"Feed my sheep" -- the prerequisite

"Simon, Son of Jonah, do you love me?" ... "Feed my sheep." - Jesus

Our seminaries teach people how to read Greek and Hebrew, how to interpret the Bible, how to preach. But none of that can make someone a good pastor. They teach systematic theology, Christian doctrine, church history -- but those don't make a good pastor either.

If a pastor doesn't love Jesus, then whatever he's doing, he's not "feeding the sheep"; they will go home unsatisfied. They may go home educated, or motivated, or impressed; but they will not be spiritually fed.

The gospels teach us to love Jesus. The authors wrote them because they had learned to love Jesus. What makes people want to follow Jesus? It's not being impressed with the pastor's skill in translating, or in skewering his enemies, or in presenting himself as smart. It's not even understanding systematic theology. It's Jesus. When we see and recognize the good in him, we follow him.

How would you structure a New Testament Intro course?

This continues the thread of "comments I don't want to lose" that I've made either on discussion boards or other peoples' blogs. Some time ago on Chris Tilling's old blog, he asked:

Let us imagine you could teach a NT introduction course to 1st and 2nd year undergraduates in 10 sessions. In this imaginary scenario there is already a really superb looking syllabus, but you simply want to think through different options.

What would you suggest should be covered? What themes, NT books, background matters, exegetical approaches, etc. would you want to see discussed? Especially if you preach regularly, what have you found to be of the most enduring help when you look back on NT introduction courses?

Now, have you ever heard a question that a programmer like me is less qualified to answer? But it's a discussion forum so I gave out my thoughts anyway, whether they're worth the two cents or not.

When you asked "if you preach regularly" -- it made me wonder about the intended audience.

If the point of the class is to prepare a pastor for a lifetime of drawing water from the well for himself and for others, my first sketch would be this:

1. What is the Gospel? Jesus as Christ and the human condition. How hearing the message of Christ plants the seeds of faith, hope, and love; how knowing Christ anchors and nurtures the same.

2. "Who do you say that I am? - Part 1" Different identities/roles that Jesus fulfills according to his own words and those about him in the NT.

3. "Who do you say that I am? - part 2" The struggle over the identity of Jesus: through the development of orthodoxy, the canon, through to the Enlightenment and on to modern efforts to reinterpret Jesus. Criteria for evaluating various interpretations.

4. Major teachings of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount: proclaiming the God who blesses. The primacy of love: from the Torah to Jesus to Peter, Paul, and John.

5. The parables. Broken down by major themes: the God who plants a seed, the God who seeks, the God who gives justice, the God who forgives, the God whose kingdom comes.

6. Baptism and new life: Baptism, and repentance; baptism and forgiveness; baptism and the cross of Jesus; baptism and the cross we take up.

7. Jesus' death and resurrection.

8. The Holy Spirit: (you could teach a whole class on this easily, but in an intro I suppose only 1 session)

9. New creation and the coming kingdom: doctrines of hope.

10. Encouragement for pastors: the pastoral letters.

Chris did comment back:

Thanks for your list! There is a lot there on Gospel related issues. But I like the practical, ministry orientated nature of it.

Odd, the "But" at the start of the last sentence implies that "There is a lot there on Gospel related issues" was seen as a problem or drawback. To a Lutheran like me, it's a compliment. Though I wonder if he just meant I could have been plainer that the whole NT would be involved in the discussion on quite a few of the points.

Continuous Reformation: Imagine A Seminary Course Catalog

Do you believe the church should always be in reform? Imagine a seminary with graduation requirements and coursework that looked like this:

Semester 1

• The Fear of the LORD
  
• Humility and self-control
  
• Torah studies
  
• Proverbs and Psalms (musicians encouraged to bring instruments on Fridays)
  
• Stewardship
  

Semester 2

• The Prophets
  
• Knowing God: images of God, presence and promises of God
  
• Gifts of the Spirit 1. A seven-part course on wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the LORD, and joy in his presence.
  
• Prayer and contemplation
  
• The great laws: love of God and neighbor. Required term project: participation in a Matthew 25-originated hands-on ministry.
  

Summer Practicum: hospitality

Semester 3

• New Testament: Gospels. Focus on knowing God through Christ.
  
• Gifts of the Spirit 2. A three-part course on Faith, Hope, and Love.
  
• Repentance and Forgiveness
  
• Leadership 1. Spurring others on to good work. Building fellowship.
  
• The Grace of the Lord
  

Semester 4

• New Testament: Acts through Revelation. Focus on showing God to the world through following Christ.
  
• Leadership 2. Delivering rebukes with gentleness and respect. Delivering encouragement. Forming Christ in your listeners by means of the Word. Feeding your sheep.
  
• Work of the Holy Spirit 3. Main emphasis on knowing God, on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. A basic overview of other gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
  
• Perseverance and persecution
  
• Proclaiming Christ as evangelism
  

Final Practicum: Shepherding with wisdom and compassion.

