READING 7.5 BACK TO THE OLD WAYS: THOUGHTS ON DEVELOPING ELDERS AND PASTORS JOHN F. THOMAS
Reading Jack Miller’s, The heart of a Servant Leader, I was confronted with some ideas we need to face in
our work of preparing new leaders for ministry. Miller cites Brownlow North as a great example of gospel
joy coming from the knowledge of the deep forgiveness and grace he’s received (pg. 69). When a man wrote
a letter accusing him of terrible sins, North brought the letter into the pulpit and read it and admitted that
he was this man. He then went on to tell how Christ had forgiven and changed him and filled him with joy.
Though he was convinced of his depravity, this did not dominate his thoughts. What dominated him was
the marvel of grace transforming him and other sinners. (That, by the way, is a great example of how to
repent, and how the Spirit brings true change to the lives of believers.)
Though he was an Anglican, the Scottish Presbyterians invited North to preach at their General Assembly.
He accused them of what he saw as ‘typical’ Presbyterian sins: on the one hand, we do little in the kingdom
because we do not pray very much; and, on the other, we do not mobilize and train elders to do the work of
soul care. He excoriated the Presbyterians for their sins and the result was that these brothers gave him a
standing ovation. May God give us such a prophet and such a willing spirit to hear and obey.
North is right, of course—we do a very poor job of equipping leaders and mobilizing them for gospel
ministry. Perhaps this is due to our exalted view of God. We get so caught up in thoughts of God and
developing and systematizing those thoughts, and then passing them on to others, that we think that is all
that is involved in good training for ministry.
We then add to our problems as we (rightly) speak of movements of church planting. We say that we must
not be concerned with planting one church. We must be planting 200 churches that will then disciple the
nations according to our Lord’s command. And yet, our weakness in prayer and gospel ministry training
leaves us only with strategizing, demographics, and learning the latest management techniques, coupled
with a growing mental appreciation of the gospel. As helpful as it is, this knowledge will only distract us
from true ‘gospel and the kingdom’ work if we are not strong in prayer and gospel ministry training.
What North wanted for his beloved Presbyterian friends was this: the humbling of our hearts over our
failure to mobilize elders for evangelism and soul care. He wanted his Presbyterian friends to seek and find
the grace to train and equip Christ’s servants for passionate service in the harvest.
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That would give us the following priority in any ministry training that we undertake:
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Training in Prayer that leads to a life of repentance and joy as we walk with Christ.
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Coupled with equipping leaders to be gospel-centered in their preaching and discipling and
evangelism.
It seems that this type of training would, of necessity, include doctrine. A knowledge of the truth is crucial
for any mobilization. And yet, this knowledge must be tempered with obedience. There must be the
teaching, and then, the practice of prayer. There must be an experience of repentance and joy that must lead
to a concern for lost sheep and a commitment to find them.
More than just being ‘gospel-oriented’ in their thinking, the new ministry leader must be led into the
practice of prayer and repentance and evangelism and soul care. We are very naïve in our training as we
assume the new leader knows these things and will give themselves to these basic duties. As a result of our
naïveté, we have very weak, anemic churches who prefer technique to spiritual encounter.
Closely tied to this aspect of practical gospel training would be what Miller calls “The Obligation of Grace”
(pg. 81). Since we have been set free from the condemnation of the law and our consciences have been
cleansed by the blood of Christ; since we have received the righteous record of Christ and been adopted as
God’s very own sons, we must now walk out the implications of this free grace. The Apostle Paul seems to
see the obligation of grace as two-fold: an obligation to share the gospel with others (Rom. 1. 14—15) and an
obligation to love one another (Rom. 13. 8—10).
The Apostle John adds to this Obligation of Grace the fact that these obligations are always tied to the
incarnation and the atonement won for us on the cross. Christ loved us, therefore we love others; Christ died
for me, therefore I die for others. Leon Morris, commenting on these verses, insists that this love also
includes nonbelievers as well as believers.
