Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

world."condemned"The Highest CallWhat a Layman Expects from His PastorBy R. E. RobbR. E. Robb, the Christian layman who has beenwriting the weekly Bible study series, "God's Planof Salvation," was asked by Dr. S. W. Hahn, a professor of the Lutheran Southern Seminary of Columbia, S. C, to address the students recently on what aChristian layman expects in and from a ChristianPastor. While Mr. Robb, a traveling salesman, is onvacation, his Bible studies will be replaced by thisaddress to the Seminary students, the first half ofwhich follows:I congratulate you upon your call, and your acceptance of that call, to the highest profession inwhich it is a man's privilege to work, the ministryof the Lord Jesus Christ.Your profession is, of all professions, the mostexacting, the most challenging, at times the mostfrustrating, perhaps the most poorly paid, but without question the most rewarding. For in it you aredealing not with material things as does the engineer, not with physical bodies like the doctor, not withlegal principles, the province of the lawyer, but youare dealing with immortal souls. Upon you will restin large degree the eternal destiny and welfare, notonly of those with whom you come in direct contact,but, like the ever widening wavelets from a pebblecast into a pool, the souls which they in turn affectin ever expanding orbits.But now to a consideration of the subject uponwhich Doctor Hahn has most graciously asked me tospeak to you: What a Christian layman expects inand from a Christian pastor. And, gentlemen, I assure you that his subject has presnted a challengeand a responsibility to me, a mere layman, to set outspecifications for a position to which I could neverhope to aspire. But, on the theory that a view fromthe pew might be of some value to the man behindthe pulpit, I shall present my own views on the subject.The question under discussion seems to fall naturally into two main divisions, one subjective, theother objective. The subjective is implied by thepreposition "from," what he would expect his pastorwould expect his pastor to be ; the objective, by thepreposition "from," what he would expect his pastorto do. Since the subjective is first in point of time,and since it in large measure controls the objective,we shall consider that first.What a Layman ExpectsI. First of all, he expects his pastor to be a Christian.Trite, redundant you say? Theoretically, yes,but, with so many brands of so-called Christianitynow in vogue, it is necessary to be explicit on that vital question or we may bring into the flock a wolfin sheep's clothing.102But I am reminded of the sage advice an oldQuaker gave his just ordained ministerial son."Son,"said he, "when thou speakest always take tothee a text. Then thy hearers will be sure of havingsomething of value to take home with them." So Ishall take, not one text but several texts.In Micah 6:8 we have the Old Testament definition of a Christian: "And what doth the LORD require of thee (0 man), but to do justly, and to lovemercy, and to walk humbly with thy God ?" And inJames 1:27 we find the New Testament specifications: "Pure religion and undefiled before God theFather is this, To visit the fatherless and widows intheir affliction, and to keep himself unspotted fromthe The Apostle Paul, writing to the youngminister Titus, exhorted him : "In all things showingthyself a pattern of good works : in doctrine showinguncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech thatcannot be(Titus 1:7-8). Finally, in hissecond letter to Timothy (4:2), Paul urges the youngpreacher: "Preach the word; be instant in season,exhort with all long-out of season ; reprove, rebuke,suffering and doctrine . . . watch thou in all things,endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist,ministry."make full proof of thyA Christian Pastor.With these texts as a foundation, what is involved in being a Christian pastor ?1 First, unquestionably, is his 'belief. "As aman thinketh in his heart so is he." For a man to bean evangelical, and especially a Lutheran Christian,he must believe :AThat the Lord Jesus Christ is the very Sonof God, begotten, not created; that he was born ofthe Virgin Mary; that He, by His substitutionarydeath on the cross made vicarious atonement for oursins; that He bodily rose from the dead; that Heascended into heaven ; and that He stands, our intercessor, on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.I cannot see how any man who does not completely and unreservedly subscribe to all of these beliefs and to additional beliefs itemized in the Nicaeanand the Apostles' creeds, can be considered a Christian.B That the Bible is the inspired, infallible andinerrant word of God. Unless a pastor does in his inmost being believe in both Christ as our Saviourand in the power of the Word to save he does not,in my thinking, qualify to be a shepherd of the flock.A Man of Prayer2 Secondly, he should be a man of prayer.Prayer is the key by which we tune in on the Almighty, tap the infinite power at the source, bring itinto our lives and allow it to work through us.Through prayer we allow the Holy Spirit to comeinto our hearts. Through prayer we are enabled moreand more fully to abide in Christ and to have HisCOVENANTER WITNESS