This subject should be a passion to my own heart, but it is more often a plague on my own conscience. To give structure to this paper which has been entitled Feed the flock of God - I would like to look at The Flock, The Wolves and The Feeding

The Flock

The people are God's people.

The first thing that we have to say is that the people are God's people. Though it is true that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, still it is especially true that those who claim that the Creator of the universe is their father, are indeed His special possession. It makes our work, therefore, all the more of a privilege in that we are looking after God's own family. No greater honour could be done to any man than to be called into this work. Those who are elders, whether preaching or ruling, are given the highest calling that must never be in any way minimised.

The Lord is their Shepherd.

The second thing we must stress is that whatever the leaders of the church may be doing in looking after the flock of God, they never rise any higher than being fellow-labourers with God. He never abandons any one of His people even to the most faithful of shepherds. No, He must still be called the Chief Shepherd. The Lord is their Shepherd. Thinking in terms of Psalm 23, He will make sure that they will lack nothing - rest for their souls, refreshment by the still waters, restoration to the paths of righteousness, encouragement in every dark valley, protection and vindication before their enemies. Indeed, He will ensure that they experience His grace and mercy until they arrive in their final dwelling place in what an older generation used to call His nearer presence.

The Elders are Undershepherds

It is surely humbling that the Lord will use people like us through which to demonstrate His care for God's people. Thinking again of the shepherd imagery in Psalm 23, the Lord will use leaders to ensure that his people experience assurance, stimulation, restoration, vindication, protection and a sense of belonging to the family of God until the reach the presence of God in glory. We never read of undershepherds in glory. The Lamb will personally shepherd them there, leading them to fountains of living waters. But here, between the time of their entrance into the family of God and their arrival in the house of God, the undershepherds have a God-appointed role to play in caring for the people of God in the name of God.

There are faithful and unfaithful shepherds of the flock

There are a number of passages in Scripture where the shepherds can learn from God what He expects us to do as shepherds. Some of these passages are negative in that unfaithful shepherds are being rebuked. From such passages we can learn a great deal to our shame. In Ezekiel 34, for example the Lord rebukes the unfaithful leaders of God's people: As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. The point here is to a certain extent obvious. The shepherds are more concerned with themselves than with the state of the flock. The flock are not being cared for because the shepherds are feeding themselves. Indeed, the shepherds are actually devouring the sheep - using these sheep to make their own lives more comfortable - living of the flock, rather than living for the flock. There was an utter lack of compassion.

This is in such contrast to Jesus. He discerned that the people who were supposedly under the care of the Sanhedrin and the Rabbis were in reality a people without a shepherd. We read And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. Notice again that the compassion was followed by teaching. It was this that the people needed. There is likewise much that we can learn from John 10 about how Jesus was the good shepherd, in contrast to the unfaithful ones, in that He called the sheep, gathered the sheep, knew the sheep, loved the sheep, taught the sheep and gave Himself for the sheep so that they could have life more abundantly. What an example for the undershepherd!

There is a particularly solemn passage to which we must draw attention today, even though it is so familiar: Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Acts 20:28 The blunt warning here, one which we all need to be confronted with frequently, is that unless we take heed to ourselves we will never be able to watch over the flock of God. There is nothing automatic in the methods of pastoral work. It is what we are, and how we are that matters. If we fail to discipline our own lives, it is likely that we shall fail to bring stability into the lives of others. This is possibly why many of the servants of God are so exhausted - living the double life - preaching what they have no intention of practising.

Let us rather have the spirit of Paul in 1 Thess.2:19ff, when he says, 'For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? 20 For ye are our glory and joy.' Glory will be double glory for Paul because he keeps before him what his spiritual children will be like on that day - they will be Paul's crown. It was for them that he was willing to suffer shipwreck, be whipped, beaten; it was for them that he fasted and spent watchful nights; it was for their sakes that he was willing even to suffer the loss of freedom so that the Lord's people would never be confused by any compromise in his teaching. Paul was a shepherd, not only in his preaching, and living, but, especially, when he stood for the defence of the gospel.

