Part 1 is here
Part 2 is here
All references in this article are from John Calvin, Sermons on Second Timothy. Newly translated from the French of 1561, translated by Robert White (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2018) unless otherwise noted.
Part 3: How Pastoral Work is Accomplished — Calvin on Carrying Out the Pastor’s Work
5. Carry Your Staff and Your Rod of Iron
Calvin’s view of pastoral ministry ultimately derived from the life and ministry of the true Shepherd of the sheep. As Calvin reflected on the work of Christ as our Good Shepherd, he recognized that Jesus, “has a staff by which he gently leads us and gathers us to himself (Psa. 23:1–4), so on the other hand, he has a rod of iron, as we read in the second Psalm, to crack and break the heads of all who rebel against him (Psa. 2:9)” (121). While Calvin knew that the right to carry both the staff and rod belonged to Jesus himself, he also believed that the pastor modeled this among God’s flock. At times the pastor must firmly break the hard and stony ground that is our hearts for the good of God’s people, and at the same time the pastor must always work and lead with care and gentleness as a shepherd with his staff.
In his preaching, Calvin was unafraid to allow God’s word to correct and rebuke whenever necessary or relevant. He knew this type of teaching may “upset people” but he also knew this was needed for the flock to “grow in godliness” (170). After all, the gospel is itself a sword that is used to mortify us (Eph. 6:17) (see 178). Wherever Calvin recognized false teaching that would lead God’s sheep away from the truth of life, he took up the rod and warned with all diligence. He exhorted godly living, and found it to be fitting of those who had been redeemed by Jesus Christ. In his sermon “How to Combat Error” on 2 Timothy 2:16–18, Calvin lamented that sound doctrine “is all lost if we pursue pointless questions or make light of good teaching in order to please our hearers and to pander to their foolish taste. We do not at first perceive them harm that is done, but it will end up devouring everything and extinguishing the last spark of life. … As soon as we see people who would have us abandon sound teaching we should avoid them and close the door to them. … Paul is quite serious when he describes this disease as deadly unless immediate steps are taken” (189). In matters of exhorting godly living or in defending against foolish and false teaching Calvin did not spare the rod, and expected all pastors to discern its proper and necessary use.
At the same time, the view of Calvin that is often overlooked was his pastoral gentleness. How did Calvin define gentleness in the pastor?
“A good teacher must therefore be mild-mannered; he must be able to attract those who come and to win them over. This cannot happen without that affability which Paul mentions here [2 Tim. 2:24]. He thus insists that no quarrelsome or contentious man can be God’s servant. Why? Surely it is only as we strive to win the ignorant that we can serve God. And this is only possible when we are calm and peaceable, so that we listen to what men have to say and bear with their infirmities, until little by little they are built up on the faith (245).”
What is striking here is the gentleness that Calvin instructs the pastor to display not only toward those in the church but to those who are not trusting in Christ. This gentleness is meant as a help to God’s flock and to be winsome in evangelism, or as Calvin put it, useful “as we strive to win the ignorant” (245).
Through his own lived experience, Calvin recognized that firmness in the gospel and gentleness toward people are not opposed to one another. Certainly, there must be no compromise on the gospel, especially when God’s name is profaned by false teachers. These “scoundrels,” Calvin urged, “expect the word ‘kindliness’ to inform our dealings with them! No compromise is possible. … [L]et it be clear that Paul never meant us to encourage their vileness by showing them patience. He meant only that we should not close the door to the ignorant, nor rebuff them too smartly without seeing whether they can somehow be corrected” (248). This is Calvin, the pastor, rod in one hand, staff in the other. He understood the need for both correction and kindness: “As I said, it serves our purpose admirably to be told that ministers must correct us in a kindly way. But we forget the word ‘correct’ and we emphasize only kindliness!” (249) The pastor must know and do both.
