Pastoral Ministry: How to Shepherd Biblically by John Macarthur and the Master's Seminary Faculty

John Macarthur and the Master's Seminary Faculty seek to provide a summarized work for pastoral ministry in Pastoral Ministry: How to Shepherd Biblically hoping to encourage a new generation of shepherds that will feed and lead Christ's church with the same passion the apostles had. In order to accomplish this goal, the authors move from the biblical to the practical. They detail four areas of pastoral importance: 1) biblical perspectives, 2) preparatory perspectives, 3) personal perspectives, and 4) pastoral perspectives.

The authors begin by detailing the biblical perspectives pastors should build their ministries upon. They expect pastors to determine whether they are going to be scriptural or unscriptural. If a pastor seeks to be scriptural, then the Scriptures will be his guide in determining what he should be and do. Also, church history will help as pastors seek to examine the biblical ministries of those who have come before. The authors conclude this section encouraging pastors to form their philosophy of ministry from the Scriptures, applying its timeless truth to every aspect of ministry.

In the next section the authors examine the pastor's preparation for ministry and during ministry. The pastor's character, call to ministry, training, and ordination are all detailed. Each of these sections is argued with the Scriptures as the foundation. Biblical knowledge and application are the themes that are emphasized. Next, the authors detail the pastor's day to day life in light of the Scriptures. They examine the pastor's home life, his personal and ministry prayer life, his study, and his compassion for his congregation. The Scriptures are emphasized yet again, and the authors provide some suggested contemporary application.

In the final section, the authors suggest the pastor's practical perspectives. They detail various practical applications concerning various decisions pastors will have to make. They examine what the pastor's biblical view concerning worship, preaching, modeling, leading, outreach, discipling, discernment, and observing ordinances should be. The book is concluded with John Macarthur answering some frequently asked questions that he has received in pastors' conferences and in the chapel at The Master's Seminary.

Critique

John Macarthur and the faculty of The Master's Seminary succeed in providing a summarized theology for pastoral ministry in Pastoral Ministry: How to Shepherd Biblically. Though this writer hopes they spur a generation of pastors that possess as much passion for God's glory as the Apostles did; only time will tell. Even in this writer's life, the longevity of the Apostolic passion has yet to be experienced. This writer hopes they succeed, for if they do, Evangelicalism will rise from its ashes to reach the nations, going into all the world, baptizing the repentant, and teaching them all that the Lord has commanded.

The authors' arguments concerning the pastor's primary objective in shepherding God's flock being to feed them from the Word of God was refreshing to this writer. Being relevant seems to be the song of the day; and this relevance is determined by the surrounding culture and their selfish needs. Macarthur however sees the gospel as relevant. His concern is with the church being relevant to God. There are few writers today, even few pastors that trust in the sufficiency of the Word of God to grow Christ's church. Instead, as good modernists, men think that if they simply use the correct packaging, style, marketing, etc. then people will respond to the gospel. In contrast, Macarthur's trust is in the absolute truth of God's Word, instead of on his own ingenuity.

Furthermore, the emphasis upon pastors encouraging their church members to use their gifts to build up the rest of the body was encouraging. The authors detail the Scriptural reality that the body must build one another up unto the glory of God. In a church that is programmed to death, it is encouraging to simply hear the truth of the Scriptures. Though there is often an emphasis on leadership and getting people to follow themselves, few pastors are speaking to the reality of the church member's responsibility. Instead of pastors trusting the powerful Word of God to grow faithful church members, they instead are taught how to modernly manipulate and package various strategies so that church members will get onboard. Thus, they never pass on this responsibility to the next generation, for the leader, the reason they used their spiritual gifts to begin with, cannot live forever. This book is refreshing, for it encourages its readers to build their ministries, not on themselves, but on the transcending absolute timeless truth of the Scriptures.

The authors are also correct in their estimation of the pastor's responsibilities. He is to preach, pray, and oversee the ministries of the church. He evaluates the meticulous affairs of all church-related activities, making sure they all coincide with Scriptural truth. The most important reality is that the church is faithful to the Scriptures, for where the Scriptures speak, God speaks. God will not judge pastors based on modern leadership principles that are formulated from Pelagian presuppositions. He instead will judge His laborers based on His timeless inerrant Word. Thus, God will not and does not care about how pastors are evaluated by the world based on unbiblical arbitrary standards. Pastors must submit to the truth of God's Word alone.

