I've been growing in my conviction that pastors too quickly refer out problematic situations in their congregations.  While I don't think that all referrals are wrong, I do wonder if we pass the responsibility for some of our members too quickly to Christian counselors?

Reason to Refer:

• You just don't have time.  Your ministry is already very, very busy and counseling sucks up too much time from your schedule.
• You're not very good at counseling, so why not leave it to the professionals?
• You would prefer to preach; not counsel.
• You've got some problems that you just don't know what to do with.

Reasons to NOT Refer:

• Biblical counselors are a rare breed.  Most Christian counselors in your area are too psychological and not very Scriptural. 
• You are more capable of dealing with difficult problems than you give yourself credit.
• We all share a common humanity.  I may not have the same problems, but I can certainly relate to people's struggles.  You have stress, disappointment, anger, and heart-ache, and so do they. 
• Counseling gives you a better sense of the sins and struggles in your congregation; and it helps you to write better application for your sermons. 

I've started to articulate an argument for counseling being recovered by the church.   You might even say I'm arguing why church-based counseling is a better option.  You might agree with me.  You might disagree.  Regardless, I'd love to hear your opinion on referrals and church-based counseling. 

This coming Saturday the men's group at our church is talking about porn. It's a big problem in the church that oftentimes either doesn't get talked about (ask Matt Schmucker about the time I used the "M" word in the pulpit at Capitol Hill Baptist) or gets talked about merely at the level of behavior modification ("10 tips for avoiding lust").

Into the void of euphemisms and behavior modification techniques shines David Powlison's recent article, Breaking Pornography Addiction. Like everything that he writes it is gracious, realistic, balanced, and thoughtful. I highly commend it to you and the people you serve!

So recently I've been pondering a church's acceptance of the resignation of a dear local church pastor friend.  The events leading up to the resignation were really unfortunate and painful.  In the end, the church accepted the resignation with a vote of something like 105 (against) to 115 (for).

Here's my question.  Should the folks on the "losing" side of the vote leave the church?  Without doubt some will, and reasons will vary, but should they leave?  What are the biblical texts that should guide a Christian's decisions in a case like this?

Greg, greatly enjoying your series of posts on what you're looking for in elders. 

The second point from my talk on eldership at Third Avenue Baptist:

II.  We Are Looking for Men Who Already Have a Healthy Respect for Authority.

- By “healthy,” I do not mean plump or unhealthy. I mean healthy. Well-balanced.

- And here we are right back at the danger of this talk. Let me say as clearly as I can—It is not a requirement for being nominated as an elder that you agree with everything the elders do. Nor is it a requirement that you necessarily keep quiet about your disagreement when you do disagree. We are not looking for men who cannot think for themselves. We have plenty of knock-down, drag-out disagreements.  Plenty of divided votes; in fact, I think it was I who was most recently on the receiving end of a 3-1 whooping.

- But with that said, let me say just as clearly that there are men in the world whose respect for authority only shows up when they are in it. We don’t want that.

- We want the kind of men described in Hebrews 13:17, who strive to make it a joy for their elders to lead them. So, a few points about what would make a person a joy to lead, with special reference to disagreement, and how to do it:

1. That person is a joy to lead who is largely content. Strive not to be a perennial item on the elders’ agenda with some complaint or another. I’m not going to pull punches here. There are some people in the world who complain all the time. Well, why isn’t everyone else complaining and upset, too? Is it that they are just not as observant as you? Or is it that they have learned to bear with some things, to just keep working, to be content?

2. That person is a joy to lead who, when he disagrees, does not usually let his first dissent be a public one. Talk to us before you air a disagreement. Of course there are exceptions. If we come to the Members’ Meeting and announce that we’re jettisoning the Trinity, let us hear it right then.

3. That person is a joy to lead who is able to weigh when it is wise to back down. You may disagree heartily with a decision, but there is wisdom involved in knowing when it is appropriate and wise to push an issue to a vote of the church. You can have strong opinions, but when the elders disagree with you, you need to weigh whether your pushing the issue would be for the church’s good.

