A Biblical Philosophy of Pastoral Ministry (Soteriology)

Pastoral ministry is a serious and sobering undertaking or at least it should be. Over and over pastoral ministry is reproduced for either the better or the worse. Many go into pastoral ministry having had good models for biblical pastoral ministry from their mentors. Many others go into pastoral ministry having had poor models of unbiblical pastoral ministry. For most, what has been modeled is what they imitate. Since discipleship is reproduction and the law that governs reproduction is “each reproduces after its kind,” then most pastors become very much like those who modeled pastoral ministry to them. So the nature of what has been modeled, either good or bad pastoral ministry practice, plays a significant part in the development of future pastors.

May God bless and increase the tribe of those men that are modeling biblical pastoral ministry. But what about those men who are in or going into pastoral ministry that did not receive a good model but yet desire to be good biblical pastors? How can these either go into pastoral ministry understanding their proper tasks or make a midstream corrective in their ministries? Logic dictates that all pastors or soon to be pastors, especially the improperly trained, should devise a biblical component model for pastoral ministry.

Since the goal is to devise a biblical component model for pastoral ministry then the components should be based upon biblical theology. Specifically, a component model for pastoral ministry should include three main theological categories that will provide guiding principles to the pastor. First, the theological category of soteriology should be foundational to the pastor’s component model. Second, the theological category of ecclesiology should be structural to the pastor’s component model. Third, the theological category of eschatology should be apical to the pastor’s component model.

These three theological categories will prove invaluable in constructing a biblical component model of pastoral ministry. They will provide biblical principles that will both guide and guard the pastoral ministry. The purpose is to illustrate how a component model for pastoral ministry based on the three theological categories of soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology provides biblical principles that will guide and guard the pastoral ministry. Each category will be posted separately forming a three-part series.

Soteriology

Soteriology, since it is the study of salvation, is foundational to proper pastoral ministry because ecclesiology, the study of the church, reveals that the church is the gathering of those who have been “called out” by the Gospel for salvation. Primarily then, the church is to be constituted by a regenerate membership. A regenerate church membership cannot be attained through any means that God has not ordained for the salvation of sinners. One’s view of the means by which salvation is obtained depends to a considerable extent on one’s understanding of the nature of salvation.

For example, if one understands salvation as the result of a man’s decision for Christ apart from the enabling unadulterated Word of God, then he will use unbiblical pragmatic means in his evangelistic and missionary efforts.[1] The power for salvation is not in the Gospel but in methodological ingenuity. This understanding describes those with either Pelagian or Semi-Pelagian tendencies. Pelagianism denies original sin and therefore the total depravity of humanity along with it.[2] Pelagianism views total depravity that resulted with Adam’s original sin as “unduly negative of human nature” and as “having an unfortunate effect upon human behavior.”[3] This view is captured in the teachings of Robert Schuller. Schuller said:

The core of original sin, then is LOT—Lack of Trust. Or it could be considered an innate inability to adequately value ourselves. Label it a “negative self-image,” but do not say that the central core of the human soul is wickedness. If this were so, then truly, the human being is totally depraved. But positive Christianity does not hold to human depravity, but to human inability.[4]

Pelagianism attempts to remove the negative teachings about the nature of humanity by emphasizing the idea of free will. By free will, Pelagius meant that “humans are free of any determining influence of the fall.[5] Therefore there is no need for a special working of God’s grace within the heart of each individual. Instead, men by their free will can respond, “by their own efforts,” unaided, to the commands of God.[6]

Such an understanding of salvation (soteriology) leads inevitably to man-centered, pragmatic means in evangelism and missions. This is why Schuller advocated a man-centered approach in his ecclesiology. Schuller taught that the church, instead of being an equipping place for the saints, should be an evangelizing place for sinners. He maintained that a church is interested in theology while a mission is interested in human needs. The preferred methodology for structuring the church then is the utilization of means that attracts unbelievers in a palatable positive manner. The result is an upside down ecclesiology in violation of the Word of God. Schuller said:

