Lead With a Bible in Hand
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Leading with Your Bible in Hand
Benjamin Kreps
Hey everyone, and welcome to the podcast where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our Executive Director, Mark. As we record this, we are preparing to gather together as pastors representing our churches on tonight's Zoom call — our Virtual Council of Elders — where you will be giving your last State of the Union address as the Executive Director. When this airs, you will have given that message at the Council of Elders, and it includes an encouragement and exhortation to us as pastors. In order to effectively and faithfully lead through the inevitable challenges we face in our role, we need something in our hands at all times. Talk to us about that.
Mark Prater
I do want to talk about that. First of all, by the way, Ben, thanks for dressing up. I really appreciate you trying to up the game and class up this podcast.
Benjamin Kreps
I think it's too little, too late.
Mark Prater
It's too late, man. In my State of the Union, one of the things I mentioned that really exhausts our pastors is how to lead through challenges — because, as you said, they're inevitable in pastoral ministry and in pastoral leadership. So I gave three exhortations. The first is to stay humble, because it is the humble man to whom God looks — we see that in Isaiah 66, verse 2. The second is to hold on to your Bible, so that your leadership is informed by, shaped by, and directed by the Word of God. And then the third thing I said was to keep your head down and be faithful. Don't worry about what others think of you — care about what God thinks of you. And being faithful is what he does require of pastors. We see that in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 1. So those were my three exhortations when it comes to leading through the challenges that are inevitable in pastoral ministry.
Benjamin Kreps
Well, I haven't heard it yet — even though those checking out this episode at that point will have heard it. So I look forward to it. Let's dig down into your second exhortation — that we are called to lead while holding onto our Bibles. Talk to us about that.
Mark Prater
We are to lead with Bible in hand. And I think you see that in many places in Scripture, but one that's really helpful is in the Pastoral Epistles — specifically Paul's first letter to Timothy, who was an elder leading the church in Ephesus. He says in 1 Timothy 4, verse 11: "Command and teach these things." It's a helpful verse because it basically says the pastor has two basic responsibilities: to preach and teach God's Word, and to provide leadership to his church — command and teach these things. It's why Paul calls elders overseers in 1 Timothy chapter 3.
And if you look at the letter overall, one of the things that stands out is that Paul uses the word "command" or "charge" seven times in that letter, emphasizing Timothy's need to lead. Robert Yarbrough, in his commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, makes a comment about that repetitive use: "To a certain extent, the whole of First Timothy is Paul's command to Timothy regarding what he as a pastor must stand for and instill in those he leads." The quote assumes he's leading — that he's instilling something very important in those he leads. Pastors are to lead.
But here's the question: what sets a pastor's leadership apart from any other leadership? What's unique about pastoral leadership? All leaders cast vision. They think strategically. They take initiative. They address problems. They develop future leaders. They shape a culture. The list goes on. Pastors do all of that. Leaders in other vocations do that too. So what is it that sets a pastor's leadership apart? I believe it is the Word of God.
There's a book called Biblical Leadership, edited by Benjamin Forrest and Chet Roden — it's a biblical theology of leadership. If no one has read this, I would encourage a read. They do a great job presenting a biblical theology of leadership from a number of different authors — both Old and New Testament scholars. This is what they say in their introduction: "We believe that Scripture is far more than just for doctrinal effect. It is also for formational effect. Scripture should not only inform our minds, but inflame our hearts and equip our hands. God has spoken on a plethora of topics that are practical and readily needed for those serving in the field of day-to-day ministry. His Word, properly applied and understood, can and will impact those serving in leadership." And obviously part of that means the Word of God needs to affect us and shape us as leaders so that it informs and shapes those we lead.
So leadership in the church is not simply gifting or instinct. Pastoral leadership must be primarily Word-saturated. It must be informed by God's Word. In every leadership issue we face as pastors, we must first look to the Word of God for direction and information and help. That's really important because pastors are very busy. They work very hard. Leadership challenges come our way and we're trying to be expedient in addressing them. We can think very practically first — and there's nothing wrong with thinking practically — but I think there's a step before that which is very important: to be informed by the Word, to have a theological understanding of whatever the issue might be, and to let that shape and define how we lead and what we decide to do.
It's something we've purposed to do in leading Sovereign Grace. As a leadership team, I can point to a number of examples. How we led through some of the challenges of over a decade ago — those were biblically informed. When I began to think about how to do fundraising in Sovereign Grace, I learned from the fundraising world, and it was practical and helpful, but it was not theologically informed. Which is why we did a study and produced a little book called Joyful Generosity — because we wanted a theological basis for the way we approached and brought leadership to that area.
On a local church level, the Word of God should be shaping your conversations as elders, as you lead together as a plurality. There are a number of issues we face in elders meetings, and we must be informed by the Word of God first before we get very practical in deciding what we're going to do.
Just one illustration from my own church. We've been talking about how we can improve guest integration — someone comes to the church for the first time and how do we connect them more meaningfully? Jim Donohue taught our team on a study he had done on visitor integration, and the first four pages of what he presented were biblical foundations — Scriptures that really did inform how we were going to think about this practically. So just to guys who are leading elder ships or on elder ships: make sure your conversations are informed by the Word of God.
And then think through every sphere of ministry. Is it theologically defined? Is it Word-saturated? When I started a faith and work ministry, we got started — but about two years in we decided, wait, we need a theological vision for this ministry. And one was written, and it still today directs us in how we think about that ministry. Think about meetings you're in. If you've got a financial advisory board, how is the Word of God informing your interaction with them? If you've got an admin staff you pull together every so often, how are you giving them the Word of God? And how is your leadership of them informed by the Word of God? So some thoughts for elders to consider. My main point: let us lead with our Bibles in hand.
Benjamin Kreps
Excellent. Well, thank you for that encouragement and reminder. In Sovereign Grace you're going to have a pastor who is committed and devoted to faithfully preaching the Word to God's people, because we are convinced utterly that it is sufficient — to lead and feed and teach. So let's never forget that, even though we benefit from practical advice and common grace in the world. God's Word is also sufficient when it comes to our leadership and the way that we lead. And thank God for that. Appreciate you, Mark. Looking forward to hearing the whole thing this evening. And thank you all for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.