Today I finished reading Richard Baxter's The Reformed Pastor. Never have I read as incisive and as helpful a book as this on ministry. A bit like facing the surgeon's scalpel, only Baxter cuts deeper. Here are five takeaways for me relative to pastoral ministry, without any elaboration whatsoever:
1. The necessity of caring for the WHOLE flock of god.
2. The diligence required for such care.
3. The means available for such care (particularly, personal instruction of all those in the church).
4. The dangers of avoiding such care.
5. The blessing of attending to such care.
Also, just to give you a little taste of Baxter's vision of a pastor's duty, here is a longer excerpt. He bases it all on Paul's discourse to the Ephesian elders found in Acts 20.
"O brethren! write it on you study doors- set it in capital letters as your copy, that it may be ever before your eyes. Could we but well learn two or three lines of it, what preachers should we be!
[a] Our general business- SERVING THE LORD WITH ALL HUMILITY OF MIND, AND WITH MANY TEARS.
[b] Our special work- TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES AND TO ALL THE FLOCK.
[c] Our doctrine- REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, AND FAITH TOWARD OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
[d] The place and manner of teaching- I HAVE TAUGHT YOU PUBLICLY, AND FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE.
[e] His diligence, earnestness, and affection- I CEASED NOT TO WARN EVERY ONE NIGHT AND DAY WITH TEARS. This is what must win souls, and preserve them.
[f] His faithfulness- I KEPT BACK NOTHING THAT WAS PROFITABLE UNTO YOU, AND HAVE NOT SHUNNED TO DECLARE UNTO YOU ALL THE COUNSEL OF GOD.
[g] His disinterestedness and self-denial for the sake of the gospel- I HAVE COVETED NO MAN'S SILVER OR GOLD OR APPAREL: YEA, THESE HANDS HAVE MINISTERED UNTO MY NECESSITIES, AND TO THEM THAT WERE WITH ME, REMEMBERING THE WORDS OF THE LORD JESUS, HOW HE SAID, IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE.
[h] His patience and perseverance- NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE ME, NEITHER COUNT I MY LIFE DEAR UNTO ME, SO THAT I MIGHT FINISH MY COURSE WITH JOY, AND THE MINISTRY WHICH I HAVE RECEIVED OF THE LORD JESUS.
[i] His prayerfulness- I COMMEND YOU TO GOD AND TO THE WORD OF HIS GRACE, WHICH IS ABLE TO BUILD YOU UP, AND TO GIVE YOU AN INHERITANCE AMONG ALL THEM WHICH ARE SANCTIFIED.
[j] His purity of conscience- WHEREFORE I TAKE YOU TO RECORD THIS DAY, THAT I AM PURE FROM THE BLOOD OF ALL MEN."
Lord, give us such men as Baxter in our churches, and may I be such a one.