Miller summarizes these thoughts by saying the problem is that we have obscured the true nature of the
church and the ministry for which we are training leaders. We are a missionary community of love (John 13.
33—34). As leaders we are to be controlled by the love of Christ and therefore our training must major on
this connection between cross and character, between the grace given to us and our love given to others (2
Corinth. 5.14; I Tim. 1.5).
If this critique is true, it seems that we must not only change the way we train elders and ministry leaders.
We must revamp the curriculum at our seminaries (if their purpose is truly to train pastors. Some schools
claim their purpose is only to educate pastors. At least they are being honest!) If that is the case, how shall
we change things? One idea would be to require a 4th year ‘residency’ for seminarians for this practical
ministry training BEFORE the candidate is ordained and thrust on God’s people. (By the way, that would
also probably qualify the candidate for a D.Min degree instead of the mysterious M.Div, which has no
equivalent in the academic world.)
This kind of practical ‘heart work’ training would begin to address our erroneous tendency to make the elder
a ‘maintainer of visible order rather than a person who cares for souls and evangelizes’ (pg. 83).
Not only that; this proposal would put an automatic screening process in place: before a person was
commissioned or ordained, their lives would have to be examples of those who glory in the cross, who love
their family and the church deeply and who love the lost with the same passion. They don’t get into formal
ministry training without these basic characteristics. Imagine what this would do for our churches. When
someone senses a call to ministry and they aren’t qualified according to the above criteria, they would be
pushing and insisting that the elders of that church model and teach and reinforce that kind of behavior.
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Wouldn’t it encourage our currently stagnate existing churches in gospel care and evangelism? Putting this
kind of requirement on candidates would also change what students ask for in a seminary program. They
would be pressing the faculty for an equal emphasis on life formation as well as theological reflection on
ministry.
With this ‘cross-to-character’ training paradigm in place, we could begin to be much more creative in our
church planting and evangelism efforts. Why can’t elders pastor house churches? Why can’t those groups
spontaneously multiply throughout the city? Why can’t existing churches begin to ‘mother’ these kind of
mini-churches, which would be more meaningful than a small group and much easier to replicate than a
normal church plant?
Jack Miller as well as John Smed, as well as our fathers in the faith, insist that the one thing that connects
and enlivens the ‘cross-to-character’ dynamic is prayer. If every group in our church, and every house group,
understood the free grace of the gospel and how that engenders love and evangelism in us, and then they
devoted much time to prayer to keep the fires going, we would be an unstoppable force. Miller cites John
Weinlick’s biography of Zinzendorf to show how prayer turned Herrnhut into a ‘missionary community of
love’. It is prayer, then, that propels us into mission as well as turns us into better lovers of others. And that
kind of fruit in a Christian community would be very close to what Schaeffer called ‘the Final Apologetic’ of
the Christian.
Jack recommends 3 books on the character of a pastor/elder/leader: Charles Bridges’ Christian Ministry
(especially the chapter on Hindrances to pastoral efficiency’), Richard Baxter’s Reformed Pastor, and Eugene
Peterson’s Under the unpredictable plant. Perhaps this, along with Jack Miller’s books and John Smed’s
prayer training, would form the basis of a new branch of the traditional seminary curriculum, as well as a
major training focus in our churches.
New York City. 10/06. Vs. 1.2.
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THE HEART OF A SERVANT LEADER: A SUMMARY BY JACK MILLER, 2004
The following quotes are lifted from a book of letters written by Jack Miller to various missionaries and
pastors. It is a wonderful book that explores the minister’s heart as well as the heart of his ministry.