The title for our paper today, of course, comes from that great passage in 1 Pet 1:1-5. The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight [thereof], not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over [God's] heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. We must remember that the letter was originally written to a section of the people of God, who were scattered and suffering. What do these people need? Is it to blend in better with their cultural surroundings so that their lives will be more comfortable, being conformed to the image of the world? Should they be told by a Bishop Holloway that God will take their stand alongside them as they take on the world's habits and adopt the world's lifestyle? No, says Peter. Let them, in their suffering, commit their souls to their faithful Creator, and let elders appointed by the faithful Creator, the Chief Shepherd of the sheep, look after these scattered people and care for God's suffering flock. They will soon be home after they have suffered a little while, but, for the present, let them be strengthened by the Lord through the elders. The elders should look after the flock, not because they have to, but because they want to, not for money, but because their heart is in it. In order to encourage shepherds like us Peter reminds us that on the day of Christ's appearing, the elders of God's people will meet Him as The Chief Shepherd from whom they will receive the reward of the crown of glory that will never fade away. We assume that throughout eternity, the Lord's people will never forget how much they owe to the Lord their shepherd and to the elders, their faithful shepherds. Their crown will never fade away.

The Wolves

What are the dangers? Perhaps the best way to explain the need for shepherding the flock is to outline some of the dangers of the present day for those who are spiritually weak or malnourished.

Satanic attacks against the church

I know that many laugh at any idea of encouraging people to think in terms of danger. Such talk is likely to be viewed with scorn as belonging to an age when people did not see the whole picture. It is a sad fact that many Christians, young and old, are simply not aware of the spiritual dangers. While it would be wrong to look for the devil on every street corner, or in every pulpit, nevertheless, it is a fact that we need the armour of God because we are wrestling, not against human enemies only, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. It is at best a dark age, and there are evil spiritual rulers who will do their evil best to maintain that darkness by attempting to extinguish the light of the gospel in the individual believer, and then in the church as a whole. We know that Satan has the power to manipulate physical events, and to suggest to the mind wrong thoughts. He can be effectively at work in the sons of disobedience to keep them blind to God's truth. But, while the unbeliever is viewed by Satan as a prisoner, the believer is viewed by him as an escaped prisoner whom he tries to recapture. He will try to get the people to do what is formally wrong, in direct disobedience to God. If this fails, he will also attempt to distort the good habits and actions so that they are wrong in their effects. As J I Packer put it so well: 'Thought without action, love without wisdom, love of truth without love of people or vice versa, zeal with error, orthodoxy with unrighteousness, conscientiousness with morbidity and despair, selectiveness in one's concern for what is true and right, are samples of this kind of distortion. Our shepherding must take into account the wiles of Satan.'

False teaching within the church.

However, although Satan can work directly, we know that he can use flesh and blood to achieve his goals. It was the Lord Himself who warned us that false prophets would arise, some of them from within the church itself. God, for His own reasons allows this to happen. In Zechariah 11 we read: For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, [which] shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. The Lord may see it as a judgement on the church to have heartless leaders and selfish, power-hungry elders. The apostle John demanded that the church should test the spiritual source of the teaching they receive within the church, 'Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.' In John's day these anti-Christs were perverting the truth about Jesus. In our day they are doing the same and perverting the truth about the existence of God, the nature of God, creation, the nature of man, the historicity and effect of the Fall, the person of Jesus, the substitutionary nature of his death, the reality of His resurrection, the fact of His second coming and the close of this world in judgement. These false prophets are also perverting the nature of the preaching and receiving of the gospel today. Universalism is taught in some quarters and a strict hyper-Calvinism in others. In short, false prophets have over the millennia of the church's existence been very active in distorting every foundational doctrine of the Christian faith. Not only so, but there has also been an impressive thrust made to change the ethics of the Christian church. The pressure is on from within the church to accept the world's practices as the norm and to stand alongside the sinner and whisper, Its all right, God loves you.' Our shepherding of the flock must bear in mind the dangers that arise from within the church.

