{"id":31988,"date":"2022-09-10T15:51:53","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-reasons-why-pastors-should-study-church-history\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:51:53","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:51:53","slug":"3-reasons-why-pastors-should-study-church-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-reasons-why-pastors-should-study-church-history\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons Why Pastors Should Study Church History"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Matt Emerson<\/em><\/p>\n

Church history courses aren\u2019t high on many incoming M.Div students\u2019 must-tackle lists. They certainly weren\u2019t on mine.<\/p>\n

But what I\u2019ve discovered\u2014through my own reading and the guidance of my church history professor and doctoral supervisor\u2014is that studying church history can play a big role in the discipleship of a believer. It\u2019s also particularly helpful for training pastors.<\/p>\n

Here are three reasons why.<\/p>\n

1. Pastoral ministry is an ancient ministry.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Pastors have existed since the beginning of the church. In fact, pastoral ministry goes back to Jesus\u2014the Good Shepherd\u2014and is anticipated in the ministry of the kings and prophets in the Old Testament.<\/p>\n

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Paul, James, Peter, and John were pastors. Many of the major writers and thinkers in the post-apostolic, early church, Medieval, Reformation, and post-Reformation periods were pastors.<\/p>\n

Reading the works of these figures gives one a glimpse into how pastors have done their jobs for more than 2,000 years. The obstacles you face as a pastor aren\u2019t new.<\/p>\n

Sin isn\u2019t new; grace isn’t new, and the Spirit\u2019s ministry to His people through pastors isn\u2019t new.<\/p>\n

People have always been choosing to sin, they\u2019ve always needed to hear a word of comfort, and they\u2019ve always needed pastors (and congregations) to rejoice when they rejoice and to weep when they weep.<\/p>\n

2. Pastoral ministry is theological ministry.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When I read the early church theologians, the Medieval thinkers, or the pastors of the Reformation, it becomes immediately obvious that the difficult theological questions they were addressing were pastoral questions.<\/p>\n

Why does Athanasius go to great lengths to defend the Son\u2019s full divinity? Ultimately, because that doctrine is in the Bible, yes. But for Athanasius, that biblical teaching is first and foremost pastoral.<\/p>\n

If Jesus isn\u2019t fully God, then He can’t possibly bring us into communion with the Father. And if Jesus isn\u2019t fully God, then He can\u2019t possibly sanctify us.<\/p>\n

If Jesus isn\u2019t fully God, then our baptism into His name is invalid. And if Jesus isn\u2019t fully God, then we\u2019re worshiping an idol on Sunday morning and will experience eternal torment.<\/p>\n

The same goes for Calvin or Luther or the other Reformers in the sixteenth century. The theological fight with Rome over the doctrine of justification was ultimately pastoral. The Reformers were concerned Rome\u2019s doctrine of justification put an undue burden on the people of God.<\/p>\n

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See also  Why Pastors Must Acknowledge Their Own Needs<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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3. Pastoral ministry is a liturgical ministry.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One other emphasis of the early church, Medieval, and Reformation theologians is what happens on Sunday morning in corporate worship is just as pastoral and theological as what happens between Sunday mornings.<\/p>\n

Pre-modern pastoral ministry included thinking deeply about the rhythms of corporate worship, the repeated practices we participate in together and are referred to by other traditions as \u201cliturgy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reading church history inspires me as a pastor to think better about what we\u2019re doing together when we gather on Sunday, for the sake of the spiritual health of my people.<\/p>\n

Are the practices we repeat every week building up the body of Christ? Do these practices deepen our understanding of Scripture? Are they promoting union with Christ and with one another by the Spirit?<\/p>\n

Pastoral ministry has a long tradition in the communion of the saints. I\u2019m encouraged whenever I read church history because I see what I do in my church, and my vocation is not new.<\/p>\n

God has continually been at work in the life of His church through, in part, the pastors He calls. We can learn from those who have gone before us in the pastoral vocation about pastoral care, theological discipleship, and liturgical formation.<\/p>\n

MATT EMERSON (@M_Y_Emerson)<\/strong> is a husband, father, Dickinson associate professor of religion and director of the Master of Arts in Christian Studies and Intercultural Studies Programs at the Hobbs College of Theology and Ministry of Oklahoma Baptist University.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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50 People Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Spiritual Giants of the Faith<\/h2>\n

Warren W. Wiersbe<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community 3 Reorienting Truths for the Discouraged Pastor <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matt Emerson Church history courses aren\u2019t high on many incoming M.Div students\u2019 must-tackle lists. They certainly weren\u2019t on mine. But what I\u2019ve discovered\u2014through my own reading and the guidance of my church history professor and doctoral supervisor\u2014is that studying church history can play a big role in the discipleship of a believer. It\u2019s also … Continue reading “3 Reasons Why Pastors Should Study Church History”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}