The latest eJournal was just send. You can find the table of contents at the 9Marks homepage.

One scripted interview is titled "Why Every Pastor-in-Training Should Read Ed's Book," referring to Ed Welch's When People Are Big and God Is Small. Really, we should have titled it "Why Every PASTOR Should Read Ed's book." If you're a pastor, check out the interview.

About two years ago, the elders at Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville gave a series of "vision talks" regarding several different aspects of our church's life.  We were at the time considering nominating some new elders, and our church was full (and still is) of young men aspiring to someday be elders or even senior pastors.

I gave a talk entitled something like "What We're Looking For In An Elder."  The first point I tried to clarify was why, in such a talk, I wasn't just preaching an expositional sermon on 1 Timothy 3.  That, after all, is where the qualifications are given.  So why did we, the elders, think we needed to say anything beyond that?  The answer I gave was that there were many men in our congregation who met the qualifications of 1 Tim 3 and Titus 1.  But the text doesn't say that a man who meets those qualifications must be an elder, just that he has to meet them in order to be an elder.  Therefore, we as the current elders were looking not only at those qualifications, but also at a few other things as well.

I made four points in the talk, four things that not only would communicate to the congregation the kind of men we were hoping to nominate (not to mention be) but that would also, we hoped, spur the men in our congregation on to spiritual maturity.  Here's the first one, largely as it existed in my notes:

I.  We Are Looking for Men With Whom We Are Likeminded on Certain Issues.

- This is self-evident on the gospel itself.

- But it is also true on things less important and less central than the gospel itself. There is an idea current out there that likemindedness of this sort is a very wrong thing, that it is better to have the elders disagreeing, creating gridlock.

- Let me argue to you that gridlock is great in the U.S. government, but it is not a good thing among elders. You certainly shouldn’t plan for it. (Proverbs 17:14)

- The church has made certain decisions, taken certain directions, and we want elders who are likeminded with us in those directions.

- Let me pause here to point out the danger of a talk like this. It could be said, “All they want are a bunch of yes-men, people who agree with them.”

First, that’s not true. Disagreement with the elders is not the issue here. In fact, we emphatically do not want yes-men. Perhaps you’ll simply have to trust me on that.

Second, I hope you can understand the wisdom of what I have just said.

- But on to what we want likemindedness on:

- The Sovereignty of God in Salvation. Because it affects everything we do as a church.

- Role of Women. Complementarianism. So if you’re going to start advocating for women to be elders, or arguing that they shouldn’t be deacons, you’re not going to be an elder.

- Ecclesiology. Elders, deacons, congregationalism, etc.

- Vision for Evangelism. Indigenous, authentic evangelism. That’s not to say there is not room for disagreement and thinking. But there has been a direction set.

- High Importance of Preaching. Not a church focused on social ministry or political activism. We have a certain texture that we have cultivated.

                       - There Are Others

Three more to come later..........

Steve Timmis (of Total Church fame) preached at Guilford (my church) this Sunday past.  His sermon on Ephesians 1:15-23, "This is Church, Jim, but Not As You Know It", was brilliant.  It is helpful both in its content and as a model of exposition done well.

Here's a link to download it:

Download timmis_oct_19.MP3

An encouraging interview with our friends Josh and C.J. about the changing and growing work of Sovereign Grace Ministries for the Kingdom of our Lord.

If you hang around Mark Dever enough, eventually you'll hear this gem. The keys to an effective pastorate (normally): Preach and Pray, Love and Stay.

Sometimes when I don't know what to do, I remember that little rhyme. It helps bring clarity.

One older saint at Capitol Hill Baptist Church once told Matt Schmucker that young men tend to overestimate how much they can accomplish in the short term, but underestimate how much they can accomplish in the long term.

I have found those words to be a wise encouragement to patience and perseverance.