Preach the Gospel to Yourself

No one is more influential in your life than you are. Because no one talks to you more than you do.

So observes Paul Tripp — and in doing so, he accents our need to daily preach the gospel to ourselves.

In our sin, we constantly find our responses to life in our fallen world to be disconnected from the theology that we confess. Anger, fear, panic, discouragement stalk our hearts and whisper in our ears a false gospel that will lure our lives away from what we say we believe.

The battleground, says Tripp, is meditation. What is it that is capturing your idle thoughts? What fear or frustration is filling your spare moments?

Will you just listen to yourself, or will you start talking? No, preaching — not letting your concerns shape you, but forming your concerns by the gospel.   Continue at David Mathis

Depression and the Ministry, Part 1: The Setup

Editor's Note: The following is part one of a five-part series on depression and the ministry. The series is a joint effort of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and The Gospel Coalition.

• Garrett Higbee, Part 2: Occupational Hazards
• Steve Viars, Part 3: A Ministry Sabbatical
• Jeremy Lelek, Part 4: The Need for Wise Disclosure
• Bob Kellemen, Part 5: Facing Depression with Christ

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Sam’s Story

I was there the week it happened. His wife asked to see me. Tearfully she told me that he had walked into the church building that week and announced to his staff that he was “done.” He said he couldn’t face preaching another sermon; that all that he really wanted to do was to run away from his own life. Sam was 45 and the pastor of a vibrant and growing church.

I am convinced that there are important changes needed in pastoral culture and that the number of pastors who find themselves in the range from discouraged to depressed give clear evidence of this. Let me suggest four potential setups of this discouragement/depression cycle in ministry.

Setup #1: Unrealistic Expectations

 

I taught a class at Westminster Seminary on pastoral care and was impressed year after year about how unrealistic the expectations of my future-pastor students were. Year after year my students seemed to forget the two things that consistently make pastoral ministry hard. What are they? The harsh reality of life in a dramatically broken world and what remaining sin does to the hearts of us all. These two things make pastoral ministry a day by day spiritual war.  Continue at Paul Tripp

5 Subtle Pastoral ‘Treasure Shifts’ to Beware

As I continue to work through Paul Tripp’s highly-diagnostic book, Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry, the Spirit sheds light on areas of my heart and life where biblical truth needs to be applied. Chapter Seven is entitled War Zones because it confronts the kingdom battle taking place in the pastor’s heart. In this chapter, Tripp exposes five treasure shifts that commonly take place in the pastor’s heart without him being aware of it. First, Tripp identifies the treasure shift; then he explains what he means and, finally, he applies it to himself. Each of us will profit greatly by following his example.

1. IDENTITY: Moving from identity in Christ to identity in ministry. “In pastoral ministry, it is very tempting to look horizontally for what you already have been given in Christ. It is possible to be a pastor and a functional identity amnesiac….Rather than the hope and courage that come from resting in my identity in Christ, my ministry becomes captured and shaped by the treasure of a series of temporary horizontal affirmations of my value and worth.”
2. MATURITY: Defining spiritual well-being not by the mirror of the Word but by ministry. “It is tempting to allow a shift to take place in the way that I evaluate my maturity as a pastor. Rather than living with a deep neediness for the continued operation of grace in my own heart, I begin, because of experience and success in ministry, to view myself as more mature than I actually am.”
3. REPUTATION: Shifting from a ministry shaped by zeal for the reputation of Christ to a ministry shaped by hunger for the praise of people. “My ministry should be functionally motivated by the glory of Christ, that his fame would be known by more and more people, and that together we would all know practically what it means to submit to his lordship. Instead, my ministry becomes seduced by the treasure of my own reputation.”    Continue at Paul Tautges

Bad Company?

The apostle Paul quotes a well-known proverb derived from a Greek comedy in 1 Corinthians 15:33. I like the NIV translation of it, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” Did you ever consider that you may be your own worst company?

Paul Tripp repeats a line several times in his book, Dangerous Calling, for emphasis:

No one is more influential in your life than you are, because no one talks to you more than you do.

It’s a stinger, isn’t it? We are our own, constant conversation partner. The question is, Are we keeping bad company? What sorts of things are we convincing ourselves of throughout our day? Don’t be misled. Tripp convincingly pleads with his reader:

Whether you realize it or not, you are in an unending conversation with yourself, and the things you say to you are formative of the way you live. You are constantly talking to yourself about your identity, your spirituality, your functionality, your emotionality, your mentality, your personality, your relationships, etc. You are constantly preaching to yourself some kind of gospel. You preach to yourself an anti-gospel of your own righteousness, power, and wisdom, or you preach to yourself the true gospel of deep spiritual need and sufficient grace (21).

