What Kind of a Pastor Do Sinners Need?
Sinclair Ferguson answers this question from his Marrow Controversy Lectures:
But when your people come and have been broken by sin and have fallen into temptation and are ashamed to confess the awful mess they have made of their life, it is not a Calvinistic pastor who has been sanctified by vinegar that they need. It is a pastor that has been mastered by the unconditional, free grace of God. It is a pastor from whom ironclad orthodoxy has been torn away and the whole armor of a gracious God has been placed upon his soul-the armor of one who would not break the bruised reed or quench the dimly burning wick.
You see, my friends, as we think together in these days about a Godly pastor we have to ask, what is a Godly pastor? A Godly pastor is one who is like God, who has a heart of free grace running after sinners. The Godly pastor is the one who sees the prodigal and runs and falls on his neck and weeps and kisses him and says, “This my son was dead, he was lost and now he is alive and found.”
Pastors, when sinners are drowning (and trust me…they are!), don’t tell them to paddle harder and kick faster. Throw them the life-line of amazing grace.
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Thanks for this. It’s really helpful for me in dealing with my own sins and for my pastoral ministry in helping others deal with their own sins. Thanks for reminding us about the hope of “the life-line of God’s amazing grace.”
We are all in a state of brokeness at one time or another. All of us need to know there is a harbor of safety where the Grace of God is extended. By reaching out with a heart of compassion, wounds will begin to heal, and fear of rejection will lose its grip.
Very good reminder for all of us!
A sinner needs a pastor who points clearly to the cross, is immersed in the gospel of free grace, and who has been, himself, overpowered by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. When the Israelites were dying in their sin, having been bitten by snakes, Moses pointed them to the uplifted pole and said, in essence, “look and live.” When those who were cutting down trees found poison in the pot the man of God instructed them to add substance, or flour. Rather than instructing them to take out all the poison from the stew, they were to add substance in. That substance gathered to itself all the poison and left nothing but life in the stew. We who are sinners are not to focus on trying to remove each and every sin, but rather look to Jesus, the Substance, Who took to Himself all our sin and left life for us who believe. John the Baptist focused on the atoning work of Christ when he said “Look, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” Pastors sometimes think that they are only to point unbelievers to the cross, for that is the “kindergarten” through which we pass on our way to deeper understanding. How wrong this is. Paul not only taught the sufficiency of the cross for unbelievers in Romans 1:16-17, but also for believers at the end of Romans: “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages.” Romans 16:25 (ESV) Pastors, preach the cross, the whole cross and nothing but the cross.