Pastors Training Pastors

by JASON BARRIE

Afinancial planning company ran a clever commercial where an older man speaks with a much younger man as both peer through the glass at a hospital nursery. Despite their age difference, we see striking similarities in the men as they gaze at a newborn baby. As the dialogue between the two continues, the younger asks quietly, “Are you…me?” and we realize that the older gentleman is actually speaking to a younger version of himself. The gray-haired version points the younger to wise financial planning “to protect and grow our money.”

Can you imagine the opportunity to speak into the life of a younger you? To share all those things you wish you knew before you fumbled through the varied seasons of life? In many ways, that’s how I view my calling as professor here at the seminary—passing on the truths that I wish I knew in my younger years. What would I say to my younger self, to a student preparing for ministry?

In his 1993 commencement address Dr. Robert den Dulk, the seminary’s second president, described the school’s mission as preparing students “of academic excellence who have been with Jesus and who can reach out and speak to the philosophies and religions of our age as well as to the common man, both by their message and by their life.” The seminary’s motto—for Christ, his gospel and his church—reflects our zeal to fulfill the beautiful vision articulated by Dr. den Dulk, one of our founders.

As a 2003 graduate, I can attest to the faculty’s abiding commitment to produce scholar-pastors who have indeed “been with Jesus” and have knowledge to winsomely speak into the milieu of post-Christian 21st–century culture both “by their message and by their life.” I have fond memories of classroom learning from seasoned pastors and scholars, men who took time to invest in my education patiently by answering my many questions and bearing with me in my ignorance. Likewise, I spent time in homes of my professors and learned from their example and care for my soul there as well. For eighteen years in pastoral ministry in Montana, I made every effort to live out the virtues I learned during my seminary years.

And now, I bear the privilege and responsibility of filling one of the offices on “faculty row.” I do feel the weight of this awesome task every day and am so impressed by the caliber of our ministerial candidates. As pastors training pastors, we are fol-

lowing the pattern established by the Lord and head of the church—passing on to the next generation the rich heritage of the gospel. Paul instructed timid Timothy to “guard the good deposit” of this gospel. How does this protection take place? He exhorts young Timothy:

“What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Tim 2.2 Similarly, Paul commissions the younger Titus:

“I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.”

Titus 1,5 In similar fashion, the Apostle Peter envisions humble shepherds eagerly serving the flock of God, and by their example training the “younger” (1 Pet 5.1-5). While a seminary is not the church, we do strive in all we do to be a faithful support—training men to be ministers equipped for every good work. Robert Harris, member of the Westminster Assembly and President of Trinity College in Oxford, rightly measured the scope of a minister’s preparation:

“…a preacher has three books to study: the Bible, himself, and the people—That preaching to the people was but one

part of the pastor’s duty: he was to live and die in them, as well as for, and with them.” Harris’s heart for well-rounded shepherds aligns well with our goal at Westminster Seminary California to send out scholarpastors who have been with Jesus and are prepared to serve his Bride. How do we create the ideal environment for a future minister to study these critical “three books”? As pastors training pastors, WSC shapes the heart of ministerial candidates to love God’s Word, to cherish God’s people, and to live holy lives in the marvelous light of Jesus Christ. TO LOVE GOD’S WORD At Westminster’s founding in 1929, J. Gresham Machen labeled his “an age of specialization” where experts focused on everything from pulling teeth to Shakespeare. How much more in our day is specialization the norm? Unchanged is Westminster’s zeal to produce single-minded specialists, as Machen explained:

“Amid all these specialties, we at Westminster Seminary have a specialty which we think, in comparison with these others, is not so very small. Our specialty is found in the Word of God.

Specialists in the Bible—that is what Westminster Seminary will endeavor to produce.” As pastors training pastors, we encourage students to embrace their calling in this season as a student of God’s word—66 books full of wisdom, consolation, and hope. By means of diligent study of original languages, systematic, biblical, and historical theology, we challenge students to become as Machen described “Specialists in the Bible.”

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim 3.16-17 With that “man of God” reference, Paul points us to the foundation of the Old Testament where the “messenger of God” was used exclusively and over 30 times to describe Moses and the prophets who followed him. Like the prophets of old, Paul says, the shepherd is equipped for every good work through the living word. Notice the varied effect of the same powerful word—teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.

In ministering the manifold word, the pastor is always pointing away from himself to Christ. We use the whole of Scripture with a full commitment to its authority and sufficiency, convinced that from beginning to end, it reveals Christ and his powerful redeeming grace addressing the needs and struggles of the human condition.

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in

Christ.” Col 1.28 As pastors training pastors, we aim to equip students to herald the good news in pulpit proclamation—pointing pilgrims to the one who redeems and restores. In the same way, we aim to equip ministers for interpersonal ministry of that same word. The pas-

tor’s ministry includes both declaration and dialogue, proclamation and conversation. We preach Christ and we counsel Christ.

In his farewell to the Ephesian elders Paul summarizes this twofold labor: “…I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house.”

As my friend and former professor Julius Kim writes, “A pastor is one who laughs and cries with his sheep. You are a shepherd first, preacher second.” This leads us to the second pillar of pastors training pastors—instilling a love for the church of Christ. TO CHERISH GOD’S PEOPLE As pastors training pastors we aim to instill in our students a deep love for the local church which is “a pillar and buttress of the truth” and the “family of God” (1 Tim 3.15, WCF XXV). In the Old Covenant, God promised shepherds who would reflect his loving compassion and zeal:

“And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Jer 3.15 In the New Testament, we find the perfect shepherd’s heart in our Lord Jesus inviting the weary and wayward to rest in and learn from him: “for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Mat 11.29

In Ephesians, Paul describes the risen Christ giving the gifts of special officers to equip the church, do the work of word ministry, and build up His body (Eph 4.12). The ultimate goal of this ministry is grand:

“until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Eph 4.13 This Perfect Shepherd delegates the pivotal task of caring for his sheep to faithful under-shepherds. Calvin reasons, “because (God) does not dwell among us in visible presence…he uses this ministry of men to declare openly his will to us by mouth, as a sort of delegated work…just as a workman uses a tool to do his work.” Lest the pastor who speaks for God becomes proud, Calvin goes on to describe him as “a puny man risen from the dust.” A puny man indeed, but a man with the powerful word of the Lord on his lips is fully equipped.