Finally, John Macarthur and The Master's Seminary faculty are clearly biased toward evangelicalism. They are conservative, for they believe the Scriptures, the Protestant Bible, is inerrant and authoritative. They believe it to be the beginning and end of Christianity concerning faith and practice on earth. Those who agree with their presuppositions therefore will benefit the greatest from this work. Arguably, others that disagree with their presuppositions will benefit as well as they pragmatically apply these truths to their daily lives and ministries. Thus, anyone is capable of benefiting from this book; and all are encouraged to read it.

Application

Macarthur sees the gospel as relevant still today. His and The Master Seminary's concern are with the church still being relevant to God. This writer needs to hear this truth constantly, for there is a constant pressure to produce numbers and professions through man-made means, a so-called relevance that is contingent on the whim of the culture. This writer is a Southern Baptist pastor that has been in vocational ministry for over ten years now. Throughout his ministry, he has felt an indirect pressure to get a certain number of people baptized or attending. In the SBC in this writer's estimation, the emphasis has largely shifted from faithfulness to numbers. This work has encouraged this writer to continue preaching the gospel, regardless the response. If a pastor is not willing to preach the Scriptures, and he does not see this as his primary responsibility, then he is failing before God though his auditorium may be full. Furthermore, the Scriptures are relevant for they are timeless. Thus, as a result, this writer will stick with the Word of God, realizing and constantly being reminded that it alone is the means God the Holy Spirit uses to save and grow His church.

Also, due to this indirect pressure from the SBC, it was very encouraging to hear that this writer's philosophy of ministry should come from the Scriptures. With many large-church pastors or evangelists detailing various philosophies of ministries, and pastoral ignoramuses dominating the airways, it is encouraging and refreshing to hear that there are still "big name" pastors that believe the Scriptures determine philosophy of ministry. Amazingly, the Scriptures are not largely the starting and ending point for ministry in evangelicalism anymore. These authors have challenged this writer from now on throughout his ministry to gauge everything that presents itself as Christian, making sure that it is formulated from the Bible. They have encouraged this writer to constantly examine his ministry, making sure everything flows from Theology. Everything should flow from theology for the purpose of doxology. Without theology that leads to doxology, the church simply becomes a local club, or empty altogether.

Furthermore, it was encouraging to hear that it's the pastor's responsibility to be a watchman. This writer has often been in trouble in his ministry for blowing the whistle on things that were blatantly unbiblical. Though this writer understands that the discerning are often in danger of being nit-picky or adamant about untruth if they believe it to be true, this still does not change the importance of testing all things and holding fast that which is good. This writer will continue to blow the whistle on untruth, lovingly encouraging his hearers to remain faithful to the Scriptures above all else. Finally, it was encouraging to hear biblical discipline taught as a biblical necessity. In Southern Baptist churches, though our predecessors have given us an inerrant Bible, they have not believed or practiced its mandates as if it is inerrant. The battle today seems to be for the sufficiency of the Word of God. Because our predecessors have not treated the Bible equally, as if every page is applicable today, Southern Baptist pastors have been handed churches that do not trust the sufficiency of the Word of God. There is no accountability in most Southern Baptist Churches. Their membership roles are bloated with numbers; and the morality line between the church and the world has been blurred at best and destroyed at worst. The sad reality is that all of this wickedness has been carried out in the name of love. This love is an accepting love that even accepts the wickedness of Christians, though the Bible clearly lays out steps of biblical discipline with the purposes of restoring fallen brothers and sisters, purifying the church of spreading wickedness, and to draw a clear line between the church and world. Because of this aforementioned worldliness of previous pastors, Southern Baptist pastors today cannot encourage local congregations to carry out biblical discipline quickly because they will be fired. This writer therefore will seek to be longsuffering, encouraging its congregations to be one body in Christ unto God's glory alone. Biblical discipline will be consistently taught as will as the rest of the Scriptures as this writer encourages his congregation to be faithful to the Scriptures regardless their own purported definitions of love.