I came across this piece about Charles Spurgeon, by the ever-controversial Mark Driscoll, and I thought it was so powerful. I hope this encourages you to lift up those in ministry! I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, comments, struggles, agree, disagree...
Charles Spurgeon came under continual attack because of both his conservative theology and successful ministry. What has come to be known as the Downgrade Controversy ultimately led to Spurgeon being kicked out of his own Baptist denomination for his unwillingness to stop teaching such things as eternal torment in a literal hell, the literal truthfulness of Scripture, a literal creation by God, and the perfection and divine inspiration of Scripture. In his final days, Spurgeon was attacked by hyper-Calvinistic legalists and universalistic liberals alike, the former because he freely preached the gospel to all people, the latter because he did not believe that everyone would be saved.
To make matters worse, Spurgeon was blessed with a rigorous mind and powerful voice but suffered from poor health. He suffered continually from a variety of ailments, ranging from kidney disease to gout, which occasionally prevented him from preaching and ultimately took his life at age 57. Additionally, his beloved wife Susannah struggled mightily with poor health and spent considerable years of her life essentially bedridden. In his seasons of tremendous pain he was forced to pray and trust the goodness of God. His suffering also greatly clarified his understanding of Jesus’ painful atonement and great love for his people. His prayers sustained him when he was forced to miss up to seven weeks at a time and lie bedridden in pain rather than preach to his congregation. Spurgeon struggled with depression prompted by his poor health and the painful burden he carried for the many pastors who came to him for counsel. Speaking of his bouts with depression, he said that it was like “fighting the mist.”
Once, a terrorist threat was made against his birthday party, which required police protection. Perhaps the darkest period of Spurgeon’s ministry came when troublemakers began falsely crying “Fire!” to a packed congregation that had come to hear him preach, causing a stampede that killed some people who were trampled underfoot. Spurgeon was so distraught that he had to take some months off to simply recover emotionally.
One of the greatest gifts I have ever received arrived in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of our church. It was a handwritten letter from Spurgeon sent to me from an Australian pastor who listened to my sermons online. At the time the letter was written, Spurgeon was roughly my age with a church of five thousand, which was roughly the same size as our church. The letter included a particularly haunting line for me personally. In it, I find a mentor with whom I can relate, as there are few who understand the weight of leading a large, fast-growing urban church at a young age without a pastor to mentor you in the face of great adversity and criticism. In the letter written to a friend on February 20, 1873, Spurgeon speaks of “staggering under the cares of the little nation that demands my perpetual service.” In the face of daunting work and overwhelming criticism, Spurgeon has mentored me in four ways.
First, in his willingness to speak of his personal suffering and pain, he has chosen to not falsely present himself as a perfect man without weakness or trouble. In so doing he has given me freedom to likewise be honest in hopes of best serving other ministers of the gospel.
Second, in admitting the pain he personally endured at the hands of critics who were motivated by everything from jealousy to false doctrine, he has made me feel oddly normal. I also praise God that he did not live in our present day when criticism is worse than ever. In a phone conversation I had with Rick Warren, he noted that today criticism is instant, constant, global, and permanent. His insights are truthful, and had Spurgeon lived in our day of Internet rumor-mongering, I fear it would have shortened his life even further. I find myself returning to Spurgeon’s letters and autobiography for some mentoring and praise God he lived in a different era because of my affection for him.
Third, in dealing with critics I have learned to find a way to strategically respond beyond the pulpit. What I appreciate about Spurgeon is that he did not allow his pulpit to be dominated by responses to his critics, as that would have gotten him off mission and message. Still, if he did not have a way to speak for himself and defuse rumors and lies, he would have been destroyed. His answer was the magazine “The Sword and the Trowel.” Taking the name from Nehemiah, he rightly saw that the movement he led needed to be built (trowel work) and defended (sword work). The magazine helped him to do both and in his example I have used blogging, article writing, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, media interviews, and the like to do the sword work.