For the church to address the unchurched with a theocentric attitude is to invite failure in mission . . . . It was appropriate for Calvin and Luther to think theocentrically. After all, “Everyone was in the church” and the issues were theological, not philosophical. For them, the central issue was, “What is the truth in theology?” The reformers didn’t have to impress the unchurched so there was no need for them to take the “human needs” approach. They were a church after all, not a mission . . . . Time and history have changed all that. Today the sincere Christian believer is a minority. So the church must be willing to die as a church and be born again as a mission. We cannot speak out with a “Thus saith the Lord” strategy when we are talking to people who couldn’t care less about the Lord! We cannot start with “What does the text say?” if we’re talking to persons who aren’t about to affirm respect for our unquestioning obeisance to “the text.”[7]

In contrast to both Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism, the evangelical understanding of the nature of salvation views the Word of God as an indispensable means to salvation.[8] Evangelical soteriology maintains that the Spirit of God must take the Word of God spoken by the witness about Christ and apply it to the hearer for his or her spiritual transformation.[9] The depraved nature of humanity calls for special grace by means of the unadulterated Word of God to enable a person’s salvation. This has several implications for pastoral ministry. 

First, since the Gospel of Jesus Christ applied by the Holy Spirit is the only means by which salvation is obtained by depraved humanity, neither unbiblical pragmatic means nor watered down inoffensive messages will be effectual in regeneration. The Gospel is the only means through which sinners can obtain salvation. Therefore, pastors should not include any means in their pastoral ministry that will in any form water down, pervert, or replace the Gospel.

Second, since the Gospel is the only means that sinners can obtain salvation implies that pastors are to have complete confidence in its power to bring salvation. Confidence in the Gospel will both guard and guide the pastor. Confidence in the Gospel will guard the pastor from incorporating pragmatic, man-centered means as a component of his pastoral ministry. Confidence in the Gospel will guide the pastor in incorporating methods in his ministry that compliment rather than compete with or compromise the Gospel.

Any means other than the Gospel will fail to produce genuine converts. A gathering of unregenerate people, no matter how large, will never constitute a church since a church is primarily constituted by a regenerate membership. Therefore, sound soteriology is essential as the foundation for a component model for pastoral ministry. The theological category of soteriology should be foundational to the pastor’s component model for his ministry.

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[1] Romans 10:17; 2 Corinthians 2:17.

[2] Total depravity does not mean that a person is as bad as he or she can be but rather that the heart, mind, soul, and will of man has been affected by and enslaved by sin.

[3] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology: Second Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1983), 649.

[4] Robert Schuller, Self-Esteem: The New Reformation (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1982), 67.

[5] Erickson, Theology, 649.

[6] Erickson, Theology, 649-50.

[7] Schuller, Self-Esteem, 12-13, quotation marks in the original.

[8] Erickson, Theology, 1021.

[9] Erickson, Theology, 1022.

Popular or God's Spokesman?

Whenever one is more concerned about what man desires than what God desires, he is motivated by the fear of man rather than the fear of God; he is more interested in reverencing man than he is in reverencing God. Deeply ingrained in a man-centered approach to ministry is self-preservation – no persecution when all men speak well of you – and self-promotion – desiring to be popular in order to receive glory from one another and not the glory that is from the one and only God (see John 5:44).

So the question that we must answer is will we be popular, market driven, motivated by the fear of man or will we be God’s spokesmen, persecuted for the sake of righteousness, truth driven, motivated by the fear of God?

If we truly trust the Lord then we will be God's spokesmen. Being God's spokesmen requires faith as we trust Him with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. Also our love for Him motivates us to desire to please Him more than anyone else so that our interest is not "what will others think" but "what will the Lord think!"

In this matter of serving God and being His spokesmen, speaking the truth in love inspite of the consequences, God has given us all that we need to empower us and equip us for the task. On February 2, 1998, the Lord spoke to me and called me into the gospel ministry setting me immediately on the right path by settling for me the issue between being popular or being His spokesman. Dr. Warren Wiersbe was preaching on Four Wonderful Discoveries for Leaders and through it the Lord spoke to me and asked me if I would be popular of His spokesman, to which I replied in my heart and wrote in my notes, "Your spokesman Lord!" The difference between those two possible responses is the difference between the fear of man and the fear of God and the difference between false preachers and teachers and true preachers and teachers.

Listen to this short clip

What's Driving the Market Driven Church?

The question, what’s driving the market driven church, may seem absurd and ridiculous and one may feel that the obvious answer is “the market.” However, that any church is driven by the market is only the fruit of the problem and not the root of the problem. So let me rephrase the question: what is at the root of the market driven church?