Godlessness outside the church.

There is also the more subtle problem of the dangers presented by the godlessness of the age around us. People little realise just how much we are affected by the consensus of society around us. Little by little we take on board, if not their conclusions, certainly their ways of thinking. We begin to think like people without a Bible.

What are the pressures which our people have to face?

Post-Reformation Society

The principles that had such a powerful effect upon our national culture have all but gone. This is true not only with respect to doctrine, but also with respect to ethics. What people believe today concerning God, man, the world, sin, etc. has undergone an enormous shift. The sheer mass of people among whom our people live have a totally different view of reality. A brief look at some of the soap operas on TV will bring home to us that there is life without God out there. No worship of God, no grace at meals, no God even in a time of crisis. What people practice today ethically ought to be shocking to any Christian. Yet it fails to be so. Why? Have we become so desensitised to the laws of God by our living in such a godless world where God's laws are mere matters of antiquity? Today, consensus ethics are the order of the day in moral spheres. If 51% of the people agree that homosexuality is acceptable, it is thereafter looked on as right. If 51% of people think that a foetus in the womb should have no rights, then this becomes wholly acceptable. If significant people tell us that raising our children by our beliefs are wrong, then we will soon be charged with abuse in 'forcing' our children to go to church. For our people to live in such a society where the values that were re-instated at the Reformation are now disregarded is difficult.

Plastic Christianity

This is another danger in our society. Some people still profess to be Christian. This would, of course, be a good thing were it not that what they mean by 'Christian' is wholly different to what we would mean by the term. They use God-words like spirit, spiritual life, soul, 'being at peace', oneness with god, experience of God, faith, the way, etc. It is not unusual to hear people using such words and phrases. The trouble is that many people, even Christian people, are gullible enough to believe that these people are always true believers. Of course, such phrases abound in the mouths of theologians, and liberal ministers. People can dress up heretical beliefs in the garb of orthodox doctrine. The flock of God need to be aware of such a danger so that they can live with discernment and be of benefit to these people rather than be led astray by them.

Powerful Media

Christian people are very often gullible and accept the presentation of truth in the media, whether it be in visual or written form. 'Truth' is presented in such a convincing way that even if Christians are not happy to accept the statements they are too embarrassed to stand out against such a well presented case done with such good visual effect. It leads to a loss of confidence, and our people suffer a great deal from this today. The result is that in a small world driven by the media, the church feels tiny and insignificant and plunges from there into a loss of confidence in biblical teaching. We must impress upon people with all the persuasive powers that we can muster that the Media's view of reality or religion is always an edited view of reality and religion. We must teach our people how to hear.

Cult Christianity

By this we mean that young people from within our own church are sometimes tempted to be living of their other people's - either parents' or ministers' or theologians' - understanding of the word and of the Christian life, but never having had to search out the truth for themselves - in the way of either doctrine or ethics. Ultimately this is in danger of leading to a devastating loss of confidence in a time of crisis. Since they have no deep hold themselves they are sucked up into the majority mould of the secular world, sometimes never to return. We must feed them to be Berean Christians.

Plea for Tolerance

This is a subtle but very powerful wolf. A tolerance has crept even into the thinking of people. Not only are the young tolerant of the changes in spiritual attitudes - this we might even expect. But the old are becoming more and more tolerant as well. People are being trained to think that one belief can be true and its opposite be also true. It is all up to what suits the particular person. And no one is allowed to condemn another person's beliefs in such a situation. Everyone is searching for the truth, and no one, but no one must dare say that they, and they alone possess the truth. No one is wrong, and everyone is right. This has had an effect even on professing Christians, young and old, and the our churches are not wholly excluded from this. There is what one might call a spurious charity with respect to other beliefs and faiths. Sometimes it is tolerance, sometimes it is more - a reluctance to evangelise among those who hold sincerely to another religion, or another form of Christianity.

