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DC Email – Humble Ministry

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Here’s my 10/8/13 email to Elders/Deacons at Crestview:

Paul Tripp, in chapter 12, Self-Glory, of Dangerous Callingis writing about Christ’s example of humility in washing the disciples’ feet and reminds us of this lesson:  “Jesus says, “If you’re not greater than your master, and he has been willing to do this disgusting thing, you must also be willing. If you are my ambassadors, called to represent my will and way, called to be tools of my redeeming grace, then you must not think that any ministry task is beneath you. You must be willing to do the lowest, most debased thing so that my work and my will be done. You must not refuse. You must not think of yourself as too good. You must be willing to be the lowest of slaves in order that my kingdom may come and my will may be done. You must be willing to do whatever is necessary to position yourself as a tool of redeeming grace. You must not be too proud. You must not be unwilling.”
So, how goes that guys?  Been thinking of yourself more highly than you ought lately?  The precious remedy from our Lord is to simply look to Him.  His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  Regardless of our ministerial failures (and they are many), He loves us and lavishes grace upon us.  Look to Him for forgiveness, strength and perseverance in this amazing work.  

With you in this…

DC Email – Pride: Check Yourself

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Here’s my email to elders and deacons at Crestview on 9/24/13:

Reading through the recommended reading from our last Dangerous Calling video, I came across this quote from chapter 11 (pp.153-154).  Read through this slowly: “I am afraid that there is a whole lot of pride in the modern pulpit. There is a whole lot of pride in the seminary classroom. There is a whole lot of pride in the church staff. It is one of the reasons for all the relational conflict that takes place in the church. It is why we are often better theological gatekeepers than tender and humble spokesmen for the gospel. It is why pastors often seem unapproachable. It is why we get angry in meetings or defensive when someone disagrees with us or points out a wrong. We are too self-assured. We are too confident. We too quickly assess that we are okay. We too quickly make heroes out of ourselves and others. We too often take credit for what sovereign grace produced. We too often assess that we don’t need the help that the normal believer needs. We are too quick to speak and too slow to listen. We too often take as personal affronts things that are not personal. We quit being students too soon. We don’t see ourselves as needy often enough. We have too little meditative-communion-with-Christ time nailed into our schedules. We confidently assign to ourselves more ministry work than we can do. We live in more isolation than is spiritually healthy. Pastor, there is ample evidence all around us that we tend to forget who we are and that we allow ourselves to be defined by things that should not define us.”
Today, I encourage you to remember the obvious: we are sinners in the process of sanctification and very much as needy as those we serve.  Let’s flee to the only remedy for our souls, then, the cross of Christ.  That’s our standard of acceptance and being right before God.  Let’s boast in Christ and His work rather than our own and be leaders who serve the body well. 

With you in this…

Weekend Prep on Older Brother

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This coming Lord’s Day (Lord-willing), we will finish up Luke 15:1-32 and, specifically, the parable of the lost sons and compassionate father. We will be honing in on lost son #2 – the older son from Luke 15:25-32. Most of us have no problem seeing the first son as lost, but many of us (church types) don’t see the self-righteous attitude we exalt we as something that separates us from the father. This sermon, then, is one we need. I hope you come prepared Sunday to wage war on your self-righteous, self-sufficient way of living and submit to a compassionate father full of mercy.

Pastors Need Heart Work Too…

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My life really resonated with Thabiti’s recent post on Pride and Preaching. Here’s an excerpt…

oh! how often the heart craves to hear that good report, that positive appraisal of “our” sermon and preaching. And, oh! how often we want to preach for God’s glory and all the while “be known” for preaching for God’s glory. Pride is sneaky, and the preacher is as vulnerable to it as everyone else.

These are great words and counsel. Too often we can forget that before we can boldly thunder God’s Word, we must humbly receive the correction that Word thunders in us. Pray that I would model this kind of humility for the people God’s entrusted to me.

Unforgiveness as an expression of pride…

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In his excellent book, Pleasing People, Lou Priolo encourages us to examine where pride exists in our lives and gives some Biblical manifestations. One that emerged to me was unforgiveness. He writes:

[Pride is seen, in that] when wronged, being unwilling to forgive an offender who has not demonstrated extreme submission or repentance. Proud people struggle to grant forgiveness to those who are not wallowing in sorrow over their offenses. They want not a simple “I repent,” as the Scriptures require (Luke 17:4), but the great proof of repentance. If you’re having a hard time connecting the dots between pride and lack of forgiveness, imagine asking forgiveness from someone who responds like this: “I’m not ready to extend my forgiveness to you. You haven’t offended just any old person; you’ve offended ME! And I don’t grant people forgiveness simply on the basis of their word without their somehow otherwise propitiating my anger.” (Of course, when it comes time for him to confess his own sin, the arrogant individual expects those he has offended to overlook his “little mistakes.”)

A humble believer recognizes the enormity of his own debt of sin that Christ has forgiven and considers any offenses that he himself must forgive as minutiae in comparison (cf. Matthew 18:21-35). He willingly grants forgiveness to those who sincerely ask for it. (In the absence of hard evidence to the contrary, he takes the repentant brother at his word.) (Luke 17:3-4)

I thought this was helpful in my own life. First of all, I have had to deal with people who are prideful like this. Secondly, however, and much more grievous, I’ve seen this attitude in my own life of making someone feel the sting of wronging ME. It’s time for us to humble ourselves in light of the cross and let repentance come.