He Was a Kind Man
What comes to mind when you think of R.C. Sproul? What do you remember of his life and ministry? What associations do you make when you hear his name?
He was a gifted teacher, of course—probably the greatest pure teacher many of us have ever encountered. So many Christians first came to marvel at God’s transcendent holiness and God’s glorious sovereignty to the distinct rasp of his voice and, in the background, the distinct squeak of chalk on chalkboard. Few men have been better teachers.
He was a trusted theologian. He had a near-encyclopedic knowledge of Christian doctrine and could converse or debate on a host of subjects. A panel or roundtable could go to nearly any topic and he would have something to say. In some of the church’s most crucial modern-day controversies, he took the side of the Bible and the side of orthodoxy. Time has proven that he was invariably on the side of the right.
He was a brilliant intellectual. He had a quick and exceptional mind and a towering intellect. Few people could catch him off guard and few people could match his wit. No one who ever debated him had an easy time of it or ran him over.
He was a compelling apologist. He loved to defend Christianity against the encroachment of false doctrines and vain philosophies. He also guarded the church against more subtle dangers like Catholicism and pseudo-gospels. Throughout his life, he defended the faith and courageously called people to it.
He was a pastor and professor, a mentor and chancellor, an editor and author. In fact, he bore so many talents and wore so many hats that it’s hard to believe he lived only one life. Truly, he was a gift to us.
And yet if you ever visit St. Andrew’s Chapel in Orlando and make your way to Sproul’s grave, you will find a different accolade on his gravestone—an accolade chosen by his family, by the people who loved him most and knew him best. “He was a kind man,” it says. “He was a kind man redeemed by a kinder Savior.”
Despite all he did and all he was known for, it is the quality of kindness that is engraved for the ages.
I have often pondered that epitaph. Despite all he did and all he was known for, it is the quality of kindness that is engraved for the ages. And I find that both challenging and encouraging.
It takes raw talent to teach like Sproul taught. It takes divine gifting to preach like he preached and to lead like he led. It takes advanced education to have his knowledge of philosophy and decades of study to have his grasp of doctrine. In these ways and others most will never be like him.
But kindness is available to all of us. Kindness is not an innate quality that is given to some and not to others. Kindness is not a characteristic that demands special talent or advanced education. Kindness is a decision we make each moment of each day. Kindness is fruit of the Spirit who lives within us—evidence of his presence in our lives and imitation of his divine qualities. Sproul was kind because he lived his life in service to a kind Savior.
And so, one of the men we love and admire, a man who left his mark on so many of us, is not remembered first for his accomplishments, but for his character. His lasting legacy is not what he did, but who he was. His enduring gift to those he loved is not the books he wrote or the organizations he founded, but the qualities of Jesus that were so prominent in his life.
As much as we have benefitted from all of Sproul’s gifts and talents, from all he did and all he founded, his family gave us a gift of their own—a reminder that the greatest accomplishments are accomplishments of character and the greatest legacies are legacies of divine attributes displayed in a redeemed life.
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Weekend A La Carte (March 11)
I’m thankful to Christian Focus for sponsoring the blog this week so they could tell you about some excellent books for kids.
Today’s Kindle deals include a newer book and some older ones.
(Yesterday on the blog: ESV Church History Study Bible)
Lived to Be Forgotten: Dixon E. Hoste, Missionary to China
“Dixon Edward Hoste (1861–1946) was a British missionary who served in China for over 40 years. Although he succeeded James Hudson Taylor as the general director of the China Inland Mission (CIM), much less has been written and recorded of his life and ministry than of Taylor’s.” This is a lovely telling of his life.
What to Do When Revival Comes
D.A. Carson explains what to do when revival comes.
5 Misconceptions about Wealth
Relying on Proverbs, “here are five misconceptions about wealth that must go if we are to believe and receive the wisdom of God.”
How should I deal with prayerlessness in my life?
Kevin DeYoung answers the question well in this video from Ligonier Ministries.
The Gospel of Self-Forgiveness
“There is no category of self-forgiveness in the Bible. And that is a freeing truth! Your shame and guilt is not dependent upon your ability to forgive yourself.”
Squinting For the Glory of God
Squinting for the glory of God–I like that phrase (and the explanation behind it).
Flashback: There Is Nothing Trite About It!
There is nothing trite, nothing minimal about “I’ll pray for you.” To say, “I’ll pray for you” is to say, “I will speak with the Author and Creator of all things.Obsessing over the future is not how God wants us to live, because showing us the future is not God’s way. His way is to speak to us in the Scriptures and transform us by the renewing of our minds. His way is not a crystal ball. His way is wisdom. —Kevin DeYoung
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A La Carte (September 28)
May the God of love and peace be with you today.
There is a short list of Kindle deals today.
(Yesterday on the blog: Thank You, God, That I Am Not Like Other Men)
If There’s One Thing We Can Offer, It’s Authenticity
“As I’m writing this, I have just seen one of those promo videos from a larger church talking about all the great stuff people can plug into. It was full of youngish, cool people (I assume) talking about how great the church is and all the cool stuff you can do with them. There were special training routes, lots on with a big emphasis on the friendships you can make with loads of other people at a similar age and stage.” We’ve probably all seen videos like that and been tempted to compare…
Hair Pressing Time
I always enjoy Darla McDavid’s stories from a childhood that was very different from my own.
What’s Allowed in Married Sex?
