There is a final
key to transformational ministry that we need to consider, namely, the role of
exhortation.
Peter again
provides a model in this respect in his Pentecost sermon. Luke tells us that
after urging his listeners to repent and be baptized, and assuring them of the
promised gift of the Spirit if they did, Peter continued to speak, warning
people and pleading with them to respond. “And with many other words,” he
writes, “he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ‘Save yourselves
from this crooked generation’” (Acts 2:40).
In other words, Peter
went beyond telling people what they needed to do. He couldn’t leave it at
that. Love compelled him to go beyond informing to exhorting.
This element is
often missing in ministry today. Sometimes there are theological reasons for
that. I’ve heard people argue that we are getting into the Holy Spirit’s
territory when we go beyond stating the facts.
He is the One who changes hearts and he is the One who knows those God
has chosen to respond to his word. All we can do is preach and leave the rest
up to him.
Again, some
shrink from exhorting people because they think it is intrusive. People need
their space; they need to be able to decide how they want to respond to God, and
when they are to do so, without being pressured. Coming on too strong just
doesn’t fit in with where people are at today.
Once more, there
are others who draw back from pressing the message of the gospel home to the
hearts of others because it seems like manipulation. It seems like we are
trying to get people to do what we want them to do rather than what is truly
best for them. The only way we can do that, they say, is to get out of the way
and let people make up their own minds.
These objections
all have some merit. It is possible to approach ministry as though it all
depends on us, and to rely on our own persuasiveness to get results. We can be
too much “in the face” of other people and not give them the room they need to
think and choose for themselves. And we can pressure them out of wrong motives
– we can want to build our church or reputation more than we want to help
them.
That admitted, there is no denying that the Bible from beginning to end
addresses people earnestly, urgently, and persistently. The prophets in
particular are passionate in their appeals. “Why will you die?” Ezekiel asks;
“Come now, let us reason together,” writes Isaiah; “How can I give you up, O
Ephraim?” the Lord laments in Hosea (Ezek. 18: 31; Isa.
1:18; Hos. 11:8). These are not detached instructions
but passionate appeals. They reflect hearts burning with concern and eager for
response. That’s the way God has chosen to speak to us – from the heart to the
heart – and how we ought to minister in his name.
I can’t help but
wonder if there is not a deeper cause for our failure to preach and teach with
the passion of the prophets – indeed, the passion of God and his Son. Isn’t it
possible that the problem lies in our own hearts? We don’t warn against sin as
earnestly as we should because we don’t see its seriousness as we should. We
don’t plead with people to believe the gospel because we don’t see their
terrible danger and feel as compassionate toward them as we should. And we
don’t encourage others to discover more of the full life there is in Christ
because we don’t know it ourselves.
I
suspect that if we were the more earnest Christians ourselves we would
inevitably be the more urgent communicators of the gospel. We wouldn’t be able
to stop at informing people; we would instinctively exhort them as well.