We should not be passive participants in the work of the church as members, even when it comes to the sermon or the life of our pastor. He is meant to serve you, and you him. He is meant to teach you, but you are not therefore absolved from the commandment to make disciples.

“Five-billion people.” I answered, “There are five-billion people online right now, according to the latest data.”
I had been asked to come on the radio to talk about three news stories that stood out to me from the previous week. Two had come to mind easily, but for the third I decided to look for something encouraging; I wanted to find a story about a local pastor doing the work of the gospel or who was being celebrated for ministry faithfulness.
I searched everywhere.
I found nothing.
The “five-billion people online” statistic jumped out to me on my search, and so I decided I would use it to make a point. If there are that many people online, then a good deal of them must be Christian. So where are all the stories about tremendous pastors? I know they’re out there ready to be told! Yet, it doesn’t seem like anyone is telling them.
I finished the interview by saying something to the effect of, “I’d just love to use my time here to say how thankful I am for my pastor. He loves our church and loves God, and that might sound boring, but I think that is awesome.”
It wasn’t flashy, it wasn’t controversial, it was just true.
As much as I would love to see more people publicly praising their pastors, the work starts closer to home. In the first two installments of this series, I’ve talked about what a sermon is and how to get the most out of a sermon each Sunday, but in this article, I want to look at how and why we should encourage the man standing in the pulpit. How do we love our pastors well, submit to them, and encourage them? To be clear, this is an area we all need to grow in—myself included.
Be most known for encouragement. “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thess. 5:12–13).
I make it a point to ensure everyone whom I love, knows that I love them. The words “I love you” hold a specific weight when spoken to my wife, but they aren’t reserved merely for her. Jesus taught us that people would know who we belong to and whose disciples we are if we “have love for one another” (John 13:35). It is, therefore, no surprise that this extends to our leaders. Pastor Jared C. Wilson has mentioned on several occasions that he never leaves the pulpit without expressing his love for the congregation.
If your pastor did this, would that expression of love be reciprocated?
My guess is that if you’re plugged into a local church, whatever differences you might have with your pastor, you do love him. Like a cheesy 90s rom-com, however, this love might go days, weeks, or years without being revealed, leading both parties to question its existence.
This commandment to love is accompanied by another that seems to be intrinsically linked to the first. “Esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”
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What is important is for shepherds to take seriously their responsibility to protect their flocks.  Don’t ignore issues threatening the purity of the church or moral practices of the sheep.  Likewise, don’t ignore the reality of the “. . . the massive escalation in hostility toward Christianity and a biblical worldview.” A spiritual battle is definitely raging, and unprepared sheep are prey to the immense assault.  

It is evident that America and Western civilization are strongly undergoing re-paganization in both perspective and practice.  This is manifest especially in the areas of sexual morality, identities, and justice.  However, what is equally alarming and disconcerting is such paganization has taken measuredly hold in the church—in individual churches, denominations, and in the three principal branches of the Holy Catholic (Universal) Church.
It has occurred to me that the first century church was instructed and prepared for living in a pagan world.  Written in the first or second century, The Didache, known as The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations, prepared believers how to live in a pagan society.  It begins with the Two Ways, the Way of Life and the Way of Death.  This section contains moral practices that counter accepted pagan practices.  In other words, the early Christians (the Lord’s sheep) were instructed and prepared for the spiritual battles they would have to fight personally in themselves and exteriorly in the societies in which they resided.
This brings up the issue of spiritual battle, which this is.  How are we to live today with such a pronounced and pushed agenda coming from the ancient evil one?  A recent advertisement for a podcast appeared on a Christian website.  It stated, “Retrieving classical Christianity to create authentic reform in the church today.”  Bingo!  Oh, excuse me.  I should say, Eureka!  I was immediately reminded of The Didache—a prime example of classical Christianity.  
One trait of this paganizing process, according to a ruling elder in a Reformed Faith church, is “a massive escalation in hostility toward Christianity and a biblical worldview.”  Later, he states, “. . . there are sound evangelical churches attended by individuals who are openly celebrating transgender family members with virtually no response by church leadership.”  That is just one issue not addressed by some church leaderships.  The same is true for the above references to the broader areas of sexual morality, identities, and justice.
So, between this escalation of hostility and the pronounced agenda, what can Christians, churches, and church leaders do?  Two actions:  1) Retrieve classical Christianity that communicated both faith and practice akin to The Didache and 2) address false ideologies and practices in a timely manner—don’t ignore them.
It is needful perhaps to identify practices that might contribute to not feeding and protecting the flocks when assaults on God’s divine revelation enter or invade churches.  Two come to mind, which are solely expository preaching and short homilies.  These relate to both different denominations and branches of the church. The former tends to minimize “the whole counsel of God” by spending more time on narrow sections of Scripture.  Historically, the apostles and church dealt with issues as they arose and would draw responses from diverse passages of God’s divine revelation to emphasize and thoroughly treat a specific issue.  This isn’t against expository preaching; it simply indicates one weakness. Irregular topical preaching addressing a current issue can balance this lack and benefit the flock. Likewise, the former, i.e., short homilies, tend to be pithy but leave very little room for healthy catechizing or instruction, and rebuttal of false ideologies, practices or teachings.
What can church leaderships do if either are unable or unwilling to address cultural or societal ideologies invading the church in a timely manner from the pulpit?  It is understandable they may feel their habitual practice is what God has called them to do.
One sound and valid suggestion is to communicate regularly in writing to the congregation.  A written communication personally addressed to each member can alert, educate, and warn the flock against false teachings and practices by stating and verifying the biblical principles involved and the church’s position on such issues.  This shouldn’t merely be posted on the church’s website, but rather should be sent to the members’ homes.  Not everyone is online or actively goes to websites regularly.
What is important is for shepherds to take seriously their responsibility to protect their flocks.  Don’t ignore issues threatening the purity of the church or moral practices of the sheep.  Likewise, don’t ignore the reality of the “. . . the massive escalation in hostility toward Christianity and a biblical worldview.” A spiritual battle is definitely raging, and unprepared sheep are prey to the immense assault.  Shepherds, rise to the occasion:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to standfirm against the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is notagainst flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against thepowers, against the world forces of this darkness, against thespiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6: 10-12?
Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.
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Robinson’s book, The Church of God as an Essential Element of the Gospel, 1858, has been reprinted by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 2009, with an introduction by A. Craig Troxel and a twenty-five page biography by T. E. Peck. Peck was a friend of Robinson and succeeded him at Central Presbyterian Church, Baltimore. Robinson also published Discourses on Redemption: As Revealed at Sundry Times and in Divers Manners, Richmond: Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1866.

