I remember the first time I read through Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. It gave a powerful voice to some of the things I had concluded from my own experience and Scriptural readings. It was a great encouragement to me and very formative in my views of church.

It also frustrated me to no end. It frustrated me that our local church looked like a pale reflection of these 9 Marks. No plurality of elders. Not much of a structure for church discipline. An unhealthy view of evangelism and conversion. An inflated church membership.

I wanted to see change happen. And I wanted it to happen fast. My rationale was that if something was biblically true and helpful for the church how can we stay one more day in disobedience?

I am so glad the Lord didn’t give me a church to pastor in that time period. I’d have likely gotten myself fired and done much damage to Christ’s bride. I’d have pushed too hard and too fast. I wouldn’t have built up enough in my Authority and Credibility Bank.

I’ve grown since then. I now see that a pastor can lead his church to have elders, can do biblical theology, clean his membership rolls, preach expositionally, discipline when necessary, and engage in responsible evangelism but if he has not love then he is only a clanging cymbal.

There is a way to move towards truth and to love your church at the same time. And this way is a road that is bumpy, less-travelled, winding, and takes much more time. Yet, I am convinced it is the way of the Master.

So what slowed me down?

Mentors. Seasoned pastors. Dead theologians, like John Newton. They opened my eyes and threw anchors in my shorts to slow me down a bit.

The Case of John Adams Jr.

John Ryland, Jr. was a young pastor just like me. God had opened up his eyes to the truth of the gospel. He saw the terrible wounds that the High Calvinism of his day was having on poor souls. So he labored to preach the gospel as an evangelical Calvinist.

Ryland got a good deal of flack for his gospel preaching. One such man who didn’t like his preaching was John Adams Jr. (a member of his church). Adams wrote a lamentation on the terrible state of preaching in his church. He greatly unsettled Ryland.

Ryland’s initial response was to pursue discipline of Adams. But before doing this he turned to his friend John Newton for advice on how to carry this out.

Newton, in all of his wisdom, counseled Ryland against making the matter public. He warned Ryland that if he made it public it would like mean that this one who gives disturbance might turn into ten if the matter is made public. (222) Also, though reviling and slandering “ought indeed to be censurable” it is unlikely that one can actually “prove it before a public assembly”.

Newton saw that Ryland was in danger of splitting his church and doing great harm to his ministry at College Lane. And so Newton encouraged Ryland to turn the matter over to the Lord and move on. And, as he always did, Newton turned to encourage Ryland in this difficulty:

Your foes will prove your friends, if they urge you to keep close to the throne of grace for wisdom, meekness, and patience. If they are angry and you are gentle, if they return you evil for good, and you return them good for evil, the contrast between you and them, will be daily more visible, and operate to your advantage both in town and country. (Wise Counsel, 222)

Newton slowed down Ryland. And the matter unfolded much like he had foreseen. The young pastor wrote to Adams to try to make amends but Adams would have none of it. Eventually Adams was excommunicated and the church grew in its respect of Ryland as their pastor.

Conclusion

This is what a good mentor will do. He/she will lovingly slow down us young whippersnappers. If you are the young gun wanting to change the world keep that passion—but temper it with wise mentors. You need them. Don’t balk at the slowness with which they work, but thank God for the deep roots they are planting.

Likewise, if you’ve got some passionate young buck who wants to charge hell with a water pistol but is lacking a bit in timely wisdom, don’t just dismiss him and let him burn out. Take him under your wing and do your best to slow him down to a reasonable pace. Use him to help plant deep gospel roots.