The shepherd after God’s heart must cherish those in his flock. Indeed, the importance of pastoral connection with those whom he serves cannot be overstated. Charles Bridges exhorts pastors to descend from the pulpit to the cottage to build “bands of love” with his sheep:

“The people cannot love an unknown and untried friend, and confidence without love is an anomaly…We must aim at nearer contact, and closer interest with them; winning their hearts as the way to win their souls.” This is the passion that characterized Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.

“…for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Acts 20.31-32 The apostle summarizes his ministry as one of tireless shepherding with the tears of passionate care and concern. In 1 Thessalonians, he likens shepherding to a nursing mother—selfless, weary, gentle. The shepherd knows his sheep. Charles Bridges critiques the minister who limits the scope of his duty and fails to cherish God’s people:

“Let us not think, that all our work is done in the study and in the pulpit. Preaching—the grand lever of the Ministry— derives much of its power from connexion with the Pastoral work; and its too frequent disjunction from it is a main cause of our inefficiency. The Pastor and Preacher combine to form the completeness of the sacred office.” With Bridges we affirm the primacy of preaching the Word— “the grand lever of the ministry.” We also affirm the need for life-shaping ministry, interpersonal ministry of that same word. The pastor must know his sheep. The pastor must care for his sheep. The late John Stott argued, “The more they speak to him in his study on weekdays, the better he will speak to them from the pulpit on Sundays.” The shepherd-preacher builds a culture

where “bands of love” bind the church family together in a way that reflects that grand vision we heard earlier in Ephesians:

“…the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of

God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Eph 4.13 So we have seen the call to shepherd sheep is carried out under the care of the Perfect Shepherd—this labor is word-based, Christ-centered, public and private. Faithful ministry springs from a deep love of the Lord Jesus and his Bride, the church.

TO GROW IN HOLINESS The final pillar in the preparation of pastors is spurring them to personal growth in the grace of our Lord Jesus. As Bishop Gilbert Burnet warned, “The capital error in men’s preparing themselves for the sacred ministry is that they study books more than themselves.” Indeed, the Pastoral Epistles put a premium on vigilance in issues of doctrine and life as the minister sets an example for his entire flock (1 Tim 4.12,16; Titus 2.6-7). 17thcentury Puritan John Owen argued, “If the word of Christ does not dwell with power in us it will not pass with power from us.” Similarly, Richard Baxter cautions ministers:

“Take heed to yourselves, lest your example contradict your doctrine, and lest you lay such stumbling–blocks before the blind, as may be the occasion of their ruin; lest you unsay with your lives, what you say with your tongues; and be the greatest hindrances of the success of your own labors.” In light of these scriptural and historical warnings, we encourage students to “put your hearts into your studies”—acknowledging that the Word they are learning to rightly handle, handles them as well. B.B. Warfield admonished students in this trajectory:

“Whatever you may have done in the past, for the future make all your theological studies ‘religious exercises’. This is the great rule for a rich and wholesome religious life in a theological student. Put your heart into your studies: do not merely occupy your mind with them, but put your heart into them. They bring you daily and hourly into the very presence of God; his ways, his dealing with men, the infinite majesty of his Being form their very subject-matter. Put the shoes from off your feet in this holy presence!” So we exhort our students to put their heart into their studies remembering these “religious exercises” bring us into the presence of the Living God. We know that the mind is encompassed in the heart but we also know that seminary studies can be reduced to a merely academic exercise—to win an argument or to get the grade. But by thoughtful engagement with the whole heart, we anticipate that a season of deep study of the word will bear the fruit of growing holiness.

Our curriculum and our community life at the seminary contribute to this dynamic spiritual growth. Our on-campus housing and the vibrant community life has added a profound life-shaping dynamic. Our practical theology curriculum also pushes students to godly self-reflection and maturing faith. In the first year of the M.Div. program, we help new students evaluate their sense of calling, spiritual maturity, and ministerial gifting. Professors meet with each man individually (and wife if married) to review the assignment and set goals for growth during their seminary years.

Throughout their seminary career, we encourage the men to revisit these goals and refine them as needed. In the senior year, we ask them to review their progress and write a final summary of lessons learned. Along with the ministers on faculty, our Dean of Students, Rev. Chuck Tedrick, is a seasoned pastor and gifted counselor who also provides soul care to our student body. We also require ministerial candidates to complete internships in their local churches to gain experience and discern particular strengths and weaknesses. Partnering with the local church, we aim to make the most of this seminary experience and produce ministers of godly character who serve with boldness and humility.

We have seen that both Scripture and history illuminate a pressing need for pastors to love the word they proclaim, to cherish the people of God and to reflect the holiness of Christ in their lives. To these ends, we aim to produce the kind of men that Dr. den Dulk envisioned years ago—men “of academic excellence who have been with Jesus and who can reach out and speak to the philosophies and religions of our age as well as to the common man, both by their message and by their life.” May the Lord prosper the work of our hands here at Westminster Seminary California and continue to raise up graduates who “shine as lights in the world holding fast to the word of life.”

Jason Barrie is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Seminary California. He is married to his high-school sweetheart, Kristin. They have three grown children and a son-in-law.