Is it a scowl of anger or grimace of pain that is on the face of Stuart Robinson? His appearance may very well be due to pain. When he was an infant his nurse was tossing him in the air, as adults sometimes do, and watching him giggle, as babies will do, when she accidentally missed him and he fell to the floor. One can only imagine the horror of the nurse as she saw the child she cared for screaming in pain. The injuries were fearful. His right shoulder was dislocated, his hand and thumb were seriously injured, and his head was injured such that the doctor believed, using the terminology of the day, “idiocy,” might be the result. Robinson recovered fully from his head injury but both his arm and hand were disabled for the remainder of his life such that stiffness and awkwardness could be seen in his gestures from the pulpit. Matters were made worse when he broke the same arm in an accident while riding a train from Baltimore to Kentucky. Yes, his facial appearance may very well be due to pain, but then there is the possibility of the scowl of anger, an appearance of antagonism because his character, integrity, and honor as a man and a minister were assailed and slandered such that he sued the source of the defaming words.
Stuart Robinson was of Scotch-Irish stock, born November 14, 1814, to James and Martha (Porter) Robinson in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland. Martha was the daughter of an elder in the Irish Presbyterian Church and her grandfather had been a Presbyterian minister. Stuart’s father was a successful purveyor of linen until he lost his wealth through guaranteeing some loans that did not work out. Thus, as so many residents of Ireland were doing in the era, James took the family first briefly to New York and then on to Virginia where they settled. When Stuart was but six or seven years old his mother died. The household had no relatives in the United States, so Stuart lived with another family, the Troutmans, through an arrangement by his father.
The Troutmans raised Stuart as their own and came to realize he was highly intelligent. They made sure that he attended the best schools possible. As with several of the biographical subjects presented on Presbyterians of the Past, his intellectual gifts were evidenced by an incredible memory. The Troutmans sought the advice of their pastor, Rev. James M. Brown, regarding the best course for study for Stuart. Brown observed the thirteen year old’s abilities, took him into his home, and directed his studies until he was sent to study in an academy in Romney, Virginia, mastered by Rev. William H. Foote. At about the age of sixteen he professed faith in Christ. When it was time to enter college, Robinson joined the freshman class at Amherst in Massachusetts, graduating in 1836. For preparation for the ministry he studied one year in Union Seminary, Virginia; then he taught for two years to earn tuition for more study; and then studied two years in Princeton Seminary but did not receive a certificate of completion.
Stuart Robinson was licensed by Greenbrier Presbytery, 1841, then ordained, October 8, 1842, at Lewisburg, Virginia (currently in West Virginia) to serve the Kanawha Salines Church. He continued in the ministry serving churches in Kentucky, then Baltimore, and then moved back to Kentucky where he taught in Danville Seminary before becoming minister of Second Church, Louisville. Stuart Robinson was known for his preaching gifts, the precision of his sermons, his pointed and no holds barred writing, and a short-fused temper. His memorialist, J. N. Saunders, commented that, “his temper sometimes got the better of him; that his great will was sometimes too imperious, and that he often said things that were unnecessarily severe and wounding” (p. 34). At the time of the lawsuits that will be discussed in the following paragraphs, Robinson had been at Second Church since 1858.
The story of Dr. Robinson’s litigation begins with The Hickman Courier of Hickman, Kentucky, which reported in March 1872 that an important libel suit had been filed by Rev. Stuart Robinson against the proprietors of the Chicago Evening Post seeking damages of 100,000.00. The compensation sought was described as, likely tongue in cheek, “a moderate sum.” Robinson was responding to a thirty-one word article published that January in the Post’s “Personal and Impersonal” column.
Rev. Stuart Robinson of Louisville, who advocated from the pulpit during the war, the shipping of yellow fever infected clothing to Northern cities, narrowly escaped death from small pox last week.
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