6. Depend on the Holy Spirit
“God has taught us what we are to do, but we cannot do as he commands unless he leads us by his Holy Spirit (134).” B. B. Warfield has a wonderful quote about Calvin’s theology of the Holy Spirit, which I will refrain from brining into this article. (For the record, I think Warfield was assessing Calvin accurately, and you can find more about Calvin’s pneumatology here.) However, it cannot be overstated how strongly Calvin taught dependence on the Holy Spirit for the Christian life and, especially, for pastoral ministry. As he described the work of God to preserve the Christian, he also voiced that a Christian attempting to carry out the will of God under one’s own strength is “puffed up with pride, for we are nothing and we would soon be defeated if God did not sustain us” (198). The entirety of the Christian life, from new birth to final perseverance, is utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit. The same holds true for the pastor.
Calvin carries through his writing and preaching a particular emphasis on language regarding the work of the Holy Spirit: namely, the Holy Spirit “governs” and “guides” God’s people (A helpful article on this topic is I. John Hesselink, “Governed And Guided By The Spirit: A Key Issue In Calvin's Doctrine Of The Holy Spirit.” Zwingliana 2 [1993]: 161-171). This language of Calvin was explicit in at least two of his sermons in 2 Timothy. The Christian life, Calvin described, is one that has been “governed by [God’s] Holy Spirit” (228). Even more, in his sermon “In and Out of Satan’s Snare,” Calvin praised “the goodness God has shown us in taking us out of the pit where Satan held us captive, and in choosing not only to govern but to guide us by his Holy Spirit and to illumine us so that our hearts and wills are changed” (261). In the Christian life, the Holy Spirit both rules with authority as governor and directs as a sure and steady guide. Truly, in Calvin’s understanding, the Christian could do nothing without the direct work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, Calvin explained, even “the freedom won for us by the blood of God’s Son” is only “given to us by the Holy Spirit” (263). Without the prevenient work Holy Spirit the Christian could never receive new life in Christ, and without the sustaining work of the Holy Spirit the Christian would falter forthright and without hope of preserving.
The dependence on the Holy Spirit necessary for the Christian carries into Calvin’s conception of pastoral ministry. The pastor must especially cast away all that belongs to our sinful nature, and depend instead on the Spirit himself for strength. Interestingly, regarding the needed death to all that belongs to our nature, Calvin urges, “And even what we think is our greatest asset, reason, must be put to death in us” (396). The reason for this death, even to our human reason? “So that God’s Spirit may have control and make us living sacrifices” (396–397). The pastor aspires to a noble task. And yet, as Calvin would remind us, “Let us therefore learn that we can never draw near to God, think one good thought or feel one impulse, unless they are given to us from on high and unless God works in us by his Holy Spirit” (257). The Spirit must empower the pastor, else his labor will remain fruitless.
7. Persevere
Calvin understood perseverance as a general call to all Christians, and, equally so, an utter necessity in the pastor’s calling. Firstly, in Scripture Christian perseverance communicates both a promise of God to those who are filled with his Spirit, and a characteristic worthy of pursuit in the Christian life. When explaining 2 Timothy 2:4–7, Calvin clarified, “Paul’s theme is perseverance” (126). Through a range of illustrations, metaphors, and explanations (i.e., military, agricultural, and athletic) Calvin described what true steadfastness looks like in the life of a Christian. His prayer at the conclusion of that sermon summarized well: “May we never grow weary, but may we continue to the end in expectation of the heavenly life, knowing that the hope and trust which we have place in him will not be disappointed” (135). The Christian must continue following the Lord even as the farmer continues to plow the ground, year after year, knowing his very livelihood depends on it. Of course, the Christian, unlike in these earthly examples of perseverance, is filled with the Spirit of God and does not rely on her own strength to endure. Thus, Calvin preached, “God has taught us what we are to do, but we cannot do as he commands unless he leads us by his Holy Spirit” (134). The Christian knows he is called to persevere in this life, gives his full might to that call, and understands that it is only by God’s Spirit that this benevolent calling is fulfilled.