These, therefore are some of the dangers which make it imperative that the elders of God's church should teach the people of God.

The Feeding - the teaching of the people of God

Resentment to teaching

There is sometimes a resentment against shepherding in general and teaching in particular which is hard to account for. It seems to come from two directions. On the one hand, it has to do with a general unwillingness in our generation to accept any authority. There is to some extent a reaction against any teaching, but especially teaching which claims to be divinely authorised. We dare not, however, dishonour our Lord by playing down our own importance. He that heareth you heareth me - Luke 10:16.

On the other hand, the resentment to teaching comes from within the church itself. All too many people would have us believe today that evangelism is all that matters. This is understandable. Whereas the church in the past might only need to open the door and the people felt bound to come in, now the pastors are expected to go out to the lost and to bring the gospel to them.

We must teach

We must be evangelistic as long as we have people in the church who are unconverted. But we must not over-react and fail to give the people of God the spiritual nourishment God expects them to receive. They need teaching, good, clear, relevant teaching. Why?

First, because it is crucial to their perseverance as Christians. The Hebrew Christians were in danger of apostasy because they had failed to develop in the faith.

Secondly, because it will make them stronger in the faith. The more understanding the believer develops, the stronger they will be as His servants, and the more willing they will be to suffer for it. For example, the Covenanters were willing to suffer because they knew what they believed. I wonder how many of our people would be willing to suffer in order to come to a Lord's Day service.

Thirdly, it will make them better witnesses of the faith. Unless the people are well nourished spiritually, they will be poor evangelists, in some cases leading people astray into false paths of salvation.

Fourthly, it will make them better defenders of the faith, a task which will become increasingly important as the godlessness and pluralism spreads.

Fifthly because their lives will bring glory to their Father in heaven. Love for God cannot be expressed any better than in obedience to His commandments. The more we know, therefore, of what God has commanded, the more we are in a position to express our love for Him.

What are the main guidelines?

Guide them to the Bible

Our chief aim as shepherds must be that we bring the Lord's people to be dependent on the manna of Scripture. We must have as our goal that each of the Lord's people would know the authority of the Book, and the main principles by which the Book guides them. We are not to tell people what to think or what to do, but to teach them to think and act on the basis of the Bible and its teaching.

To achieve this, we must guide them into the Bible itself. This may seem a daft emphasis. However, we must remember that the story line of Scripture is no longer known by all our hearers in the pulpit or at the fireside. We must, therefore, go through the story line - biblically - from the Genesis events to the Gospel events to the Consummation events. While Systematic Theology has an essential place in the nurturing of the converted, it is not always the best way of bringing the gospel to the unconverted, especially in an age of pluralism. Nor is it the best place for teaching newly converted people. It may still be quite alien to them. The historical facts of the Bible itself must be brought home to such people. The Bible, not tradition, must be our benchmark. Let our people, and ourselves, be controlled, not by what people have believed in the past or what is popular in the present. Rather, let them believe what is Scriptural . We must feed the people of God by directing them to the Bible as the Word of God. Systematic Theology has a place, but not at the beginning, at least not in this biblically illiterate age. Cf. the story of being told not to change my beliefs on anything until proven to from the Bible.

Negative and the positive.

We must teach the Lord's people to expect the negative as well as the positive as they approach the Bible's teaching. Too many people go to it, looking for a warm feeling. There is tremendous pressure to be giving a positive message today. We must not fail to give a negative message - tearing down before we can plant. For example, we must learn about the wrath of God against sin. Nothing makes sense of the world today quite like it. And nothing makes sense of the loss of reality in the believer's life than the fact that we may have offended our Father who has now hidden His face from us. The positive will flow from for the negative, but it takes courage to be faithful and to teach the most devastating negatives and the most stimulating positives.

Present relevance.