Now most surely those within and promoting the market driven church would assign pure and noble motives to their actions. They would say that they are serving God with zeal through their man-centered and market driven methods. They would see nothing wrong with taking, what Robert Schuller describes as, “the human-needs approach”, in order to impress and attract the un-churched (Robert H. Schuller, Self Esteem: The New Reformation, Word Books, Waco Texas, 1982, page 12-13). Therefore not only are the programs of the church marketed to the “needs” (and I should also say “greeds”) of the community; the preaching of the church is also marketed in the same fashion. When this happens man becomes the focus and audience, culture is elevated to the place of preeminence, the Word of God is lowered to the place of being less than the prime authority in ministry, and Christ is dethroned as the head of the church.

However, pleasing men by meeting their desires through the programs and preaching of the church has never been and never will be God’s design for His church. The programs and preaching of the church must please God and not man. The message of the Master judges men and is sovereign and not the judgment of men on the message. One of the preacher’s primary responsibilities is to remember who is the real audience and who is the real judge of the message he proclaims – “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:1-4).

So now we can see two totally opposite approaches to ministry: a man-centered approach where pleasing men is the goal; and a God-centered approach to ministry where pleasing God is the goal. A man-centered approach to ministry requires no biblical faith at all to do while a God-centered approach to ministry can’t be done without it.

This brings us to the place where we can answer the question: What’s driving the market driven church? The fear (reverence) of man!

Whenever one is more concerned about what man desires than what God desires, he is motivated by the fear of man rather than the fear of God; he is more interested in reverencing man than he is in reverencing God. Deeply ingrained in a man-centered approach to ministry is self-preservation – no persecution when all men speak well of you – and self-promotion – desiring to be popular in order to receive glory from one another and not the glory that is from the one and only God (see John 5:44).

So the question that we must answer is will we be popular, market driven, motivated by the fear of man or will we be God’s spokesmen, persecuted for the sake of righteousness, truth driven, motivated by the fear of God?

The fear of man is at the root and is driving the market driven church!

The False Prophet's Method

Since it is true that the false prophet’s motive is quantity and not quality (their motto is: “you have to get them there however you can”), then it is also true that his message will be one of easy salvation and easy discipleship – he will preach a message of a wide gate and broad way false gospel. But what also is logically true of the false prophet, are his methods. Since the false prophet is after quantity and not quality, his methods are out of line with God’s word.

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus tells us the differences between the false prophet’s methods and the true prophet’s methods by comparing a wise man (true prophet or true Christian) to a foolish man (false prophet or false Christian). The wise man hears the words of Jesus and acts on them while the foolish man hears the words of Jesus and does not act on them. The meaning and understanding of the passage is simple – the true prophet follows instructions and the false prophet ignores instructions. The true prophet trusts in the Lord with all his heart and does not lean on his own understanding while the false prophet trusts in himself with all his heart and leans on his own understanding. The true prophet goes by the Book while the false prophet does it his way. The true prophet says that you are to do nothing on your own initiative, but you are to look to see where God is at work and join Him there in His strategy for His purpose while the false prophet says that you are to discover the purpose of God and then you strategize how to fulfill it. The true prophet teaches you how to walk in faith – trusting the Lord with all your heart. The false prophet teaches you how to walk in the flesh – leaning on your own understanding.

So the first and most obvious method of the false prophet is he does not follow instructions – he does it his way leaning on his own understanding. He attempts to do the will of God his own way not following the Lord’s instructions. He uses his own ingenious ideas and thinks that the Lord is going to be pleased with his ingenuity. He has no time for instructions – he can figure this thing out. He is interested in quantity and not quality so the instructions only serve to hinder his efforts.

Another comparison between the methods of the true and false prophets is the true prophet isn’t in a hurry and doesn’t take short cuts while the false prophet is in a hurry and does take short cuts. The false prophet does not take the time to dig deep and lay a solid foundation taking whatever time is necessary to get the job done right. The false prophet isn’t interested in quality – he just wants quantity. The false prophet does not take the time to find out all he can from the Word of God and from history – his is a shallow foundation on sand. He is in a hurry and takes shortcuts in order to get “results.” For the false prophet, “if it works it must be right” so any method that seems to work he will use – even if it reeks of the flesh and the world. The false prophet thinks that God will allow any method as long as it works – but he has forgotten to check the instruction manual to see that that isn’t so.