Here’s Ray Ortlund on an important question. “Let’s rethink our married sexuality. Let’s throw off the complications that are claiming too much of us. Let’s go back to what our Lord would be glad to bless in our married sexual experience.” (See also John Piper: Should Couples Use Role-Play in the Bedroom?)
How Do I Grow in the Fear of God and Decrease in the Fear of Man? (Video)
“The more our minds are consumed by the majestic holiness of God, the less we will be intimidated by mere men. From our 2021 National Conference, Steven Lawson and Derek Thomas consider the importance of cultivating the fear of the Lord.”
For the Church that is For the World
“Biblically understood, there is a lot more involved in ‘going to church’ than simply attending a worship service. The gospel is designed to remake our entire souls, reorienting us away from ourselves and instead around God and others.” Jared Wilson explains.
Sustained Creativity By the Power of the Spirit
“I love creativity, whether I see it in a sunset, a painting, a novel, or a piece of music. Something deeply spiritual occurs in me when I behold the creative work of another or set about the task of creating something myself. I’m merely hypothesizing here, but I think creativity is both enhanced and sustained by the Holy Spirit, even into old age, when we surrender to Christ and live for God’s glory.” Maybe or maybe not. But it’s still an interesting thing to ponder.
Flashback: No One Believes in Social Injustice
…“it’s no good having the same vocabulary if we’re using different dictionaries.” And when it comes to social justice, that’s exactly what’s happening—we are drawing definitions from different dictionaries.To endeavor to lift our own souls by our own strength is as absurd as to attempt to lift our bodies by grasping hold of our own clothes. —Theodore Cuyler
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On Nick’s Twenty-Third Birthday and My Own
I don’t remember a whole lot about my twenty-third birthday. Twenty-three is a “neither here nor there” age so it’s rarely the most memorable of occasions. It sits between coming into full adulthood at 21 and the milestone looming at 30. These are decisive years in any life. They were certainly decisive in my life.
Though I don’t remember a whole lot about the day I turned 23 (all the way back in December of ’99), I do know that Aileen was pregnant and just entering into her third trimester. These were the days when we had learned we were having a boy but hadn’t yet decided what to name him. I remember “John” and “Michael” being in the running—both good family names. I remember Aileen lobbying for “Ethan” for a time. But in the end we got it just right: he would be Nicholas Paul. I would often lie with my head on Aileen’s growing belly to feel Nick stretch and squirm, to begin to bond with the son I had not yet met but already dearly loved. It wasn’t long after that he was born and our joy was complete.
It will be Nick’s twenty-third birthday on Sunday. Or is it more appropriate to say that it “would have been” Nick’s twenty-third birthday on Sunday? I actually don’t know. Either way, it was 23 years ago that the Lord blessed us with our precious baby boy, our firstborn child, our only son.
This will be Nick’s third birthday in heaven, though they probably don’t mark birthdays there, do they? I’m not even convinced that time in heaven passes in months and years, in hours and days, as it does here. Does time outside the context of this world work just the same as time within it? Since the Bible is silent on this I suppose God judges that it doesn’t much matter. What matters is that where God is, Nick is.
And my dad, too. He made the journey just a short time before my son, the first of several blows that followed one after the other in quick succession between 2019 and 2020. And while I’m sorry that my dad is gone, there’s comfort in knowing that he and Nick are together.
And on this subject, a little scene popped into my mind the other day, a little memory of a tearful farewell. For a moment I was transported back to dad’s funeral in the waning days of 2019. Nick was standing at the front of the room sharing some memories of his grandfather. And as he spoke, he wept—he wept with the sheer sorrow of facing the reality of death and the pain of loss. He wept as he said goodbye to one he had loved.
And then another scene appeared in my mind, though this one was imagined rather than remembered. In this scene my father was in heaven, alive and well and just a little younger now than when I last saw him—fewer white hairs on his head, fewer lines on his cheeks, fewer creases on his brow. He was busy at some task or the other when suddenly he stood bolt upright, an expression of surprise, an expression of joy, sweeping over his face. What was it that so shocked and delighted him? My view shifted and now I saw it—Nick had just arrived and was standing before him. I suppose dad must have expected his wife to be next to pass that way or at least one of his children. But no, there before him was his grandson. And he was so pleased to see him, so happy to throw his arms around him, so glad to know that Nick had made it safely home.
In one scene there was sorrow at a parting and in the other there was joy at a reunion. In one scene Nick was weeping as he bid farewell to my dad and in the other dad was rejoicing as he bid welcome to my Nick.
And it strikes me that so much of our response to the death of a saint depends on our perspective. Though from one perspective we see family members weeping as their loved one fades from their view, from the opposite perspective we see other family members rejoicing as their loved one draws near. While some weep with grief that one has passed beyond their sight, others weep with joy that one has safely crossed over. There is no great happiness for some without great sadness for others. For while every death marks a departure it also marks an arrival. That’s just life and death in a world as badly broken as this one and one so gloriously whole as the next.
And so as this birthday approaches and arrives, I wait to see and experience that kind of joy—the joy of taking part in the welcome rather than the farewell, of cheering my loved ones in rather than weeping them out. And as I wait, I am choosing to let some of their joy filter from heaven to earth so I too can feel it, so I too can enjoy it, so I too can let it stir my soul. I choose to take pleasure in their pleasure, for they are in that place where all sorrows have been soothed and all tears have been dried, that place where we all most truly long to be.
