Don’t get me wrong, each person is responsible for his or her own decisions, but our actions affect others, and we will share in the guilt if we are the stumbling block that led a little one astray.

In verses 15-20, Matthew writes how we need to deal with a Christian who is unrepentant in their sin, so there are guidelines for going after straying sheep. Just as a simple guideline, we are not to overlook the sin that leads a Christian to walk away from Christ or his church. We cannot search for straying sheep with the hope that they can be won back with compromising regarding their sin, which led them astray.

3. Rejoice when the strays are restored (v. 13) 

“And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.” (Matthew 18:13, ESV)

Not all those who go astray are returned to the fold. Some sheep that wandered from their flock were eaten by wolves or faced some other death. Those who do not return to the flock of God, but depart from the faith entirely do not lose their salvation, but show that in reality they never were one of God’s “little ones.” First John 2:19 says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” But for those who are eventually restored to the faith through repentance, the parable that Jesus taught that the Shepherd rejoices over this one who was lost and now has been found—even more than he does over the ninety-nine who were never lost.

Hopefully you can see the similarities of this parable with Jesus’ parable about the prodigal son. Jesus is not saying that the ninety-nine are any less special than the one that was restored, but that when the one is restored, the most appropriate thing to do is to rejoice at his restoration to God. In 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, Paul referred to a man who had sinned against him, and whom the church had dealt with for his sin. Apparently, the church was still holding his sin against him. In this passage Paul urges the church to forgive the repentant sinner and to comfort him, for if they did not, the burden would become too much for him and he would be excessively sorrowful.

Likewise, we need to see that when a straying child of God is brought back into the fold, our place is never to hold that sin over him or her in an unforgiving spirit, but rather to rejoice at their restoration. Elsewhere Scriptures teaches, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:32).

4. Understand God’s will is restoration (v. 14) 

“So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matthew 18:14, ESV)

The lesson of this parable is given in this last verse. The Greek word houtos means, “therefore” or “thus,” and brings the teaching to its concluding response for those listening. Jesus has been teaching through this parable that the Good Shepherd loves and cares for all of his sheep, and that even the least stray lamb is important to him. Our heavenly Father doesn’t allow his children to stray off and be lost forever. He cares for them and brings them back to himself…always:

John 6:39 says, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

John 17:12 “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”

The Reformers called this doctrine, Perseverance of the Saints, but it is better called, the Preservation of God. Since God sees each of his sheep as precious enough to go after, we must understand this doctrine as our duty as well. We cannot allow the sheep to go off and stray from the faith. If they leave, may it be that they have done so with a chorus of voices from the church calling them back. And, even though some churches rejoice in the loss of a “troublesome” Christian, even calling it “blessed subtraction,” God does not see it that way.

Think about your own local church, do you see people missing? Do you see some who have been gone for a while? Do you know why? Have you pursued them? Now, imagine that something has happened where you have been gone for a month. Wouldn’t you want to be missed? Maybe not. Maybe you have not been walking with the Lord, and you think you are happier at the moment. But, deep inside you know you aren’t. What if nobody cared? What will you do about it? Will you leave your comfort zone and go after the stray sheep?

The Need for Modern Reformers in the Local Church (weekend repost)

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Although we Protestants say that we don’t venerate the saints, you wouldn’t know it the way some pastors fawn over Luther, Calvin, Knox, Spurgeon, and other reformers. Don’t get me wrong, I think those men were used mightily of God, in spite of their flaws and personal sin.

But what I wonder about is how it is that so many pastors who would look up to these men and admire them for their courage and boldness are so cowardly in their own churches when they are called upon by the testimony of the Word of God to stand firm against a potential revolt by those who do not want biblical change.

Read the rest of the post here: The Need for Modern Reformers in the Local Church

Help for New Pastors-Planning A Funeral (weekend repost)

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Although there isn’t a substitute for actually conducting a funeral yourself, it is possible to be better prepared to have those conversations that will make for a better memorial and graveside service. Like many things in pastoral ministry, after struggling to figure out how to do something as a new pastor, I figured out a way that worked for me and then standardized a format that made my “system” repeatable.

Read the rest of the post here: Help for New Pastors-Planning a Funeral

The Need for Modern Reformers in the Local Church

/ Richard Bargas / 1 Comment

“The problem with preachers today is that nobody wants to kill them anymore!”