There is a real danger that we could be fighting yesterday's battles - or answering the questions that were asked 30 - 40 years ago. Luther's quote is always apt. We may be fighting on the wrong part of the battlefield. We must not teach as if we were teaching people half a millennium ago. People, today, have their own beliefs and their own questions. It is our duty when we are teaching to bear these beliefs and questions in mind.

For example, when we preach on the doctrine of God today - in an age of pluralism - we must emphasise that He is separate from the universe, not a part of it. When we preach on judgement we must emphasise that history is not going round and round, but is in a line, in a line that ends in this age at God's judgement seat. People in this generation do not think of an 'end' the way past generations under the gospel used to. In many other such ways, therefore, we must seek to preach relevantly to this generation, taking account of new levels of educated ignorance, and the questions that come with it.

Future relevance.

It would be a very foolish pastor, however, who failed to prepare his people for the dangers that lay ahead. We must learn to discern the various marshes and cliffs that lie before the flock. Think in the long term. Think just now for the sake of the generation to come, your children and mine. We must teach young and old to be prepared for the future problems. After all the Lord Himself gave so much teaching to the disciples that was to be more relevant at a later time.

The same pattern was followed by Paul. He was a faithful shepherd, feeding the flock - in what he said (the whole counsel of God), in how he said it (with tears), in where he said it (from house to house), - in standing against present false teachers, in warning against future false teachers. He gave the people teaching that was not only relevant to their situation now but which would prove absolutely essential for the future. Likewise, we must train people to store up teaching for future battles. This is something we must make clear in our teaching. Sadly, the evangelical church seems to specialise in being behind.

Against error.

We must teach what is true and at the same time indicate what is false. It is not that our people don't know what to believe, its that they do not know what not to believe. We must teach our people to be believers, and to be unbelievers. We must realise that there is a tendency to move away from detail today. There is a terrible vagueness that will soon wreak havoc on the church. Today people are not too bothered about the distinctions between Father and Son, or in the mystery of the person of Christ, or in the sinfulness of man - its source and nature, or in the application of the gospel to the sinner.

Many people are only too happy to accept that these things are as they are without having to try to understand them. The Devil is not daft. Satisfy a people with a minimalist Christianity, and you will end up with a plastic church that will eventually within a couple of generations slip into open heresy and universalism. Like the Hebrew Christians they will be unwilling to go beyond the ABC and then they become ripe for apostasy, unwilling to suffer for the faith. Our teaching should be aimed to give such confidence to people so that they can stand their ground against error.

Teaching on the Church.

If people need to be taught from the Scriptures today, they must also be taught with respect to the church. We little realise how alien the whole idea of church is in this modern age. The Leadership. I would like to think that anyone becoming a member of our church would know what is expected of those who profess Jesus Christ in their relationship to the church elders. God's Word wants us to be clear on the need of the believer to submit to the elders, to refer to the elders for counsel.

Church Discipline.

The people must expect the elders to have a pastoral concern as to what they believe and how they behave. We have to communicate the unpopular truth that neither their happiness nor our comfort is the most important thing - but obedience to God's will. However much we must emphasise the privileges of having the presence of God in our midst, the Ark still contains The Ten Commandments. People must expect to find a purity in the church that is not found in the world. We must remind members that the world is watching. They may care very little whether we change our beliefs or not. But they will definitely be critical of our behaviour and whether we are loving one another. (Now we are like the eagle, and everyone is watching us.) Wherever there is an unwillingness, a deliberate and continual unwillingness to love God and keep His commandments, or to love one's neighbour as oneself, then there should be discipline - however mild or severe it may have to be. . Human shepherds may well feel that their ministry needs to go along such lines at times. Perhaps the terrible trauma for so many of the Lord's ministers is that they feel the people need rebuke and discipline, yet they fear that they might lose them if they do so. The trouble is that if we take that position, it is extremely dishonouring to the Lord, and disastrous in the long term. We cannot be faithful shepherds if we fail to rebuke when the need is there. The ruling elders must be prepared to do a lot more of this kind of discipline. It may even help them to be more consistent.

Fellow-members, young and old.