Jack believed that the Christian leader should be the chief servant—not necessarily the successful one, but
the one working to make others successful. But he also knew, from personal experience, how much easier it
was to work for your own glory and build your own kingdom (no matter how small). He found that, in his
own life, leadership with a servant attitude could come only from a heart that was changed by an encounter
with God. In his mentoring he always began by talking about what was going on in the heart. Many of these
letters come back to the same theme of having your heart changed by understanding the gospel and then
living a life of humility, faith, and prayer. He thought that these were the basics of Christian leadership; any
planning and organization had to come after the leader’s heart had been humbled by God. Pg. 13
After twenty years of ministry, Jack found out how easy it is to lose that essential focus on God’s glory—and
to end up depressed and burned out. He faced this kind of crisis in the spring of 1970 (when he was 42)
while he was pastoring a small church and teaching practical theology at Westminster Seminary. He had
gradually become frustrated in both jobs. It seemed to him that neither the church members nor the
seminary students were changing in the ways that they should, and he did not know how to help them. In
desperation he resigned from both positions and then spent the next few weeks too depressed to do
anything except cry. Gradually during those weeks it became clear to him that the reason for his anger and
disappointment was his own wrong motivation for ministry. He realized that instead of being motivated
only by God’s glory, he was hoping for personal glory and the approval of those he was serving. He said that
when he repented of his pride, fear of people, and love of their approval, his joy in ministry returned, and he
took back his resignations from the church and the seminary. Pg. 18
What I would stress, then, is that a man of vision gets his vision only in and through prayer. Only prayer
with a goal of glorifying God at any cost can give God’s vision to a man or a woman. Pg. 25
Let me urge upon you the importance of cultivating faith if you are to be able to walk in love and spiritual
power. Believing is to expect God to be with you and change you and change others. Pg. 35
At bottom, most problems are faith problems. Pg. 53
Do you see the congregation by faith? Do you have a picture of the stubborn ones changed by grace as you
pray—or have you mentally given up on some of them? Pg. 53
When the church doesn’t act in faith in the area of finances and the pastor’s salary is not met, then this
brings deep hurt to the pastor and his wife, usually leading to an alliance away from the church. Guard
against this with your whole heart. Forgive and forgive and forgive. Don’t let your emotional life be
controlled by the sin you see in others. Pg. 54
When the work is dull and routine or people are slipping away, go forth with new boldness and preach
Christ until you are filled with faith yourselves and God works faith in others. Think of it this way. All the
powers of hell and earth are ranged against the gospel and your ministry. They will not compromise.
Therefore don’t expect it from them. Don’t expect the enemy to coddle you. He will continue to attack from
every quarter. At night. On the streets. In your meetings. Wherever. Pg. 62
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Essentially I need to confess to God that I have a deep-seated need to protect and control my life and
ministry. Once I acknowledge that hard, painful fact to Him, grace seems to stream into my life. Somehow
the Father delights in honesty. Pg. 66
At the beginning of a ministry, the leader should humble himself and not try to do too much. Really, even
later a good pastor is pretty much a good listener, a patient, deliberate questioner; and at the beginning of a
church-planting enterprise you will be astonished how well things will go if you are just a gentle, kind
learner: The trouble comes in when the leader tries to be and do too much, perhaps unconsciously trying to
have the power of the Holy Spirit. Pg. 86
What does it mean to serve one another in love? Practically it means to labor to make others successful.
Christian leadership, at its most basic level, is simply working to make others successful. Pg. 98
A discerning pastor learns not to attempt everything at once, but to concentrate on a few things and do them
well. Pg. 105
At one or two points death began to look attractive to me, a way of escaping from a ministry that just moved
from one problem to another. Pg. 133
What we must have in planting a church is not depth and complexity, but the basics brought home with
love, tenderness, and clarity. Pg. 135
I am especially concerned that you develop your relationship with your wife. Your relationship with her is
the one that counts most of all. The relationship with his dear bride is the one that always reveals where the
pastor really is in his spiritual life. Pg. 135
Trusting Christ is more important than doing things for Christ. Pg. 151
Quotes gleaned by Adam Young, May, 2008.
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