Fourth, I have learned from Spurgeon that suffering and despair are part of faithful gospel work in the face of criticism. I have also leaned the importance of living for the day when the biography is written on earth and the verdict is rendered in heaven. During one of the most painful seasons of conflict, illness, and controversy, Spurgeon said something that was literally transforming for me. He said that he kept a long view of things and knew that one day, after he was dead and gone, history would vindicate him. By God’s grace, it has, and with many years of ministry ahead of me, his words ring true and continually help me to keep my hand to the plow and press forward, awaiting my final judgment of works at the throne of Jesus.
Upon his death, sixty thousand people passed before his open coffin in one day, with a similar crowd the ensuing day. Four memorial services were held in one day for the members of the church, ministers and students, members of other denominations, and the general public respectively. The road to the cemetery from his church was lined with hundreds of thousands of people whose lives had been touched by the power of the gospel through Jesus’ servant Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
By God’s grace, Spurgeon finished his race well and I pray that I will do the same in part by learning from his example. Lastly, I praise God that his faith is now sight and look forward to the day when I will meet my dear friend.
(from: http://theresurgence.com/md_blog)
Charles Spurgeon came under continual attack because of both his conservative theology and successful ministry. What has come to be known as the Downgrade Controversy ultimately led to Spurgeon being kicked out of his own Baptist denomination for his unwillingness to stop teaching such things as eternal torment in a literal hell, the literal truthfulness of Scripture, a literal creation by God, and the perfection and divine inspiration of Scripture. In his final days, Spurgeon was attacked by hyper-Calvinistic legalists and universalistic liberals alike, the former because he freely preached the gospel to all people, the latter because he did not believe that everyone would be saved.
To make matters worse, Spurgeon was blessed with a rigorous mind and powerful voice but suffered from poor health. He suffered continually from a variety of ailments, ranging from kidney disease to gout, which occasionally prevented him from preaching and ultimately took his life at age 57. Additionally, his beloved wife Susannah struggled mightily with poor health and spent considerable years of her life essentially bedridden. In his seasons of tremendous pain he was forced to pray and trust the goodness of God. His suffering also greatly clarified his understanding of Jesus’ painful atonement and great love for his people. His prayers sustained him when he was forced to miss up to seven weeks at a time and lie bedridden in pain rather than preach to his congregation. Spurgeon struggled with depression prompted by his poor health and the painful burden he carried for the many pastors who came to him for counsel. Speaking of his bouts with depression, he said that it was like “fighting the mist.”
Once, a terrorist threat was made against his birthday party, which required police protection. Perhaps the darkest period of Spurgeon’s ministry came when troublemakers began falsely crying “Fire!” to a packed congregation that had come to hear him preach, causing a stampede that killed some people who were trampled underfoot. Spurgeon was so distraught that he had to take some months off to simply recover emotionally.
One of the greatest gifts I have ever received arrived in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of our church. It was a handwritten letter from Spurgeon sent to me from an Australian pastor who listened to my sermons online. At the time the letter was written, Spurgeon was roughly my age with a church of five thousand, which was roughly the same size as our church. The letter included a particularly haunting line for me personally. In it, I find a mentor with whom I can relate, as there are few who understand the weight of leading a large, fast-growing urban church at a young age without a pastor to mentor you in the face of great adversity and criticism. In the letter written to a friend on February 20, 1873, Spurgeon speaks of “staggering under the cares of the little nation that demands my perpetual service.” In the face of daunting work and overwhelming criticism, Spurgeon has mentored me in four ways.
First, in his willingness to speak of his personal suffering and pain, he has chosen to not falsely present himself as a perfect man without weakness or trouble. In so doing he has given me freedom to likewise be honest in hopes of best serving other ministers of the gospel.
Second, in admitting the pain he personally endured at the hands of critics who were motivated by everything from jealousy to false doctrine, he has made me feel oddly normal. I also praise God that he did not live in our present day when criticism is worse than ever. In a phone conversation I had with Rick Warren, he noted that today criticism is instant, constant, global, and permanent. His insights are truthful, and had Spurgeon lived in our day of Internet rumor-mongering, I fear it would have shortened his life even further. I find myself returning to Spurgeon’s letters and autobiography for some mentoring and praise God he lived in a different era because of my affection for him.
