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The Reluctant Pastor

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“…shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not under compulsion, but willingly, according to God; and not for dishonest gain, but with eagerness;” 1 Peter 5:2 (LSB)

I think that possibly every child runs into a school teacher who has had it with children. When I say this, I don’t mean the teacher that has had a rough week, or even a rough year. I mean that teacher that no longer loves teaching, and has moved beyond the loss of love to an actual disdain for students that borders on hatred. In the children’s book Matilda, this person is portrayed in the character known as Agatha Trunchbull, whom the children fearfully refer to as “The Trunchbull.” I wonder if Roald Dahl went to my high school…

I think it is tragic when a teacher reaches this stage, where what was (I assume) once a love for teaching has become drudgery and buying time until retirement. But this danger is not one that only school teachers face; pastors can fall into the same trap and patterns of ministry. No longer loving people or ministry, just buying time until retirement or Jesus returns, but mostly retirement.

As he writes to the church that is scattered abroad, Peter warns pastors, as a fellow pastor, that there is a danger of overseeing the church in such a way that one feels that they do so “under compulsion.” The calling of God has been overshadowed by a sense of duty, which has devolved into buying time until retirement. Slowly pastoral duties are left off for someone else to do, or not done at all. Small ways of serving others are replaced with complaints and a bitter heart. The pastor who reaches this stage can sometimes be heard reliving the “good old days” when people really cared about things, and how now “nobody” has a passion anymore.

The vision has died in many of these churches because it has died in the heart of its leader. No longer can the disenfranchised pastor see the crowds of people as an opportunity to proclaim Christ. Instead, the oceans of humanity are seen as a trial to be endured. The traffic, the graffiti, the constant cries of those needing help. It seems never-ending, and the burnout grows each day. There is no “eagerness” anymore. Instead, some hang on, knowing they need a few more years to reach their retirement funding goals, or maybe because they don’t have retirement funds, and so they keep pastoring in order to provide for their daily needs. The ministry has become a job, and the paycheck is the motivation as much as anything.

I write this to both young and old in ministry. Be careful. If you find yourself in ministry for the money (no matter how little or much you receive), then it’s time to leave. It would be better to serve as a volunteer while working a secular job than to serve God for financial gain. By this, I don’t mean that being supported financially is wrong–because motivation is the heart of the issue here. Peter is warning about the motivation. Do we serve King Jesus willingly, even through the hard times, long hours, and dry years, or do we put up with the Church because we think we can’t do anything else, or do we find that the path of least resistance means to stay in ministry until something easier or better comes along?

I hope that no one reading this finds themselves in this place. If you are there, take some time for prayer, seek wise counsel from a good friend who can point you to God and help you as you examine your heart and motivations, and then see where God leads. You might find that the Lord brings a refreshing breeze back to your life and ministry that will once again restore you to a place of renewed usefulness in the Lord’s house.

Grown Ups Eating Theological Baby Food

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

Every two years Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research conduct their “The State of Theology” study to identify what Americans believe about God, the Bible, and doctrines historically accepted by the Christian faith. The findings are often helpful in gaining an understanding of how America thinks about moral and religious issues.

Regarding the question of the belief that the Bible is true, evangelical Christians stated in the 2022 survey:

“A rising disbelief in the Bible’s literal truth may help us understand why American evangelicals also increasingly believe that religious faith is a subjective experience rather than an objective reality.”

STATEMENT NO. 31: Religious belief is a matter of personal opinion; it is not about objective truth.

U.S. Evangelical Finding:

2018: 32% agree
2020: 23% agree
2022: 38% agree

Source: “The State of Theology”1

The idea that belief is personal opinion and not objective truth didn’t come out of nowhere. This idea surrounds us in a cultural milieu where truth is relative, and “my truth” can coexist alongside contradictory truth claims, even within the same person. As if this weren’t serious enough, this foolish abandonment of truth has found a place within the evangelical church.

