Recently I picked up Richard Baxter‘s The Reformed Pastor again. Those of you familiar with Baxter’s classic know its searching content. For those knew to the title, “Reformed” does not mean “Calvinism” or “the doctrines of grace.” It refers to the need for reforming the minister and his labors in keeping with God’s call to watch ourselves and our sheep.
Anyway, I was struck by five questions that conclude J.I. Packer’s introduction to the book (p. 18). They left me with much to ponder. In the spirit of sharing my pain with others, I list the questions below:
1. Do I believe the Gospel Baxter believed (and Whitefield, and Spurgeon, and Paul)?
2. Do I then share Baxter’s view of the vital necessity of conversion?
3. Am I then as real as I should be in letting this view of things shape my life and work?
4. Am I as rational as I should be in choosing means to the ends that I desire, and am charged to seek?
5. Have I set myself, as Baxter set himself, to finding the best way of creating situations in which I can talk to my people personally, on a regular basis, about their spiritual lives?
Good questions all, possessed with a certain logic that begins with the gospel and conversion and compels sober, prayerful reflection on the strategies we employ in our ministries to be sure our people are first soundly converted, second established in the faith, and third encouraged daily to persevere.
What’s your strategy?
