The Need for Balance

I’m thankful for the renewed emphasis we’ve seen over the past twenty years on expository preaching. Faithful preaching should hold a place of preeminence in our weekly church gatherings. We know that God uses preaching to save sinners and sanctify His people. It would be hard to overestimate the vital role preaching plays in the life and ministry of the local church.

I fear, however, that in our zeal to exalt preaching, our vision for Word ministry has become imbalanced. Yes, we need preaching, but personal exhortation and instruction is also necessary for the ministry of the Word to flourish. Like Paul, we must not only labor to preach God’s Word in public, but also teach it “from house to house” as well. In short, I believe that we need to recover an Acts 20:20 vision for pastoral ministry.

One pastor who emphasized the importance of an Acts 20:20 type ministry was Richard Baxter. In his book, The Reformed Pastor, Baxter offers Biblical and practical advice to help pastors minister God’s Word to the individual members of their church. Below, I’ve highlighted a few of the key points Baxter emphasized to help pastors shepherd God’s people toward maturity in Christ:

The Value of Personal Ministry

A thriving, fruitful ministry of the Word is both public and personal. Pastors must supplement their preaching with individual exhortation to maximize their ministerial usefulness. Baxter notes, “One word of seasonable, prudent advice, given by a minister to persons in necessity, may be of more use than many sermons. ‘A word fitly spoken,’ says Solomon, ‘how good is it!’”[1]

Personal Word ministry enables pastors to press home the truths of God’s Word in a way that is relatable and specific to the members of their congregation. Baxter states, “We shall have the best opportunity to impress the truth upon their hearts, when we can speak to each individual’s particular necessity… and set home the truth with familiar importunity. If anything in the world is likely to do them good, it is this. They will understand a familiar speech, who understand not a sermon; and they will have far greater help for the application of it to themselves”[2]

The Intentionality of Personal Ministry

Baxter rightly understood that personal Word ministry requires more intentionality than spontaneity. Baxter was methodical, consistent, and thoughtful in his ministry of personal exhortation. He and his assistant set aside every Monday and Tuesday for private catechizing and instruction. This methodical schedule enabled them to speak personally to every family in the church each year.[3]

During his hour-long visits, Baxter taught his people the core doctrines of the faith using a catechism. He believed that “catechizing was the chief means by which the church had been reformed in the past and the chief means of hope for the future.”[4] He also took time to question the heads of the households to see if they were fulfilling their responsibilities to teach their children God’s Word.

Granted, we probably won’t go about our personal ministry of the Word the way Baxter did. For example, I don’t individually catechize folks in my church. Typically when I visit with people, I ask them to tell me about their walk with Christ. After listening to them share things that they’re encouraged about and struggling with, I spend time praying with them. Afterwards, I take time to prayerfully process what they said so that I can encourage them more specifically with the truths of Scripture.

Regardless of what methods or approach you may chose, be intentional about exhorting, instructing, and shepherding the individual members of your church.

The Purpose of Personal Ministry

Baxter was not only intentional about his approach to personal ministry, but also clear about his purpose. Encouraging his fellow pastors, Baxter states, “The design of this work is, the reforming and saving of all the people in our several parishes. For we shall not leave out any man that will submit to be instructed; and though we can scarcely hope that every individual will be reformed and saved by it, yet have we reason to hope, that as the attempt is universal, so the success will be more general and extensive than we have hitherto seen of our other labors.”[5]

Baxter firmly believed that personal Word ministry was necessary for the conversion and sanctification of the people in his congregation. He did not assume that the folks attending his church were Christians simply because they listened to his sermons each week. Baxter vigorously fought against the nominal Christianity that was so prevalent in his day. He personally confronted each member with the truths of the gospel and urged his fellow ministers to do the same:

“If, then, the saving of souls, of your neighbors’ souls, of many souls, from everlasting misery, be worth your labour, up and be doing! If you would be the fathers of many that are born again, and would ‘see of the travail of your souls,’ and would be able to say at last, ‘Here am I, and the children whom thou hast given me’ — up and ply this blessed work!”[6]

Motives for Personal Ministry

Ultimately, the glory of God should motivate our labors in Word ministry (Col 1:28-29). God is glorified as souls are saved and believers are built up in the faith. Baxter envisioned how God’s glory could be displayed through the church as God’s people were transformed into the image of Christ: “If our common ignorance were thus banished, and our vanity and idleness turned into the study of the way of life, and every shop and every house were busied in learning the Scriptures and catechisms, and speaking of the Word and works of God, what pleasure would God take in our cities and country! He would even dwell in our habitations, and make them his delight. It is the glory of Christ that shineth in his saints, and all their glory is his glory”[7]

A Brief Word of Encouragement

Some of you might be thinking, “Micah, I agree with what you’re saying, but I’m not a pastor. What does this to do with me?” The personal ministry of the Word is not just reserved for pastors. All of us have the privilege and responsibility to prayerfully “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:13-16). We should all strive to be “full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another” (Ro. 15:14). You might not be called to preach, but the Lord can use your words to bless and build up the body of Christ in wonderful, life-giving ways (see Pr. 12:18; 15:2; 18:21; 25:11).

Some of you reading this article are pastors. Pastor friend, are you taking time to personally know, instruct, and exhort the members of your church? Have you talked in earnest with each member about the condition of their souls? Are you laboring “in public and from house to house” to build your people up in the faith?

Regardless of who you are, may God grant us grace to recover an Acts 20:20 vision for ministry.

[1] Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (Puritan Paperbacks), ed. William Brown (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2005), 97.

[2] Baxter, 175. Baxter in no way de-valued public preaching. However, in his day, few pastors devoted time to personal ministry. Baxter wrote The Reformed Paster to help correct this imbalance.

[3] Baxter, 183. It should be noted that Baxter pastored a large church with over 800 attendees.

[4] Timothy K. Beougher, Richard Baxter and Conversion: A Study of the Puritan Concept of Becoming a Christian. (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Mentor, 2007), 135.

[5] Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, 188

[6] Baxter, 175-176.

[7] Baxter, 195.