In addressing the believers in the letter to the Hebrews, the biblical author chastised the church for its own lax views toward a rigorous and thoughtful faith: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” (Hebrews 5:12, LSB)

We don’t have any indicators about how long these Christians had been believers (“by this time…”), but the author is confident that they are way behind in their ability to pass along the faith to others. Some Christians feel as if they do not need to study the Word, or to do so seriously because they are not “gifted to teach.” But the author of Hebrews doesn’t seem to give this as an option. He doesn’t say, “Now to you who have been called by God to be teachers…” His words of rebuke are aimed at a general audience, strongly implying that all believers ought to be teachers.

Lest anyone think that this is an anomaly, Paul writes these words to the church in Colosse: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratefulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16, LSB). Paul commands the church to be, among other things, “teaching and admonishing one another.” We understand that there are those within the church who are called as teachers, but Paul is assuming that there is also an informal type of teaching that is to be practiced by all within the body of Christ–the more mature teaching the less mature.

This idea has deep roots within the Jewish community that was commanded by the Lord to make sure that the children of God’s covenant people were well taught by their parents: “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:7, LSB).

In his book, The Disciplines of a Godly Man, R. Kent Hughes recalls an interview with radio talk show host Dennis Prater, who is Jewish. Prager states:

“One thing I noticed about Evangelicals is that they do not read. They do not read the Bible, they do not read the great Christian thinkers, they have never heard of Aquinas. If they’re Presbyterian, they’ve never read the founders of Presbyterianism. I do not understand that. As a Jew, that’s confusing to me. The commandment of study is so deep in Judaism that we immerse ourselves in study. God gave us a brain, aren’t we to use it in His service? When I walk into an Evangelical Christian’s home and see a total of 30 books, most of them best-sellers, I do not understand. I have bookcases of Christian books, and I am a Jew. Why do I have more Christian books than 98 percent of the Christians in America? That is so bizarre to me.”2

More than bizarre, such a statement is to our shame if it is true. And according to The State of Theology study, it is true. So, what can we do about it? Tolle lege! Let us take up and read! Some have a sense of superiority connected to their simple thinking and willful ignorance. May we instead dive deeply into the things of God to grow–not in arrogance and price, but instead into a deeper love and relationship with the God of the Bible.

  1. https://thestateoftheology.com/data-explorer/2022/31?AGE=30&MF=14&REGION=30&DENSITY=62&EDUCATION=62&INCOME=254&MARITAL=126&ETHNICITY=62&RELTRAD=62&EVB=2&ATTENDANCE=254 ↩︎
  2. R. Kent Hughes, The Disciplines of a Godly Man, 97. ↩︎

No Lone Rangers in Ministry

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 (LSB)

Christians need one another. I state that knowing that there are still a lot of Christians who have not returned to church since they left during the COVID restrictions temporarily closed churches in 2020. Christians who somehow function without other believers are as unnatural as people who live in total isolation. It is spiritually unhealthy and among many consequences, I would say that it will eventually lead to the spiritual demise of anyone who continues in this state for extended periods. My quick response is simple–if you have stopped attending church “in person,” get back to church!

With that said, my main focus for writing today is not concerning the need for the average Christian to be involved in church, but rather that the leaders of the church need to stop behaving in similar ways by forsaking assembling with other Christian leaders because they are “independent.”

Look, I believe that the Bible supports the understanding that a local church is supposed to function under the authority of the Spirit, the Word of God, and godly, biblical leadership, namely elders, within the local church context. I admit that there may be problems when a pastor or church “goes rogue” since there isn’t an overarching synod, or denominational structure to hold them accountable, but my conviction is that since these man-made structures aren’t seen in the New Testament, they shouldn’t be present in the church today.

Having been a part of independent churches my whole life (as a member and a leader), I can say that our strength of independence can also be our greatest weakness. The pastor of an independent church can become so independently minded that he refuses to seek wise counsel and encouragement from other men who are like-minded in faith. Like the church member who thinks that he can get all he needs from his study, online articles, podcasts, and YouTube videos, some independent pastors do the same regarding their own spiritual needs. It’s a “me and Jesus” mentality that can lead to loneliness, discouragement, and warped unbiblical ideas. We need to get out of our echo chamber and allow others to hone our swords through good Christian relationships.