The false prophet ends up deceiving himself and others because of his results. Men are prone to judging by appearance instead of making a righteous judgment and because the false prophet has “results” (quantity) he appears to be the true man of God when in reality he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The true prophet is not in a hurry and takes the time to build on a solid foundation regardless if the false prophet appears to be a better and faster builder. The true prophet knows that the storm of the trying fire of God’s judgment is coming!

One last comparison between the methods of the true prophet and the false prophet leads us to the true prophet’s method of completing his assignment from the Lord while the false prophet’s method is of competing to see who can build the biggest, the fastest, and the most.

The true prophet doesn’t care what men think about his progress, he is only concerned with what God thinks and is interested in bringing glory to God by building God’s way. The false prophet does care about what men think about his progress, and believes that if men are pleased then surely God will be pleased also. But the sad reality is, the false prophet, is seeking his own glory, and not the glory of God. If he were seeking the glory of God, he would follow God’s instructions and take the time necessary to lay a proper foundation so that God would have the quality He is after and then God would receive the glory for His wisdom in the correct way to build. But the false prophet is too busy competing and never ends up completing God’s assignment because he believes that God is interested in quantity and not quality.

All through this passage of Scripture the truth jumps off the pages that God is interested in quality and not quantity. That is why the true man of God uses the narrow gate and the narrow way and the true man of God listens to and follows instructions, is not in a hurry, and is seeking after God’s glory and not his own.

Jesus' litmus test to determine a false prophet is this – is he interested in quantity or quality. If he is interested in quantity then he is a false prophet. If he is interested in quality then he is a true prophet.

Methods Do Matter!

Since the primary goal of missions is the glory of God, missions have to be done according to God’s ways (methods) and God’s will (motives). Missions have to be from Him and through Him so that the glory goes to Him.

We are being told today that methods don’t matter as long as they produce results. Many are buying into and being taken captive by this philosophy. “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

If methods don’t matter then there would have been nothing wrong with Jesus yielding to the temptations of the devil to turn stones into bread, to jump from the pinnacle of the temple, or to bow down to Satan in order to receive the kingdoms of the world. Temptations are nothing short of the devil’s methods for accomplishing the will of God. A temptation is the offer of a method to arrive at God’s will your own way rather than God’s way – it is the method of leaning on your own understanding rather than trusting the Lord with all your heart; it is the method of quick results (shortcuts) and are unlawful. That is why Jesus is going to say to many who think they are saved and are not, “Depart from Me you workers of lawlessness/iniquity.”

We are told in 1 Corinthians 3:10 that each man must be careful how he builds. "How" would definitely be methodology. The Bible tells us that there are no shortcuts to doing the will of God. Anyone who takes a shortcut to doing God's will has succumbed to the temptations of the devil and sinned against God. Believing that methods don't matter as long as they are working is a deadly and deluding practice of judging by appearance and is nothing short of philosophical pragmatism.

Theology determines methodology. You’ll hear people who are held captive by philosophy and who differ in methodology from those who are captive by Christ and His glory say, “Our theology is the same but our methodology differs.” That is not true! The man who has a theology of missions knows that the primary goal of missions is the glory of God and he will not use unauthorized and unworthy methods (shortcuts) that rob God of His glory. On the other hand the man who has a philosophy of missions will use unauthorized and unworthy methods (shortcuts) in order to get “quick results” and thereby rob God of His glory.

This principle is clearly demonstrated in Acts 16:16-18. Paul and his companions were confronted with the temptation to allow a slave-girl with a spirit of divination help them get quick results. Allowing this popular slave-girl on the missionary team would have increased Paul's popularity, influence, and ability to get decisions. Paul wouldn't have to have such a hard ministry from now on - he could just become all things to all men the devil's way! But immediately there would have been no power because there would have been declaration with no illumination; there would have been head knowledge without heart knowledge; and there would have been professions of faith without possession of faith.


If methods don't matter then Paul could have used this girl that was energized by the devil! But he didn't because methods do matter!


Vance Havner once said, "They tell us now even in some evangelical circles that we ought to hobnob with Sodom and get chummy with Gomorrah in order to convert them. And the argument is not older than that the end justifies the means forgetting that the means determines the end. A few years of unworthy means and you've already spoiled the objective before you get to it. And these dear people are not turning the light on in Sodom, they're just getting used to the dark."


