Thomas Watson and the Mercy of Ministry
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."
Matthew 5:7 (ESV)
On my desk currently sits several works on the Beatitudes. However, in none of those volumes can I find anything that compares with the profound depth of Thomas Watson. Even Martin Lloyd-Jones' magnificent volume, which has greatly shaped my understanding of these precious teachings of Christ, does not match Watson's charm. Jones is a perfect example of a mind conformed to Christ and his work offers us a chest full of riches. Yet the robes of Solomon will always look pale next to the pedals of the lily.
Thomas Watson was a puritan minister and writer who lived in the 17th century. His understanding of mercy stands in stark contrast to what we hear preached from our pulpits today. To Watson, "mercy" properly understood was always centered upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Take away Christ and you have taken away mercy. In our era we generally speak of the "ministry of mercy" and by this we mean those ministries which focus on physical needs. However, in most situations "ministries of mercy" are devoid of the gospel message. We are willing to give a pill to a woman dying of AIDS in Africa, but are unwilling to share with her the hope of our salvation. We imagine that the eternally saving message of the cross is contained in one little pill, and walk away as if our ministry of mercy has been accomplished.
Instead of speaking of a "ministry of mercy" it is perhaps more Christ-centered to speak of the "mercy of ministry". The very act of both demonstrating and speaking the good news of Jesus Christ is, in and of itself, the greatest and fullest expression of mercy. The DNA of the Gospel requires that it be talked about as well as acted upon. In other words, it is only the Gospel when we do it and speak it. For years Fundamentalists have truncated the gospel by refusing to take the initiative in living out the merciful message of Christ individually and corporately. Likewise, Liberals have taken a hatchet to the Good News by refusing to proclaim the life giving hope that is only found when Christ is the Lord of one's life.
Speaking of the latter group, Watson pointedly attacks those ministers who would strip the truth of God's word from their people. He writes, "Evil ministers are such as have no bowels to the souls of their people. They do not pity them or pray for them. They seek not them but theirs. They preach not for love but for lucre. There care is more for tithes than for souls...These are mercenaries, not ministers." He continues by saying that "Such men feed not the souls of their people with solid truths."
I recently had a conversation with a minister who took me to task for emphasizing the truth of the Gospel. He said, "talking about truth all the time make you sound legalistic. Faith isn't about knowledge, its about spiritually experiencing Christ". 300 years ago Watson had already described such ministers by saying, "They are unmerciful to souls who, instead of breaking the bread of life, fill their people's heads with airy speculations and notions; who rather tickle the fancy than touch the conscience and give precious souls rather music than food." Many claim to be merciful, but only the one who clearly presents (and lives out) the truth of the Gospel is truly merciful.
Other ministers boldly teach false truth. Watson says that these men "poison with error." He aptly asks, "What shall we say to such ministers as given poison to their people in a golden cup? Are not these unmerciful?" Offering Christ's truth in twisted form is to deny people the very mercy of God.
Pray that God will raise up a generation of ministers, and Christian laypersons, who willingly live out and speak out the precious, merciful truth of Jesus. Pray that we heed Watson.
___________________________
All quotations taken from pages 145-146 of The Beatitudes (Banner of Truth Trust, 2007 reprint).
On my desk currently sits several works on the Beatitudes. However, in none of those volumes can I find anything that compares with the profound depth of Thomas Watson. Even Martin Lloyd-Jones' magnificent volume, which has greatly shaped my understanding of these precious teachings of Christ, does not match Watson's charm. Jones is a perfect example of a mind conformed to Christ and his work offers us a chest full of riches. Yet the robes of Solomon will always look pale next to the pedals of the lily.
Thomas Watson was a puritan minister and writer who lived in the 17th century. His understanding of mercy stands in stark contrast to what we hear preached from our pulpits today. To Watson, "mercy" properly understood was always centered upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Take away Christ and you have taken away mercy. In our era we generally speak of the "ministry of mercy" and by this we mean those ministries which focus on physical needs. However, in most situations "ministries of mercy" are devoid of the gospel message. We are willing to give a pill to a woman dying of AIDS in Africa, but are unwilling to share with her the hope of our salvation. We imagine that the eternally saving message of the cross is contained in one little pill, and walk away as if our ministry of mercy has been accomplished.
Instead of speaking of a "ministry of mercy" it is perhaps more Christ-centered to speak of the "mercy of ministry". The very act of both demonstrating and speaking the good news of Jesus Christ is, in and of itself, the greatest and fullest expression of mercy. The DNA of the Gospel requires that it be talked about as well as acted upon. In other words, it is only the Gospel when we do it and speak it. For years Fundamentalists have truncated the gospel by refusing to take the initiative in living out the merciful message of Christ individually and corporately. Likewise, Liberals have taken a hatchet to the Good News by refusing to proclaim the life giving hope that is only found when Christ is the Lord of one's life.
Speaking of the latter group, Watson pointedly attacks those ministers who would strip the truth of God's word from their people. He writes, "Evil ministers are such as have no bowels to the souls of their people. They do not pity them or pray for them. They seek not them but theirs. They preach not for love but for lucre. There care is more for tithes than for souls...These are mercenaries, not ministers." He continues by saying that "Such men feed not the souls of their people with solid truths."
I recently had a conversation with a minister who took me to task for emphasizing the truth of the Gospel. He said, "talking about truth all the time make you sound legalistic. Faith isn't about knowledge, its about spiritually experiencing Christ". 300 years ago Watson had already described such ministers by saying, "They are unmerciful to souls who, instead of breaking the bread of life, fill their people's heads with airy speculations and notions; who rather tickle the fancy than touch the conscience and give precious souls rather music than food." Many claim to be merciful, but only the one who clearly presents (and lives out) the truth of the Gospel is truly merciful.
Other ministers boldly teach false truth. Watson says that these men "poison with error." He aptly asks, "What shall we say to such ministers as given poison to their people in a golden cup? Are not these unmerciful?" Offering Christ's truth in twisted form is to deny people the very mercy of God.
Pray that God will raise up a generation of ministers, and Christian laypersons, who willingly live out and speak out the precious, merciful truth of Jesus. Pray that we heed Watson.
___________________________
All quotations taken from pages 145-146 of The Beatitudes (Banner of Truth Trust, 2007 reprint).
Methinks Gordon Clark would not be amused by your minister friend's comments.
ReplyDeleteClark would maintain that "faith" is "assent to a proposition," if memory serves. One needs to "know" the proposition in order to assent to it. Therefore, one needs to understand the proposition in order to decide whether or not one "knows" it in order to assent to it.
Just what "Christ" is to be experienced? The "Christ" of the Mormons? The Christ of Islam? Of the LDS? Just "experiencing" some amorphous "Jesus" is not the biblical charge. Knowing Jesus is. Knowing who He is and what His commands to His people are. Our Christianity is to be founded upon timeless, unchanging truth, not "experience." Your experience may contradict mine. Scripture does not contradict itself if we are to believe its truth claims in their entirety.
More Clark on this can be found here.