Theology and Ministry

Editor’s Note: In case you hadn’t heard, there’s been a bit of a buzz regarding a comment John MacArthur made about a book by Darrin Patrick in last Sunday night’s interview, “Theology and Ministry: An Interview with John MacArthur.” Here’s what John had to say about it.On Sunday, January 16, I was interviewed at Grace Community Church. During the course of the evening, I paraphrased a point Darrin Patrick makes in his book Church Planter: The Man, The Message, The Mission (page 37). Here is that section from the book:“One of the common errors of young men who surrender to ministry is to simply adopt the model of a church that they have experienced or idolized. A similar mistake is to blindly accept the ministry philosophy and practice of a ministry hero. The man who is experiencing head confirmation is thoughtful about his own philosophy of ministry, his own ministry style, his own theological beliefs, his own unique gifts, abilities, and desires. In short, there is uniqueness to the way he wants to do ministry.”Notice that Darrin Patrick himself summarizes and restates the point he is making, and it is about “uniqueness” in “the way he wants to do ministry.” He seems to suggest that everything about one’s ministry (Patrick expressly includes “his own theological beliefs“) needs to be self-styled and individualistic.Indeed, the entire book treats church planting as an entrepreneurial business, with almost no word of caution against the many dangers of bringing an entrepreneur’s mindset into ministry. Scripture, by contrast, consistently uses pastoral language rather than terms borrowed from financial enterprise...