Listen to him say it here




Methods Do Matter: Audio

Becoming All Things To All Men?

1 Corinthians 9:22b says, “I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.” This is probably the second most misquoted, misinterpreted, and misapplied Scripture in all of the Bible in the day in which we live following closely behind Matthew 7:1 – “Do not judge lest ye be judged.” Today’s so-called “Church Growth Experts” have used 1 Corinthians 9:22 in an ungodly and unchristian manner. We have been told that you have to be like the world to win the world – which is the apostate’s interpretation of 1 Corinthians 9:22. They tell us that we should “drink a beer with Bubba”; mix cussing with the content of our preaching; that in our cultural awareness we need to parade before the Church those whom the world esteems; that we are to be relevant and tell people what they want to hear and not what God has said; and that if it works it must be right. If you think that I am lying then just take a close look at the methods and the messages of the “Purpose Driven, Seeker-Sensitive, and Emergent Church” philosophies.
Dear friends, men may build their churches with a tolerance for sin, but the Lord builds His Church based on truth and purity – “Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27).So what does it mean to “become all things to all men, so that we may by all means save some” and how do we do it? I want to make four observations from Acts 16:1-5 to show the biblical principles of what it means to become all things to all men:
I. Becoming all things to all men means - Preferring the Right Man (Acts 16:1-2)
A. Paul chose Timothy - a disciple! Timothy was a disciple who knew the cost of discipleship (see 2 Timothy 3:10-11).
B. Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren! He was not a successful worldly leader well spoken of by the world; he was not a successful religious leader well spoken of by the world and all opposing view-points; and he was not esteemed as wise or noble or strong. The Church has no right to prefer and parade those whom the world esteems as successful as a means of saving some because that is not God's way (see also 1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
II. Becoming all things to all men means - Practicing the Right Method (Acts 16:3)
A. Timothy had a Jewish mother and a Greek father. All the Jews in those parts knew that Timothy's father was a Greek. In order to minister to those Jews, Timothy needed to become a Jew because of his Jewish heritage. Paul took him and circumcised him. Paul was becoming all things to all men the right way by preferring the right man and practicing the right method - "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law" (1 Corinthians 9:19-20). Timothy was circumcised not to be saved (he was a disciple) but to serve.
B. Titus was a Greek - "But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised" (Galatians 2:3). Titus was a Greek and Paul would not have Titus circumcised because it was not necessary for his salvation or his service. To minister to the Greeks, Titus did not need to be circumcised which would have offended the Greeks – “To those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law” (1 Corinthians 9:21). Paul practiced the right method. His major concern was that he would cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:12) and this he did by becoming all things to all men (1 Corinthians 9:22) neither compelling the Jews to forsake their heritage nor the Gentiles to become Jews and he said, “I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it” (1 Corinthians 9:23).
III. Becoming all things to all men means - Preaching the Right Message (Acts 16:4)
A. Paul was delivering the decree that was decided upon in Jerusalem and it was an affirmation of the Gospel of Grace. The Gentiles did not have to be circumcised in order to be saved! They were saved through the grace of the Lord just like the Jews - "But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also" (Acts 15:11).
B. The message of the Gospel of grace includes the exhortation to live by love. The Gentiles were not to engage in activities that would offend the Jews - (see Acts 15:19-21, 28-29).
IV. Becoming all things to all men means - Producing the Right Ministry (Acts 15:5)
A. "So the churches were being strengthened in the faith." Preferring the right man, practicing the right method, and preaching the right message strengthens the church in the faith – not in the flesh!
B. "And were increasing in number daily." Strengthening the church in the faith produces the right ministry – “and were increasing in number daily” (true converts). Why did the church increase in number daily? Because her members were strengthened in the faith and shared the gospel with their families, friends, and neighbors.
Conclusion: Preferring the right man, practicing the right method, and preaching the right message will produce the right ministry – true converts!
But let me add a warning on the other side of this truth – a “church” that is strengthened in the flesh will increase in number daily (false converts) and may be held up as a model to follow deceiving herself and many others.
Preferring the wrong man (someone well spoken of by the world), practicing the wrong method (being like the world to win the world), and preaching the wrong message (turning the grace of God into licentiousness), will produce the wrong ministry (strengthening apostates in the flesh – false converts).

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