Proverbs 14:15 A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.
At the end of this week, I will have been a pastor for 25 years. I was ordained on April 30th, 1986 and began my pastoral duties on May 1st. I was the first graduate of my class to be ordained in Scotland and I have tried to serve God well in the congregations to which I have been called.
Throughout the last quarter of a century, I have sadly seen Presbyterianism decline in both Scotland and the United States. I have made my views known on this from both the pulpit and through the devotions that I continue to write. I have seen the caliber of pastoral ministry diminish and divinity degrees being discredited. I have watched churches die and ministers burn out. I have tried to keep the churches under my care alive and growing. I have tried to be faithful to God’s word in preaching and pastoring, even when this has become unpopular.
I feel that I have failed. I feel that the words I have written, the sermons I have preached, and the studies I have led have not changed anyone or anything. People believe anything and Presbyterians are headed down a dead end street. There’s nothing I can do to reverse this and so I feel like the weeping prophet Jeremiah, who preached the Word of God faithfully to a people who believed in anything but the Word of God.
A new dawn is beginning for the Presbyterian Church which will see its demise in this century. By the time I retire professional pastors, denominational seminaries, and parish congregations will be relegated to the ecclesiastical history books. They will be replaced by part-time preachers, online courses, and community centers. Dinosaurs like me will eventually become extinct, along with denominations. Independent, post-denominational, charismatic and missional fellowships will grow because the True Word of God will be not only preached but practiced by all of the people. It will be a time of renewal and revival, but at least three generations will be lost because the large majority of them will believe anything but the Word of God.
So, on Sunday, I’ll be commemorating 25 years of ministry, but I won’t be celebrating it. It will be low key, simple, and for me very, very sad.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, when did we go off track and wander so far away from the Truth? How long will we stay on this dead end path that leads to nowhere? Why are we so afraid of our cultural peers? What makes our generation so certain that we have it right and every preceding one for two thousand years has been wrong? How long, O Lord, will it be before the Church awakens from its slumber and shakes off its dust? In Your Holy Name, we lament and pray. Amen.
John Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions of today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.
3 comments:
I want to encourage you, John. It's hard for one man to change the direction of an entire culture, or of a large and entrenched institution like the Presbyterian church. However, one person can make a difference in individual lives, and I have no doubt God has used you to impact the lives of those you've served in your congregations. Ultimately we have to do the best we can to be faithful and then leave it all in the hands of God. In this life you may never fully know the impact you've allowed God to have through you, but God does, and one day, perhaps in eternity, you will know, too.
John,
It is right for you to be sad, even in dispair. But you have not failed unless you want to call Jeremiah a failure. Both he and you did and are doing what God has called you too. you are just preaching and serving in a hard time and place.
You have stood firm. (Eph 6:10-13)
I was ordained in November of 1980 and have shared some of the same feelings you did in your post. As a solo pastor in a rural area I took up gardening. The reason was, that if I weeded a flowerbed I saw the results and that was something I have not seen in ministry.
At least in a timely manner. I'm now in my 20th year at this church. God willing I'll retire here. I've been the longest pastor they've ever had and I'm seeing a second generation growing up.
There is fruit but OMG [Oh MY GOSH] it seems to take forever. And there are those in whom you invest much of your life who seem to just walk away from it all.
Peace, and may you hear God's "Well done" as you reflect on 25 years.
Alan
Portland, OR.
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