Third, in dealing with critics I have learned to find a way to strategically respond beyond the pulpit. What I appreciate about Spurgeon is that he did not allow his pulpit to be dominated by responses to his critics, as that would have gotten him off mission and message. Still, if he did not have a way to speak for himself and defuse rumors and lies, he would have been destroyed. His answer was the magazine “The Sword and the Trowel.” Taking the name from Nehemiah, he rightly saw that the movement he led needed to be built (trowel work) and defended (sword work). The magazine helped him to do both and in his example I have used blogging, article writing, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, media interviews, and the like to do the sword work.
Fourth, I have learned from Spurgeon that suffering and despair are part of faithful gospel work in the face of criticism. I have also leaned the importance of living for the day when the biography is written on earth and the verdict is rendered in heaven. During one of the most painful seasons of conflict, illness, and controversy, Spurgeon said something that was literally transforming for me. He said that he kept a long view of things and knew that one day, after he was dead and gone, history would vindicate him. By God’s grace, it has, and with many years of ministry ahead of me, his words ring true and continually help me to keep my hand to the plow and press forward, awaiting my final judgment of works at the throne of Jesus.
Upon his death, sixty thousand people passed before his open coffin in one day, with a similar crowd the ensuing day. Four memorial services were held in one day for the members of the church, ministers and students, members of other denominations, and the general public respectively. The road to the cemetery from his church was lined with hundreds of thousands of people whose lives had been touched by the power of the gospel through Jesus’ servant Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
By God’s grace, Spurgeon finished his race well and I pray that I will do the same in part by learning from his example. Lastly, I praise God that his faith is now sight and look forward to the day when I will meet my dear friend.
(from: http://theresurgence.com/md_blog)
3 comments:
Sounds like a great person and someone who I can very much view as an example as well, including the health aspect.
Hey Paul!
It has been said that it is dangerous to have a hero who still lives--but it is equally misguided to have a dead hero. So many times, we read biographies of these great men and we end up feeling guilty because we don't measure up. The fact is that Charles Spurgeon faced months of depression and couldn't preach because of it--in some ways, I am most encouraged by his brokenness and struggles.
Those who have had chronic health problems with physical pain know how it can wear a person down to a pale reflection of their former self. God uses broken and unhealthy men because we are all broken and unhealthy--He doesn't have any other viable choices! More and more I see plainly that we are so much more of a threat to the powers of evil when we are unhealthy--strength in weakness.
I love this quote by Steve Brown reflecting on the heroes of the faith who had major flaws, profound sin, and big-time failures:
"Adam and Eve messed things up for themselves and the rest of us. Noah got drunk. Abraham offered his wife in return for his own safety (twice). Sarah offered her female servant to Abraham so Abraham could have a son. Jacob was a con artist. Moses was a murderer. David was an adulterer. Jeremiah was a big-time failure. Rahab--an ancestor of Jesus--was a prostitute. Paul was contentious. Peter was a hypocrite."
Our brokenness was so great--and the scope of the problem so big--that God, brought us out of that estate of brokenness, sin and misery, and brought us into an estate of salvation, through Jesus Christ--who died on the Cross as our humble and exalted Redeemer!
Thanks for recognizing this godly man and sharing your heart about the type of man he was, strong in his faith, even through the physical and emotional weaknesses he battled. I have longed to pick up my Spurgeon's Daily MOrning and Evening again, and I will consider this a prompting of the Holy Spirit to begin reading him with fresh eyes. I heard a comment on the radio Sunday morning driving to church that said Spurgeon was sitting in a congregation hearing a preacher preach from a sermon, not his own, that Spurgeon had written. Spurgeon approached the man after the service, with tears in his eyes, identifying himself, and saying how humbly encouraged he was and awed that the words ~ how much Jesus loves us, individually ~ spoke to him afresh, during one of his depression times. May we remember the times we are discouraged and depressed and here our own words of faith in our Sovereign God spoken back to us to give us that same encouragement.
Post a Comment