The members must also be taught to love other believers, to encourage and have a genuine concern for the spiritual and material welfare of their fellow-members. We must teach that the church is not just a preaching station. It is a family, the family of God. In this respect, it is increasingly important to teach people concerning the unity of the church - old and young. I fear that we have bred a generation gap into the church by a constant emphasis on Youth Fellowships, etc. Some of the strongest churches that we have seen have been those where young and old often met together. New converts from this age of disrespect may not immediately know how to relate to a believer who is of a different generation. Biblical principles must be brought to bear here - aimed at the old as well as at the young.

Church Activities.

Believers have God-given gifts that must be encouraged by the eldership. People should also know where church activities should lie on their priority schedules. For example, people must be taught that it will be the exception not to be involved in one way or another in the work of the gospel or in the communal life of the church. Those who have been the most useful to us are those who have been most loyal to the local church. It is not a matter of making people into ghetto people but of bringing home to them that they cannot be useful unless they are committed. We must, in other words, teach people what we expect from them in activity as well as in behaviour and we must do it from day one.

The teaching ministry.

God's word makes clear that the teaching gifts of some are for the benefit of the many. Therefore, the assemblies are to be diligently attended for the purpose of learning. People cannot stay away from the gathered assemblies for teaching, prayer and the sacraments, and expect to grow as the people of God. It is simply dishonouring to the Lord to ignore a teaching ministry provided by the Lord Himself. We must learn to measure the ministry of the Church by deeper yardsticks than simple evangelism - the growth of the inner man. The great aim of those involved in the teaching ministry is that people would know Christ the Son of God - to know the measure of the fullness of Christ - and then to be those who would be stable, able to resist false doctrine, especially the passing winds and trends of the day - and then to have the confidence and the love to speak as one people.

The work of Prayer.

We, of all people must bear in mind that this is one of the most important aspects of the work of the Kingdom of God. We must teach of the power of a supernatural God, one who can intervene in this world. This will make all the difference to how people will pray. There is very little that they will hear on TV that will encourage them to believe in divine intervention. They will hear precious little there of God's providence and creative power that could become a stimulus to prayer. Whatever kind of God is being spoke of in these areas, it is not a God who can change lives and worlds. Sadly, many people, even the Lord's people, really feel that prayer is hardly worthwhile because it changes nothing. The fact is God can do miracles. We must give people as much knowledge of God as possible so that they can more knowingly call upon God in prayer. We must teach people the worth of knowing God (-one of the first books I read as a convinced Christian.) God is worth getting to know.

Other Denominations.

The new members must also be taught as to how they are to relate to other churches. In this regard we must teach on the distinctives of our own church. The believer is not daft. If they never hear teaching on why a denomination exists then they will question why they should not belong to a more mainstream denomination. If we really believe that we exist as a separate denomination for good reasons then we must say so - both from the pulpit and in fellowships, otherwise people will not take us seriously. While we must not be afraid to teach the members as to why we exist as a separate denomination, we must not teach them to view all others who profess to be Christians as enemies. There is a real danger that the Lord's people may begin to view one another as enemies if there is not complete agreement on all points of doctrine. We will not have the support of Christ on this matter.

How can we get time to feed the flock of God?

The fact is that much of our preaching on the Lord's Day is given with the unconverted in mind. We should preach to the unconverted in our midst and aim the gospel sermons directly at them. If this is so, then there seems to be precious little time left on the Lord's Day at the normal services to give teaching to the believers. Even if we manage to lean some of the sermons in their direction, it is just not enough. What can be done, therefore?

The traditional mid-week meeting.

We need a slot in which to talk directly to the Lord's people and in which we must be honest and pointed in our sermon application, relevant at times almost to the point of embarrassment. If we fail to make our application relevant, it will be like Paul hearing of the problems in Ephesus and sending them a copy of the letter which he sent to the Philippians. However much the Ephesians would benefit from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians the point is that their own particular problems were not being directly dealt with, and their own particular questions were not being answered.

