There was a time not too long ago when the Pastor-Teacher was respected. I fear those days are passing more quickly, if not already gone, particularly within Calvinist circles. Those men of God, called by God to a life of shepherding the flock I believe is under attack by forces of darkness that have weaseled their way into the Church, and are very effectively making headway.

When I was growing up, the community as a whole at least had somewhat of a respect for the local Pastor-teacher, mainly because in spite of their ignorance of the Word of God, people knew this man dealt with the higher mysteries of life, its benefit to the present life, and the hereafter, and was dedicated to proclaiming the truth of God whether they liked it or not. True, they might not like it, but they at least had regard for the position in community. I remember those days, but the internet has changed everything. New Calvinists have rejected the calling of Pastor-teacher itself. They electronically spit on pastor-teachers as if they were dried dung to be kicked aside.

I’ve watched those days of respectability decay over the years, and it saddens me. Oh, here and there, I find a pastor-teacher, usually somewhere in the South who commands respect as God’s man, but such a man and his influence is dwindling and, I fear again, being dismissed by the new Calvinist cult particularly.

New church plantings, in the name of being biblical, are dismissing, or have already, the office of pastor-teacher, in spite of God’s teaching in Ephesians 4:11. They exchange God’s truth for their preference of an elder-ruled fellowship. In other words, there is no under-shepherd. There is no authority. They recognize two offices only, elder and deacon. I so reject, on biblical grounds, their position as unbiblical. You are free to disagree but read Ephesians 4:11 then look me in the eye and call Jesus a liar.

When Jesus ascended, he gave gifts to men, and one was the office of Pastor-teacher. The new Calvinists who insist on only two offices of elder and deacon may squirm uneasily, and I hope they do, but God has given it to men, and it is so. The gift of pastor-teacher, is ignored, and intentionally. Baptists no longer are unashamed to call themselves such, and that saddens me too. They want to fit in with the new calvinist movement, a mixture of reformed and charismatic theology that equals nothing less than a debacle of truth and a cesspool of error, led by celebrity preachers practicing various methods of ancient mysticism using new-fangled media to communicate and inspire a hoard of hungry youths, and they are succeeding. God gave the gift of Pastor-teacher to men and called them to such a work to minister and equip the saints to the work of the ministry. Yet new Calvinists reject that truth.

No, I will remain a Baptist Pastor, respected or not, employed or not, because that is what God called me to. I may be dismissed as irrelevant, but I do not cease being what He made and called me in regards to service

New Calvinists employ mysticism. They deny cessationism, and endorse emergent, catholic, universal teachings, among other things. The push to accept the ‘gifts of the Spirit’ is a push for acceptance of error and danger for the Church at large. The combination of Pentecostal/charismatic theology and reformed theology is a grave error, but it’s too late, it’s being done, and many young people, enthused about the doctrines of grace, are assisting in that very thing.

It’s wrong, it’s unbiblical, please stop.

Related articles

• Twitter Highlights (9/25/11)
• Pastor-Teacher: One Calling, One Office
• Mark Driscoll Explains the Warlock Thing
• Top Ten Reasons Not to Join A Reformed Baptist Church
• Has John Piper Lost His Doctrinal Mind? 
• Mark Driscoll: “Cessationism is Worldliness”