Steven J. Lawson
Bishop Hooper burned at the stake for the gospel.

Although we Protestants say that we don’t venerate the saints, you wouldn’t know it the way some pastors fawn over Luther, Calvin, Knox, Spurgeon, and other reformers. Don’t get me wrong, I think those men were used mightily of God, in spite of their flaws and personal sin.

But what I wonder about is how it is that so many pastors who would look up to these men and admire them for their courage and boldness are so cowardly in their own churches when they are called upon by the testimony of the Word of God to stand firm against a potential revolt by those who do not want biblical change.

When Gideon was called to pull down the idols in his town, he may have been overcome by the fear of man, but at least he did it, even if under the cover of night. And when they found out what he did, they wanted to kill him.

When Josiah came to understand how far Judah had fallen away from obedience to the Law, he immediately began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of its idolatrous high places and reinstated the reform that was necessary to please the Lord. This led to a need to rebuild and reorder the temple so that proper worship could be restored.

And the church today is in need of men who are ready and willing to make the changes that are needed in their local churches where unbiblical practices have found a nesting place for ages. For fear of confrontation, loss of income, or prominent families, or a simple fear of losing your job, pastors remain silent in the face of unrepentant sin and all manner of false practices. Unregenerate men are allowed to remain on elder and deacon boards, unhealthy and unbiblical curriculum and programs continue to function so as to avoid a conflict with a women’s ministry head or the parents of the youth. The call for entertainment in church continues to ring louder as the Word of God is given less time to work in the hearts that need it.

Yes, we admire Luther’s stand at the Diet of Worms where he refused to recant. We applaud Spurgeon for being unwilling to give in to the New Measures that sought to entertain the goats. We are in awe of Whitefield who preached the gospel wherever he could garner an audience. We rejoice at the courage of John Rogers and the other Marian martyrs who refused to stop preaching under Bloody Mary of Tudor, and were burned at the stake for it. But will we stand today? Where is our courage? Where is our godly resolve to trust God in the face of angry adversity within and outside of the church? Brothers! Be strong and very courageous!

The Place of Theology in Sermons

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The recent State of Theology study by Ligonier ministries puts into quantifiable results the fact that the Evangelical Church is astoundingly ignorant and misinformed about the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. It isn’t hard to understand this when sermons continue to get shorter and substance grows thinner. Moralism, stories, pop psychology, and video clips fill up the time given for preaching and the results are predictable.

How can we beef up the theological content of our sermons while not overwhelming our congregations with long dissertations and dry lectures? As in many things in life, we must strike a balance. How can we do that?

  1. Preach the text. Expositional preaching is not the same as a theological diatribe. Every text contains theology, but not every theological message is expositional. Stick to the text and explain the passage by making the theology in it clear.
  2. Make sure you understand the depth and breadth of the theology in the text. As the one expounding the passage, you must know the greater concepts of theology inside and outside of the passage. Pull out that systematic theology and refresh yourself with the broader and more full ideas involved in the particular theological concept you are addressing. This will guard you from saying something contradicted elsewhere in Scripture.
  3. Be clear about the theological idea before you preach on it. Nothing makes a muddy sermon than not knowing what you are talking about. If you can explain the main idea of a theological concept to a 10 year old, you understand it well. Break it down into bite-sized ideas and use illustrations or similes in order to communicate to different levels of spiritual maturity.
  4. Don’t be afraid of using theological terms, but be sure to define them. Don’t avoid using words like justification, atonement, even hypostatic union, but make sure that you define the word and idea. But be careful that in defining a word, you don’t oversimplify a complicated concept for the sake of being clever.
  5. Connect the theology with living for Christ. God places theological concepts in his Word because they are important, but it is the job of the expositor to mine the riches and point out the practical application of each idea to life. Show them the riches of theology and make them thirst for more. The Puritans were masters at this!

As we add theology each Sunday we will serve up rich, meaty spiritual meals that will satisfy and strengthen the congregation. Your church doesn’t have to be near a seminary, highly educated, or even made up of mature believers to do this. Start at whatever level your church is at spiritually, and then move them toward greater maturity and theological precision with patience and love. Not only will they thank you for it, you will be inoculating the church against false doctrine and false teacher as well, making your job as a shepherd so much easier.