This got me thinking about how deceptive our “inner voice” can be. As I chat myself up all day, I am also my own spin-doctor. Quite often, that inner voice is bad company. But I let her in, give her a comfty chair (BTW, comfty is way cozier than comfy) and a hot cup of coffee. I invite my own deceitful heart to speak. If these thoughts were spoken out loud, I would probably be less likely to entertain them. But since they are privately spun, I allow myself to keep bad company.   Continue at Aimee Byrd

What Every Pastor Must Hear and Confess

If your ministry relationships will be healthy in God's sight, you must commit to intentionally planting good seeds into the soil of those relationships. This will take understanding, commitment, discipline, and perseverance. Galatians 5:13ff is very helpful here. Paul delineates this relational lifestyle this way: "Serve one another in love" (Genesis 5:13). Then he says something startling: "The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" If you had written the words, "The entire law is summed up in a single command," what would you have written next? I would have written, "Love God above all else." But, shockingly, that is not what Paul writes. Instead he says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." How does love of neighbor summarize all that God calls us to? The answer is both simple and profound. Those who love God above all else will love their neighbor as they love themselves.

This is a diagnostic insight into ministry relationships that every pastor needs to hear. The problem in our ministry relationships is not first that we don't love one another enough; no, the problem is that we don't love God enough, and because we don't love God enough, we don't love one another as we should. Could it be that we are so busy loving ourselves and making sure that others "love" us in the way that we want to be loved, that we have little time and energy left to love them as we should? Could it be that we are so busy working to co-opt the other into the service of our wants, needs, and feelings that we are too distracted to notice all the opportunities to love that every day gives us, and too busy making sure that we are loved to do anything about these opportunities even if we noticed them? Why does this happen? It happens because we have replaced love of God and rest in his care with love of self and the anxiety of "neediness."  Continue at Paul Tripp

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Did You Marry the Wrong Person?

A little while ago Stephen Altrogge wrote a small article he titled So You Think You’ve Married the Wrong Person and today I would like to add one thing to the discussion. Stephen’s article addresses an always-pertinent topic. It is a topic that is applicable to married folk who may one day wake up and wonder, Did I marry the wrong person? In fact, I think most married people wonder that at one time or another. It may not be a question filled with true angst and regret, but one that may persist at the back of their mind.

At such times you can find great comfort in this simple reality: I guarantee that you have married the wrong person. We all marry the wrong person. Perhaps I should say it like this: we all marry the “wrong” person. We all marry a person who sins against us, who sometimes exasperates us by helping us worship our idols and at other times irritates us by smashing them to pieces. We all marry a person who has stinky breath and physical blemishes and bad moods. We all marry a person who is apparently incompatible with us on all kinds of levels. To quote Stephen, “The husband is neat, the wife is messy. The wife is talkative, the husband is quiet. The husband is always on time, the wife lives more in the moment. The wife is social, the husband is a homebody.”

The differences can go far deeper than that. The differences may extend from the marriage bed to the church sanctuary, from the way we make love to the way we worship, and everywhere in between. 

Stephen turns to Paul David Tripp who offers some valuable and biblical counsel:    Keep Reading...

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The Futility of Control and Your Reason to Rest

As a pastor, I learned the hard way that my ministry was either propelled by hope-motivating rest in God’s sovereignty or fear-inducing belief that success would be the result of me controlling everything. In my early morning waking moments, in those quiet moments in the car or as my body gave way to sleep, I would pepper myself with a long list of “what ifs” and “if onlys.” This habit never produced greater courage or rest. It only tempted me to wonder if I had what it takes and pushed me to try to control things that I could not control. But over and over again in grace my heavenly Father came to me through his Word and the ministry of others and remind me of the only place rest could be found.

I did the same thing again and again when our children resisted our instruction and correction. I did it again and again when they debated a command or questioned our plans. I did it again and again when they opposed our authority and quested for self-rule. I did it again and again for two good reasons.

To begin with, my wife and I brought children into this world who thought they didn’t need us! Each of them at some point fell into believing they were far more knowledgeable and capable than they really were. They all assumed that their intentions were noble and their plans sound. They all thought they were capable of determining what was best, even when they lacked important information and experience. They simply felt they were in possession of a better way.   Keep Reading...

9/11 Ten Years Later

The September edition of Tabletalk is out. This issue examines the decade proceeding the events of September 11, 2001. It pays special attention to American’s response to and demands of God, and it instructs Christians on how to interpret and react to the various issues surrounding and springing from that dark day. Contributors include R.C. Sproul, John Piper, Marva Dawn, C.J. Mahaney, Paul David Tripp, and R.C. Sproul Jr.

