In preparation for some pastoral work this summer in Boulder, Colorado, I have been collecting and reading (or re-reading) some great books on the pastorate and the work of the preacher. They are all books that I would say are “life-changing.” On the list are Between Two Worlds, Preaching and Preachers, The Supremacy of God and Preaching, The Cross of Christ, The Reformed Pastor, and The Cross and Christian Ministry.
Much to my surprise, however, what’s been radically impacting my life isn’t input from some of the best preachers and pastors in Christian history. Rather, it’s been the best Preacher in the universe—Christ Himself.
Really it just shows my pride. In my desire to make something of myself I gathered a bunch of books, compiling the “perfect” list that would equip me for the job. What I’ve been finding, instead, is that only God can equip, and He does it by faith, not by my works. I think what I really wanted was to make myself a good pastor and then boast about it. I would say God looks on and laughs, but when I read how the LORD killed Nadab and Abihu for trying to add to His works (Lev. 10:1-3), I don’t think it’s laughter He feels.
In the midst of all of this, the LORD has been showing me a radically different kind of preparation—not about preaching, catechizing, counseling, or even passion in the pulpit—no, in His great love, the LORD has been teaching me poverty of spirit, mourning over my sin, meekness, and (thus far) the hunger for His righteousness (Matt. 5:3-6). Sinclair Ferguson writes,
“Our greatest temptation and mistake is to try to smuggle character into his work of grace. How easily we fall into the trap of assuming that we remain justified only so long as there are grounds in our character for that justification” (The Christian Life, pp. 82-83).
So, while there are many great books to be read, and many great preachers to learn from, there is one Preacher who demands my attention, and He has preached perhaps the greatest sermon of all time at the Mount (and it’s shredding my Pharisaic heart right now!). He is calling me always back to the first thing, that Christ died for my sins (1 Cor. 15:3).
Once again, I have found that the first and most important thing has become the easiest to forget. But by God’s grace, He never lets His children make it very far from the cross. And now that’s where I find myself, ashamed at the wickedness of my sin and awake to the fact that God Saves Sinners, of which I am the foremost. What a Savior.
So this blog begins where I begin: a great sinner in need of a Greater Savior.
