Remaining Faithful in Ministry: 9 Essential Convictions for Every Pastor by John MacArthur. Wheaton: Crossway, 2019. 77 pp. $9.99.
John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA, and chancellor and founder of The Master’s University and Seminary. Grace to You is his vast teaching and preaching media ministry. MacArthur is an expositor, a defender of the faith, a pastor-theologian, and the author of 400 plus books or study guides. Having pastored Grace Community Church for fifty plus years, he is well-qualified to write this volume on faithful ministry.
Remaining Faithful in Ministry serves as another installment of MacArthur’s contribution to pastoral leadership alongside Preaching: How to Preach Biblically (Thomas Nelson, 2005) and to a greater degree Pastoral Ministry: How to Shepherd Biblically (Thomas Nelson, 2005). In this contribution MacArthur sketches nine Pauline convictions drawn from 2 Corinthians 4, that the minister must be convinced of to persevere in ministry. These convictions make up the chapter divisions. He must be convinced: (1) of the superiority of the new covenant; (2) that ministry is a mercy; (3) of the need for a pure heart; (4) of the need to preach the Word faithfully; (5) that the results belong to God; (6) of his own insignificance; (7) of the benefit of suffering; (8) of the need for courage; and (9) that future glory is better than anything this world could offer.
MacArthur admits that the greatest influence on his life has been the apostle Paul (10). With all the adversity that Paul faced “he persevered out of sheer love for the Lord, for the simple joy of obedience, with his hopes fixed firmly on heaven” (13). One can sum up the thrust of this work in one question, “How do we cultivate commitment and imitate Paul?” MacArthur believes that “detailed answers to those questions are outlined by the apostle himself in 2 Corinthians 4 (14). These detailed answers are the reasons that Paul “did not lose heart” (vv. 1, 16). The ministry Paul received was a ministry that neither he nor we deserve—it is a ministry of mercy, and this drove Paul to maintain a pure heart declaring “my life is an open book” (36). MacArthur is always Word-focused and warns us of the type of ministry to avoid: “In our generation it seems that there’s a glut of pragmatic ministry philosophies and utilitarian people in high-profile positions of church leadership. They will do anything to draw a crowd, and they assiduously avoid ‘the open statement of truth’” (42).
While some ministers may be naïve, he reminds us that the results must belong to God—even if they are unwelcomed: “The response Paul got to his preaching was often violently negative” (45). MacArthur describes the minister’s own insignificance: “Paul pictures himself as a cheap container holding a priceless treasure” (51). On the conviction that suffering is beneficial, MacArthur believes that “surely one of the reasons trouble always accompanies ministry is that it’s one of the main ways God keeps his ministers humble” (59). Regarding courage, he makes an interesting historical point: “Only one of three shipwrecks is described for us in Scripture, which means in all likelihood that the numerous trials recorded in the book of Acts are just a small sample of the relentless hardships Paul courageously endured” (62).
The strengths of his work are thorough exegesis flowing from a belief in an inerrant Word. The implications he draws are sound and convicting. He reminds us that Paul’s ministry of the new covenant applies to all, “Down to and including those whom God has ordained and called into ministry in our generation and in the years to come” (25). For the minister who battles with hubris MacArthur offers some humble pie: “We are not in ministry because we are somehow more righteous or more worthy than others” (29). He offers a strong warning concerning God’s message: “And be forewarned: the ‘results’ of tampering with the gospel message are always negative, even if the strategy produces a superficially positive response” (47). And concerning God’s messenger: “I’m tasked with delivering a message, not with masterminding a compromise between human opinion and divine revelation” (64).
Weaknesses are minimal. Oddly, the Introduction (twelve pages) is longer than any other chapter, the longest being seven. One other exegetical note: MacArthur holds a curious (or at least non-traditional or minority view) of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh … a messenger of Satan to buffet me.” He cavalierly dismisses the notion of a physical malady stating, “So it seems he is describing a person, not a disability or illness” (58). He later elaborates on that person, “Here is a group of false teachers led by a demon-possessed leader tearing up this church” (59).
I would classify this work as a homiletic commentary. Homiletic, in that it seems like a sermon in MacArthur’s style, and commentary since it is an exegesis of 2 Corinthians 4. If one wants a beefier version of similar material, one may try other MacArthur contributions to pastoral leadership—The Book on Leadership (Thomas Nelson, 2004) and The John MacArthur Handbook of Effective Biblical Leadership (Harvest House, 2019), where he serves as contributor and general editor. If you want to read MacArthur in a more academic or technical format, then you may wish to consult 2 Corinthians (MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series) (Moody Press, 2003). I would recommend this book to the devoted layman or the beginning preacher. As for academia, I would only recommend this on an undergraduate level. While anything MacArthur writes is worth reading, the seasoned expositor will glean more from MacArthur’s other volumes mentioned above.
