While away on sabbatical (thank you church!), I will aim to write a weekly article for each Friday sharing, some of what I am learning. Consider it “Friday’s Feed.”
In a recent study, we, as a church, saw Paul’s confidence that the Corinthian congregation—despite its problems—was nevertheless sufficient to sort out its interpersonal challenges (1 Corinthians 6:1–11). Paul believed that, when a church held firmly to the sufficiency of the Saviour, grounded in the sufficiency of the Scriptures, they were sufficient as saints to deal with sin issues arising in the church. In other words, Paul’s doctrine of the church (ecclesiology) affected most everything that he did. So with pastoral succession.
I have read five different books addressing the matter of pastoral succession. Today, I will begin to read two doctoral theses on the matter. I suspect that, like the books, these will contain helpful counsel and practical advice. But sadly, most of what I have read has not been well-grounded in Scripture. It seems, when it comes to pastoral transition, that many of the experts question both the sufficiency of Scripture and the sufficiency of the saints (congregation). It is disappointing that the business model, rather than the biblical model, seems to be the template for most pastoral succession plans. That biblical model is encapsulated in Paul’s words to 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 Timothy 2:2). The plan was for Timothy to succeed Paul as the pastor of the church in Ephesus. And Timothy was to train the next generation for his succession (cf. Ephesians 4:11–16). The place of training and preparation for this pastoral succession was the local church.
I often feel like a skipped record emphasising and re-emphasising the importance and the centrality of the local church in the lives of Christians. Nevertheless, in an era of ecclesiological neglect, fed by postmodern individualism, Christians need the constant reminder of the need for meaningful church membership. Interestingly, this morning I ran by a Roman Catholic Church building here in Louisville with a sign in front that read, “Do you believe? Then why not belong?” I couldn’t help but to smile and breathe a hearty “amen” while at the same time contemplating that is because of what I believe that I cannot belong to that congregation. My soteriology leads me to a radically different ecclesiology. And that matters. Brothers and sisters, ecclesiology (our view of the church) pervades every part of our Christian life. Including when it comes to pastoral transition. Jeremy Walker gets it, and he writes about it in his short but excellent book, Passing the Baton: How to Equip the Next Generation of Pastors and Teachers.
Though his book does not address pastoral succession per se, nevertheless he explains that 2 Timothy 2:2 is a pastoral mandate, which is to be carried out in the local church. That is, the local church is the place from which pastors are to be raised. The local church produces pastors. The local church is sufficient for pastoral succession. The local church is the place for training for pastoral transition. In fact, I might title my eventual document, “Sufficient for Succession: Training for Transition.”
The irony is not lost on me that I am making this argument while on the campus of the largest protestant seminary in the world (the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). Though grateful for the excellent teaching that takes place here (along with excellent books emanating from its professors; you should see the bookstore: Talk about a kid in a sweet shop!), it remains true that only pastors can adequately train pastors. Shepherds are to raise shepherds just as sheep are to birth sheep. And this is directly related to the local church.
When the day comes for me to announce my resignation from the pastorate, the next pastor should be a shepherd trained by me and the rest of the shepherds of BBC. Perhaps that shepherd-teacher is already among us, or perhaps the Lord will bring him from the outside. And if the latter, he will have first spent enough time being shepherded by us so that, when he shepherds among us, he will be a well-established insider. Will you please pray towards this end? I am.
Reading, reflecting, and resting (well, kind of!),
Doug