This requires that we really assess the situation of our people and preach to their real needs, not just to their felt needs. This requires an intimate knowledge of the movements of our age, of the culture in which our people live as well as an equally intimate understanding of the breadth of biblical teaching. Our preaching must be 'real', not in any way artificial or dealing with figures of straw.

All-age Sunday Schools?

Is there a place for all-age Sunday schools at which the church members could be brought through a certain syllabus designed, and redesigned from time to time if need be, to nourish God's people in the main things, etc? The benefit of this is that it can be repeated without shame, something which we are often ashamed to do with our sermons. The great strength of catechising in the past as that it functioned like an all-age Sunday School where people could be taught the doctrines of Scripture on the purpose of man, the Bible, Creation, etc. Now, if we are for some sad reason forsaking the Catechism, then we must make provision for something of the same nature to take its place.

Winter Lectures?

It may be that our particular situation would not make this possible. Perhaps, therefore, we could have special member meetings to which the believer would be expected to come. In Hook Evangelical Church, London, for example, they had the Genesis Project once a week for certain seasons of the year.

Locally produced Bible Study Notes.

Is there a place for more locally produced study notes which deal with certain issues - such as we have for example in the PQ publications? Instead of having Bible Study notes that are of a more general fashion, could we not also have a bible study designed to feed God's people for a special situation - e.g. how to relate to other denominations.

Train the elders to train the people.

Is this not a time when we should consider encouraging our Kirk Sessions to have a greater sense of purpose? Is there a place for giving elders special teaching so that they will have the confidence to lead and pastor and feed the flock of God? How would we feel if we were asked to teach without any formal training whatsoever? Some churches have agreed that whenever an elder visits a home he has to make a certain assessment as to how they are growing there as believers, perhaps referring to their confession document and seeking to give some more personal counsel to strengthen the various believers in particular areas of weakness. One thing is for sure: We must have a proper goal for our people's maturity, as individual believers and as corporate believers, and this must be a goal shared by the leadership in the church.

Confession Document? Membership Document?

Would it be possible to have some sort of a Confession document which could be given to believers who join the church as a guide to what they can expect from the church, what the church can expect of them, and what the believer can aim for himself. The document could contain a summary of the church's confession of Faith, as well as some of the items that follow: That the church is committed to give every member teaching - in sermons ,bible-study, printed notes, etc - on the central doctrines which the church believes, including our distinctive beliefs, being careful to be particularly clear on what we do not believe as well as on what we believe pastoral care, and discipline when necessary. That the member is expected by the church to be committed as far as possible commitment to the teaching ordinances, commitment to the praying times, commitment to the church's activities in whatever way is appropriate That the believer is expected by the church to aim at his/her own spiritual development which will be encouraged by the elder in his pastoral visits - a movement from the ABC of the Christian faith to a deeper understanding of the doctrines of the Word.

Conclusion

Whatever we do, it is clear that we need to have a sense of purpose in what we are doing. It is not enough to vaguely hope that so long as we are preaching from somewhere in the counsel of God that the Lord's people will somehow be fed automatically. It is more likely that they will be unfit to face the present dangers because we have not been more pointed in our teaching ministry.

I am not suggesting that we cease to pray for guidance to the Lord as to what to preach. Nor am I suggesting that all our preaching should be a reaction to current or future needs as we see them.

What I am suggesting is that these needs be never far from our mind. Pray that they may become a burden to us. that we stop from time to time and assess our teaching ministry. Are we making a conscious effort to really feed the flock or just to get a couple of sermons together with a smattering of prayer that they might be blessed by God? Are we covering the most important ground on which there is a real danger of a slide or of sway to the winds of false doctrine? Have we any general plan by which we, in conjunction with our elders, have as our goal the assessment of our people and how we should meet their needs? We must not forget that we must give account to God for the souls of our people.

 

Professor John A Macleod is Professor of New Testament Language, Exegesis & Theology at the Free Church College.

 

back