Given this fundamental understanding, Calvin urged that the pastor in his ministry was to model Christian perseverance. He reiterated what Paul told the young pastor Timothy: the pastor “cannot fulfil the duties entrusted to him unless he summons up his courage and resolves to fight to the end” (107–108). The perseverance that the pastor is to exemplify is true and lasting perseverance and not motivated by earthly gains. As Calvin described, those who seek to please people are working for such little acclaim, “that people might clap and say, ‘What a brave fellow! He competed well. Let him be crowned!’ Here, on the other hand, is our God who calls to us, not so that we might get a little praise in this life, but in order to choose us for himself” (403). Calvin knew as well as any that preaching the gospel would lead to controversy, difficulty, and ridicule. He experienced firsthand that perseverance required all the strength and courage that a pastor could muster.
Without question, Calvin believed that the pastor’s endurance, as with that of all Christians, is entirely dependent on the Holy Spirit. Nonetheless, the pastor must give his all as he relies on the Spirit’s empowering. Calvin himself exhorted, “Ministers of God’s word must, on the one hand, rouse themselves if they see their zeal and fervor flagging; they must first and foremost be insistent with themselves. On the other hand, when they see that their message is upsetting and annoying their hearers who do not want a hundredth part of it, they should not stop but should persevere regardless” (368). No matter the circumstances, pastors must “faithfully fulfil the duties of our calling… Whatever our responsibilities and obligations toward men, God is the one with whom we have most to do. … We must prove our ministry, that is, our service to God.” (390) In a word, pastors must persevere, trusting in the empowering work of the Holy Spirit and fighting with all their might to fulfill their good and hard calling. Indeed, perseverance is the pastor’s proving ground.
Final Word — Win and Edify
The aim of Calvin’s pastoral ministry can be summarized in two words: win and edify. First, in these sermons on 2 Timothy it is apparent that Calvin had a vision for winning to the Lord those who have strayed from him. Calvin was unafraid to correct and rebuke where necessary and to call sin for what it is, but this commitment to biblical truth was never at the expense of his compassion toward those who did not know the Lord. Recognizing that those who are separated from the Lord are caught in Satan’s snare (2 Timothy 2:25–26), Calvin pleaded, “When we see wretched unbelievers who are exceedingly hardened and obstinate, let us wait to see whether God will have mercy on them. Meanwhile we must do our duty to them, that is, win them over if we can” (253). All pastors would do well to heed Calvin’s admonition regarding those who are separated from God. Some have, perhaps, crucified of Calvin’s evangelistic fervor at the altar of his commitment to God’s sovereignty over salvation. Yet in reading his pleading sermons from 2 Timothy, one clear facet of his ministry remains undeniable: he aimed to win for the Lord those who are lost in their sin.
The second aim is like unto the first: edify God’s people. Calvin believed “to be a pastor of the church and a preacher are related tasks and can never be separated” (246). He was committed, as a pastor, to teach God’s truth (see points 1 and 3 above). Rightly dividing the word of God was part and parcel of Calvin’s ministry, and remains the task of all pastors. This calling both compliments and completes the full aim of pastoral ministry—after a person is won to the Lord, then the truth by which she was saved is the very truth that continues to be poured into her heart through the ministry of the pastor.
In some pastorates, winning and edifying are opposed to one another, or perhaps one is emphasized at the expense of the other. This disjunction remained foreign to Calvin’s vision of pastoral ministry. He recognized his aim as a shepherd of God to both win and edify. Calvin himself described it best: “So far as preaching is concerned, our lips should not utter one word unless, at the same time, we aim to instruct our hearers to do them good. This is the reason why people today are so little edified. Where are those who desire their people to benefit from the preaching of God’s word? There must be some, but they are few and far between! All our teaching is mostly wasted because it fails to edify. Let us therefore take Paul’s words to heart, and remember that real teachers are those who do their very best to win the ignorant for God, and to bring the fallen, the wandering and the lost back to the proper truth” (246). Where, indeed, are those pastors who desire their people to benefit? Calvin sensed these types of pastors were “few and far between” in his time. In our own time, I know many who are ministering faithfully, or preparing to give their life to this calling. And by God’s grace these will serve the Lord to win the wandering and edify the saints. I pray the Lord would raise up a multitude of shepherds who follow the true Shepherd and tend his sheep. And, friend, it is worth it; “[God] tells us our reward is ready—the crown of glory which will never fail” (403).