Pastor Alex Montoya has reminded independent pastors of this danger for many years by pointing to the romanticized idea of a lone wolf howling alone in the light of a full moon. The reality, he says, is that a lone wolf is a dead wolf. Wolves are pack animals, and they need each other. The strength of the wolf is the pack. We cannot be “solo lobos,” Montoya says. If one of our members told us that they were going to be fine all on their own and didn’t need the church, we would scoff. We would warn of the dangers of a solo Christian. We would point to the reality that there is no such thing as a solo Christian that is outside of the local assembly in the New Testament. And we would be right. But we must also look at our own isolation. Are we guilty of being a “solo lobo?”

Before Covid struck, our society was already rapidly moving toward self-imposed isolationism. Before iPhones were invented, there was the Sony Walkman, a music device that removed listening to music from a group experience to a personal one. Then came the Walkman, allowing teenagers all over the planet to retreat to their own little world. The iPod replaced the Walkman, and then the little computer in our hands moved the whole world’s focus to one foot in front of its face. This internalization of attention has possibly been one of the most destructive changes our society has faced because it provides a false sense of social interaction for people. Social media has made us increasingly isolated and lonely.

Pastor, you can see the effects this has had on others. Where are you being sharpened and honed? Do you have a group of godly men that you can interact with, pray with, challenge, and be challenged by? The spiritual war hasn’t ended, and we will need to be strong and focused as we prepare for the next stages of the conflict. That means we need each other more than at any other time.

If you want this sort of interaction–iron sharpening iron–and you don’t know where to begin, might I offer you one option? IFCA International, the ministry I am privileged to lead, has many such opportunities to sharpen one another–for churches, pastors, missionaries, Christian leaders, and Christian organizations. If you aren’t already finding this type of fellowship where you are serving the Lord, I want to invite you to look into IFCA to see if we can help bridge that gap and help introduce you to godly, independent Christian men who want to be sharpened by others. Interdependence that doesn’t sacrifice convictions. Find out more at www.ifca.org

Why Do the Wicked Succeed?

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“Righteous are You, O Yahweh, when I would plead my case with You; Indeed I would speak matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked succeeded? Why are all those who deal in treachery complacent?” (Jeremiah 12:1, LSB)

As a pastor, it can be quite frustrating and even depressing when you are trying to be faithful in your ministry and yet it seems as if the work you are doing isn’t having the effect that you hope it would have in the lives of the people to whom you are ministering. This frustration is exacerbated when your church is located near an unbiblical church or a cult that seems to be swelling in numbers and influence.

Several years ago I remember having a conversation with a member of our church over a similar situation. He came from a megachurch that had a large and influential ministry in the area. Although the teaching was evangelical in nature, the heart of the church was very sick and the church leaders were very abusive and manipulative, as was attested to by several former members. On the day of our conversation, this brother in Christ expressed his concern as to why his former church was so large and wealthy, and yet they failed to practice biblical church discipline, were unkind, even cruel to staff, and were almost cult-like in the way they had formed their leadership structure. On the other hand, he had grown to love our small church, seeing that what we attempted to model was from the New Testament, and that we had a warm and welcoming body that exemplified what he always felt was how a Christian church should act–even if imperfectly.

In his worldview, the larger church had been blessed by God, and that was why it was large. Our church, which was much smaller, struggled in all the ways smaller churches often struggle–with limited resources and staffing. We weren’t always able to do what we felt God called us to do on the scale we wanted to in order to reach others for Christ. If our heart was right and we were trying to be conformed to the New Testament model of a Christian church, why was it that God wasn’t blessing us with more people, financial resources, and other visible “blessings?” What the Bible says and how it played out in real life was puzzling to this sincere brother.

Since we live in a world where our eyes can deceive us, it is easy to default into a popular view that the Jewish people often held in the Bible. It was the idea that in this life, God blesses us when we are good, and God punishes us when we are bad. Although this idea is simple and clean (and is often true, but not always), it doesn’t always work out that way in real life experience and it can become very disorienting when the righteous are seemingly not blessed and the wicked seem to succeed.

