John Newton, Letter 13/41
CBC-13 Apr 2016
John Newton addressed a very important subject in the letter below, abridged and paraphrased with corresponding paragraphs.
1. Your access to much preaching from different ministers is an advantage with potential pitfalls. Thank you for asking my advice. From my own mistakes and my observations of others, I draw counsel.
2. In some ways all faithful gospel ministers are alike. They are all servants of Christ, helped by the Holy Spirit, and depend for success completely on God’s blessing. But by the Spirit’s sovereign design, preachers vary widely in their abilities and emphases. Some are more awakening and some more consoling. Some are especially good at helping us understand gospel doctrines. Some clarify ethical matters especially well. Some excel in matters of practical godliness. Some are superb doctors of the soul. Rare is the preacher who is equally adept at all these. Ministers vary widely also in their manner of preaching. Some are easier to understand and more moving, while others may compensate by better content that is more precise and deep. The Lord uses them all to address His people’s widely varied needs. The combination of their ministries promotes the church’s highest good. Sadly, ministers sometimes envy each other, and hearers sometimes become like sports fans, cheering for their favorites while disparaging the other preachers, though faithful.
3. With all this in mind, prayerfully choose one for your own main pastor-teacher, whom you can hear regularly for your spiritual growth. Once you choose, stick with him, seldom visiting other churches to hear their preachers. You will encourage your pastor, set a good example for others, and receive more help, when you avoid church-hopping (Prov 27.8). Flitting about will probably make you conceited and hyper-critical. Remember the power of blessing lies with the Lord, not any one preacher, no matter how gifted.
4. On the other hand, do not slight other worthy ministers besides yours. Welcome the occasional guest preacher with gratitude. This, too, will encourage your regular pastor, since he wants your heart not for his own sake, but for the Lord’s. Upon each occasion of hearing a sermon, consider the preacher appointed by Providence as best for you at that time. If, instead, your hope is in men, even the best ones will not be much good to you. If you can hear sermons occasionally throughout the week from other good ministers, you could benefit from the variety, if you keep in mind the following cautions.
5. First, beware of becoming a “mere hearer,” chasing after preachers. You have work to do at your job, in your family, and in private devotions. If you act like your whole purpose in life is to hear sermons, you are like Pharaoh’s skinny, sickly cows, always eating but never well. Even the Twelve could not build you up if you neglect reading, meditation, and prayer, along with your daily mundane work. One duty never really cancels another, and if you let this happen, you lack good judgment. Public meetings cannot replace private time with God.
6. Second, beware of fascination with new teachings held by only one or a few preachers. Even listening from mere curiosity is dangerous. None of you are so established in the truth to be immune from error. Only if there is a good and important reason should you so expose yourself to it. If the Lord has taught you the truth, you should not curiously try to discover how many ways there are to be wrong.
7. Third, when you hear what seems a mediocre sermon, do not rush entirely to blame the preacher. The best of them know their own weaknesses and defects, and that the work is much greater than their abilities. They are heavily burdened because they know their zeal for Christ is inadequate and their exhortations are too cold. Even their enemies would feel sorry for them if they realized it. But often the fault for little benefit lies primarily with the hearer. Your expectations from the preacher might have been too much and so God keeps you from idolizing him. Or your expectations might have been too small, and God has given you little, according to your puny faith. Maybe you forgot to pray this time for the preacher, or were not reverent enough in hearing the sermon.
8. Fourth, do not fail to test everything you hear by a Scripture standard. Faithful ministers want you to do this instead of having implicit faith in them. Another danger is to make yourself the measure of truth instead of the Bible. People like this are not disciples but critics. They see themselves as the jury and the minister as the accused. The same man and sermon have been judged by different people as legalistic and loose, too lofty and too plain, too this and too that! Such “infallible” judges reject a commendable sermon because of one alleged slip of the tongue! This bad attitude is poison from a sinful heart. Better hearers, when deprived, would love to have the advantages of these hypercritical ingrates! I pray God may save you from this sin and guide you in all things. Signed, JN.
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Even in the 18th century, Christians were tempted to create a climate of “celebrity preachers.” How much more with our technology explosion, making it possible to hear ten sermons a day with your smartphone and earbuds! John Newton’s advice in this old letter was never more needed or more timely. Settle in one church and profit from that pulpit, but do not completely isolate yourself from other good ministries of the Word. Ω