We do not post all of the feature articles or the daily devotionals from the issue, so you’ll have to subscribe to get those. But for now, here are links to a few select columns and articles from this month:

• “Ten Years Later” by Burk Parsons
• “Ten Years Later” by R.C. Sproul
• “Where Is Your Hope?” by Marva Dawn
• “Happy Pastors” by C.J. Mahaney
• “Living in Light of the Gospel: An Interview with Paul David Tripp”
• “Sheep, Wolves, Snakes, and Doves” by John Piper
• “The Days of the Dead” by R.C. Sproul Jr.

Columns from Tabletalk Magazine

We’re Pastors and We’re Anxious

He sat in my office exhausted and discouraged. No, he wasn’t about to abandon the ministry to which he’d been called. In many ways he lived with a deep sense of privilege. He had been chosen and gifted to be a minister of the gospel, but he was tired, and his work had taken a toll on his family. He was able to admit that he said yes too much, sought to establish personal control over too many things, and worked way too much. He had thought that his deep dedication and unending schedule were the result of the motivation and loyalty of faith, but in midst of his exhaustion and his family’s protest, he began to wonder. Could it be that this life of frenetic energy and constant ministry focus was driven by something else?

His wife told him again and again that he needed to be around more for their four children. She told him that even when he was home, he often wasn’t “there.” And in his quiet, self-reflective moments he had to admit that his heart wasn’t at rest. Little did my pastor friend know that he was not alone. His story is the story of many pastors.

Could it be that one of the dark secrets of pastoral ministry is that a whole lot of what we do is driven by worry and not by faith?    Keep Reading...

Pastoral Ministry Is War

Why do so many pastors report being over-burdened and over-stressed? Why do so many pastors report tension between family life and ministry life? Why does pastoral ministry often seem like more of a trial than a joy? Why is there often disharmony between the private life of the pastor and his public ministry persona? Why are there often dysfunctional relationships between the pastor and his ministry leaders or staff? Why is the ministry life of many pastors shockingly short?

Perhaps we have forgotten that pastoral ministry is war and that you will never live successfully in the pastorate if you live with a peacetime mentality. Permit me to explain. The fundamental battle of pastoral ministry is not the battle with the shifting values of the surrounding culture. It is not the struggle with resistant people who don’t seem to esteem the gospel. It is not the fight for the success of the ministries of the church. And it is not the constant struggle of resources and personnel to accomplish the mission. No, the war of the pastorate is a deeply personal war. It is fought on the ground of the pastor’s heart. It is a war of values, allegiances, and motivations. It is about subtle desires and foundational dreams. This war is the greatest threat to every pastor. Yet it is a war that we often naively ignore or quickly forget in the busyness of local church ministry.    Keep Reading...

Depression and the Ministry, Part 4: The Need for Wise Disclosure

Editor’s Note: The following is part four of a five-part series on depression and the ministry. The series is a joint effort of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and The Gospel Coalition.

• Paul Tripp, Part 1: The Setup
• Garrett Higbee, Part 2: Occupational Hazards
• Steve Viars, Part 3: A Ministry Sabbatical

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During the past year, I have had the privilege of working very closely with Paul Tripp in the development of the Center for Pastoral Life and Care. That experience has given me a deeper understanding of the particular stresses and temptations experienced by pastors in ministry, and will considerably inform the comments that follow as it regards the questions, “How much should you share about your depression with a congregation? How do you explain it?”

Given the diversity of church cultures represented in the body of Christ, offering a blanket statement on the appropriate quantity of information to share with a congregation would seem a bit myopic. Instead, I believe it to be more beneficial to consider several components that may serve to shape a wise decision as a pastor considers disclosing personal struggles with depression. Keep Reading...

Depression and the Ministry, Part 1: The Setup

I was there the week it happened. His wife asked to see me. Tearfully she told me that he had walked into the church building that week and announced to his staff that he was “done.” He said he couldn’t face preaching another sermon; that all that he really wanted to do was to run away from his own life. Sam was 45 and the pastor of a vibrant and growing church.

I am convinced that there are important changes needed in pastoral culture and that the number of pastors who find themselves in the range from discouraged to depressed give clear evidence of this. Let me suggest four potential setups of this discouragement/depression cycle in ministry.

Setup #1: Unrealistic Expectations

I taught a class at Westminster Seminary on pastoral care and was impressed year after year about how unrealistic the expectations of my future-pastor students were. Year after year my students seemed to forget the two things that consistently make pastoral ministry hard. What are they? The harsh reality of life in a dramatically broken world and what remaining sin does to the hearts of us all. These two things make pastoral ministry a day by day spiritual war. Keep Reading...