Asaph wrote a psalm voicing his struggle with this very issue (Psalm 72). He began to feel as if all his striving to walk in obedience to the Lord was a wasted effort, ““Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence;” (Psalm 73:13, LSB). Essentially, Asaph wondered aloud, why bother if in the end, the righteous end off worse than the wicked? There are a lot of problems with this sort of thinking, and that is another subject for another time, but here is the reality that sobered up Asaph:

“When I gave thought to know this, It was trouble in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cause them to fall to destruction. How they become desolate in a moment! They are completely swept away by terrors!” (Psalm 73:16–19, LSB)

The moment Asaph walked into the presence of God he was immediately reminded of the eternal realities his eyes could not see in the moment of his confusion about his present realities. This world is not all there is. Jeremiah needed this reminder as well. The fall of Israel and Judah were not the end. The wicked that the Lord used as His instruments of judgment would not be eternally exonerated. And the church that throws off how the Lord desires to be worshipped in exchange for a spirit of entrepreneurial showmanship will eventually reap what they have sown. The cultists, false teachers, and those that treat the church as a money-making or power-grabbing enterprise will reap what they have sown eventually.

You see, some seeds take longer to bring their harvest. Sometimes we see the fruit of our efforts in this life–good or bad. But other seeds, and these are often the most important ones, we will not reap the harvest until we stand before our Creator God. We need to be focused upon faithfully sowing the right seeds, and worry much less on what the other guy is doing. By keeping our hands to the plow and working the vineyard the Lord has given to us, we will find that we are more content and filled with joy when we see the harvest, big or small, that the Lord brings through His powerful gospel.

Forsaking Our Rights for the Sake of the Gospel

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.”

(1 Corinthians 9:1–19, ESV)

Living in America, the lens that I and most Americans look through is determined largely by our own experience in a nation that has determined certain rights and freedoms for its citizens. It is largely a privilege and blessings to living in the United States and to enjoy the freedoms that were won and defended for us.

And this outlook of freedoms and rights makes for a particular challenge at times when it comes to understanding the tension between being an American citizen and being a Christian. The Apostle Paul understood the unique opportunities that were afforded to him as a Roman citizen, and at times he made good use of those rights in order to carry out the ministry he had received from God. But at other times, Paul understood that asserting personal rights is not the way of Christ, and that sometimes the Christlike thing to do is to forego those rights in order to serve others and the gospel.

In the passage above found in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul is writing about the claims made by the false teachers who were benefiting financially from the church. He is turning their claims on their head in order to show the contact between Paul’s servant attitude and the self-serving attitude of the false apostles.

Paul had not taken advantage of any of the reasonable advantages, such as support of a wife, and financial support; although the false teachers had done so. Since Paul was their father in the faith, he not only had the right to financial support as their pastor, but even more so as the one who was the founder of the church in Corinth.

Yet, as he says in the second half of verse 12, the Apostle has been willing to forego this rightful claim because he loves the church too much to risk there being any sort of obstacle to the gospel. This truth extends Paul’s words of exhortation about the need to give up liberties in the name of love, and it further shows his heart as compared to the hearts of the false teachers. “Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ” (1Cor 12:9b).

Paul’s liberty refused, he goes on in the rest of verses 10-19 to demonstrate that his self-sacrifice and self-constraint is one more way that he can see the progress of the gospel go forth with greater vigor. Every obstacle, including denial of support and marriage, was worth it for Paul since it meant greater gospel effectiveness. Paul doesn’t say that all must do this, but he is compelled by zeal for Christ and joyfully gives up his rights for the Corinthians. How then could they say that Paul was the one who was “using” the church?

Paul was on a mission, in the truest sense. He wouldn’t let anything deter or damper progress for the sake of the gospel. For Paul, onward and upward was his motto and his aim was pure and his desire true.

Today in many ways it feels like the ministers of Jesus have lost much of this same focus and zeal. Administration, programs, buildings, budgets, church politics, self-promotion, and all other sorts of distractions have filled our time and stolen our focus. Paul was willing to leave it all behind in order to see people come to know Christ as Savior. Do we do the same? If we stripped back everything other than gospel ministry, what would be left? Maybe we should ponder this question as we prepare to enter into a new year, praying that the Lord would help us to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us,” and let us once again run with a freedom and with endurance the race that our Savior has set before us. That is true freedom.