Character for Characters - Brad Anderson
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Luke 1:13-17
J.C. Ryle has a few poignant paragraphs about this passage in his commentary (Expository Thoughts on Luke, Volume 1) which speaks to the future ministry of John the Baptist and future heralds like him:
“We learn, in the last place, from these verses, the character of a really great and successful minister of God. The picture is set before us in a striking manner by the angel’s description of John the Baptist. He is one who will ‘turn hearts,’—turn them from ignorance to knowledge, from carelessness to thoughtfulness, from sin to God.—He is one who will ‘go before the Lord,’—he will delight in nothing so much as being the messenger and herald of Jesus Christ.—He is one who ‘will make ready a people for the Lord.’ He will strive to gather out of the world a company of believers, who will be ready to meet the Lord in the day of his appearing.
“For such ministers let us pray night and day. They are the true pillars of a church, —the true salt of the earth,—the true light of the world. Happy is that church, and happy is that nation, which has many such men. Without such men, learning, titles, endowments, and splendid buildings, will keep no church alive. Souls will not be saved,—good will not be done,—Christ will not be glorified, excepting by men full of the Holy Ghost.”
While many of us ministers are characters, we must remind ourselves that character matters. Along with repeating to ourselves and our congregations again, and again, and again Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” reminding those that are in Christ our status before him, ministers and elders must look in the mirror and step into every ministerial context repeating another simple phrase: character matters. Character matters. Character matters. While we are abundantly flawed and sinful, integrity covers a multitude of sins. Our integrity has its roots in being submissive to the influence of the Holy Spirit.
While this yet born John would grow to delight in nothing more than to be the herald of Jesus Christ, so should ministers. That’s it, plain and simple. The herald makes a people ready for the Lord no matter the setting, at all times, and in all positions. A small church pastor isn’t to wait “to make a difference” with the goal of a larger church in his future—he’s not middle management waiting to be CEO. Let us not impose worldly success structures on men who are called to be ministers of word and sacrament.
Continually pray, day and night, that the ministry of the word and the character of the minister will be pillars of the church as Ryle states. Throughout Scripture we see the Lord use “the least of these” to do his great work. If you never write a book, speak at a conference, create a podcast, chair an important committee, all is well. The Lord is shaping his servants to do the work he has called them to do. A minister friend once told me that when he took a call to a former church one of the ladies of the congregation said to him, “Now I know who will bury me” with immense comfort and relief to her soul. She longed to be shepherded in her sunset years and she was given a dear servant of Christ in that pastor. The Lord prepared him for her, and in that, God is glorified.
Without such men in such ministry churches die. They may be churches entrepreneurially planted, perhaps well revitalized, historically established with buildings full, seats well warmed, voices perfectly pitched, instruments tuned sharply, sanctuaries adorned simply or ornately, large budgets, modest budgets, with well-executed structures, but the church will be dead and the people will be sheep without a shepherd if there is no Spirit. The church will have no soul. Building campaigns will not matter, your minister’s advanced degrees are all for naught, your church’s standing in the community has no eternal significance without the Holy Spirit filling the souls of God’s people. Congregations, pray that your ministers will be full of the Holy Spirit and not themselves. Pray for the Spirit’s presence on your herald, that souls will be saved through his work by the power of that same Spirit.
Pray without ceasing for the character of your ministers (and elders!). Pray that Christ would be glorified by Spirit-filled ministers and thus a Spirit-filled church. Ministers, brothers, let’s pray the same for one another. And let us be honest about our position just as Calvin was in his commentary on Luke 2:8, “If then we desire to come to Christ, let us not be ashamed to follow those whom the Lord, in order to cast down the pride of the world, has taken, from among the dung of cattle, to be our instructors.”