Problem In Seminaries: Follow-Up

To gauge from the amount of discussion around the blogosphere, the Internet Monk really touched a nerve with his recent piece on questionable methods of recruiting pastors and the harm to the pastors' families, their churches, and themselves. I promised I'd follow up with some thoughts on how to improve the situation.

Even churches founded on the Reformation often have a mistaken idea that "Reform" (in any major sense) is something that only the Roman Catholics need to do. But given Murphy's Law, reform is for everyone, and must be continuous. Humility, confession, and repentance are spiritual basics for churches and church bodies, not just for individual Christians.

When it comes to Christian ministry, I have to wonder, in general:

• Was the person's maturity really evaluated when they sought to come into the ministry?
  
• Has the shortage of ministers made us ask fewer screen-out questions, even if they are important ones?
  
• How do you remove a well-intentioned person who lacks the ability without humiliating them? Without stigmatizing them when it comes to finding a different line of service?
  
• How perfect does a pastor have to be? Are we setting standards that nobody can meet?
  
• Which flaws should we bear with patiently, and which are over the line?
  
• Are there more ministry options than full-time for life, overworked for life, or marginalized for life?

Without claiming to have answers for all of those, I'd like to suggest a few things as a place to begin:

1. Churches should ask for a commitment from the pastor that their first ministry is to their own family. Pastors should expect the churches to respect that.
   
2. Churches should support their pastors in their family time (and spiritual wellbeing) by designating regular days off for their pastors. No Bible studies, no prayer meetings, no special services, no council meetings. Genuine rest. An elder or spiritually mature member should be able to handle most emergencies -- and should have the "church emergency" cell phone for the day.
   
3. A church cannot be a one-man show. The Bible speaks of a variety of offices or positions in the church. There should be those who help visit the sick, those who teach, those who help the needy with material needs, even those who can preach.
   
4. The pastor should seek out and encourage spiritually mature members to consider a sort of apprentice pastorship in their area of interest. This would build the congregation's strength, allow those who are not fully-fledged pastors a wider range of opportunities to serve, and provide a rest for the pastor when needed. Jesus sent out people two by two, and I think the pastor should question himself if he finds himself performing many of his duties alone instead of with a fellow-worker.

This just scratches the surface -- but I think scratching the surface is exactly the right place to start. Grand sweeping changes take an entire reorganization (such as the Reformation, or the new "Emergent" scheme) before they work. Churches that don't reform when needed find themselves splintering -- but so do churches that change too drastically. As small as these changes are, as obviously incomplete as they are, they are also one more thing: workable. That makes them a candidate for "where to start". The time to take the next step is after we take the first one.

A Biblical Problem in our Seminaries

Recently, Michael Spencer (Internet Monk) wrote about his journey towards becoming a Christian pastor, and his sincere regrets over having chosen this path in life. While I've often had trouble relating to his posts as he speaks from a branch of Christianity that seems very alien to me, this time I think he has hit a note that resounds through more of the church than just his branch. The pervasive practice in the church has been to recruit pastors who are very young, still in school and not yet established in their own families. While many worldly careers take this approach, I question whether it is the best approach -- or even an entirely acceptable approach -- for those shepherding Christ's flock.

If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. ... He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. If anyone does not know now to manage his own family how can he take care of God's church? He must not be a recent convert or he may become conceited ... (excerpts from I Timothy 3, which is worth reading in full)

And again

the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. (from Titus 1, again worth reading at length)

Typically, the "recruit through school" approach brings a very young group into the pastoral position; it's a position for which not quite all of them are really ready. Often the "assistant pastor" approach is open for the new pastor to be mentored, or other mentoring schemes are set up until the pastor gets his feet under him, and this is a good thing. But it leaves open a very real problem: what if someone becomes a pastor who, upon maturing, really doesn't belong in that line of work at all? At one time I belonged to a church whose pastor was unable to lead his own family, whose children were "open to the charge of being wild and disobedient" to say the least. When the pastor's job called for preaching he could preach a sermon. But when the pastor's job called for mature leadership, he simply could not deliver. (Yes, his sermons did suffer from "the leadership vacuum" as well; they tended to be very educational but not very edifying.) More than that, in our church body (and many others, from what I gather) the amount of education required for a pastorship includes extensive knowledge of both Greek and Hebrew before entering the Master's program. While this makes for admirably well-educated pastors, it also means it is rarely practical for someone to obtain that education after becoming mature, having children, and demonstrating humble, trustworthy, and effective Christian leadership.

The problems are both dealing with pastors who simply do not meet the Biblical requirements for church leadership despite having their degree, and clearing the path for those who meet the Biblical requirements but are not likely candidates for the church's official Master's program (though they may require some additional training). I have in mind a few possibilities, but would be curious if anyone else has seen this also and has thoughts on it. I'll hold off posting my own thoughts about solutions until after the next Christian Carnival.