Dr. Ron Gleason is pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Yorba Linda, California. Dr. Gleason is a former tank commander and instructor in the US Army. He studied at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Westminster Seminary (Philadelphia), the Free University of Amsterdam and the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Churches of Holland. Resources from Dr. Gleason are available at his website Renewed Life Ministries, and he also has a blog, Christianity: Doctrine and Ethics. In addition why not visit his site dedicated to the great Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck. Dr. Gleason has co-edited, along with Gary L.W. Johnson, the forthcoming volume Post-Conservative Evangelicals: A Critique (Crossway) to which I have contributed a chapter on the Emerging Church.

MD: What are the signs of spiritual and theological decline in a minister?

RG: Typically, these are little different in a minister or a layperson. Spiritual decline manifests itself in a lack of interest in the things of God; in the means of grace. If I am not reading the Bible daily for myself that should be a good and clear indicator to me that something is seriously awry.

Allow me to elaborate just a little bit on what I just said. One of the subtleties of the pastoral ministries is that we get involved in our exegesis and sermon preparation and can be lulled into thinking that simply because we are dealing with Scripture for our sermons that that is sufficient. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The same could be said about when/if we visit our members in their homes. There we pray with them and read the Bible with them, but that is still not sufficient for our personal walk with God. We must be reading daily for ourselves. The same is true of prayer. If we exhort and encourage our congregants to pray daily and we’re not taking time to go into the private place to pray (cf. Matt. 6:6) then we are not only being hypocritical, but we are robbing ourselves of spiritual blessings.

As far as theological decline is concerned, I believe this can happen with pastors who simply do not discipline themselves to keep up with the theological dangers that present themselves to the Church. A recent example that comes to mind is a colleague asking me to explain the tenets of the Federal Vision, New Perspective on Paul, the theology of Norman Shepherd, and the Emergent Conversation to him. Granted, we can’t know everything about these movements, but as long as they have been viable options for some misguided folk, we ought to be able to give a general outline of the movements along with some salient points about their respective dangers.

MD: Paul told the Corinthians that stewards of the mysteries of God should be found trustworthy. How should a minister put this into practice so that he will be faithful to God in the course of his pastoral ministry?

RG: To my mind, far too many ministers today place too much of a premium on peripheral matters. That is to say, they become entangled in minor matters to the neglect of the most important aspects and facets of pastoral ministry. Being found trustworthy can mean quite a few things, but let me enumerate a few essential components of a faithful ministry. First, is the attention he pays to preparing the weekly sermon(s). A faithful minister doesn’t go to this or that web site (you know, a popular pastor) and semi-plagiarize what he can download there. He painstakingly wrestles with the text and faithfully preaches what the text says. Far too many of us have sat in congregations where the pastor used a text for a mere pretext. He had something that he wanted to say—maybe something in a pop-psychology or political book he read—and a text is found that somehow expresses what he wants to say, so he uses it, never intending to expound on what the text says.

A minister should be trustworthy in his teaching. I delight and rejoice to teach my congregation. There are some pastors, however, who find this a burden. Perhaps this is a “generational” thing, but I find a number of younger pastors lazy. If the congregation reaches a size of 150, then they think it’s time to hire someone else to help them. Other young pastors have told me that they refuse to preach and teach on the same day. What?! This kind of Perfume Prince mentality stinks in the world and it reeks even worse in the church.

Faithful ministers visit the sick and shut-ins, conduct the necessary meetings, counseling, and take care of their administrative tasks as well. The sign of a trustworthy pastor is not the size of his congregation, but in his dedication to the people with whom God has entrusted him.

MD: Why do confessional denominations requiring subscription become infected with error and change theologically?

RG: In general I believe the answer has to do with a form of cowardice. Friends either see or hear friends changing their views and are reticent to say anything. The short answer is that if I “sign on the dotted line” to be Presbyterian—which I have—then I have a moral responsibility to maintain, fully espouse, and enthusiastically teach what I’ve given my word that I think is true, right, and good. In my church—the PCA—I took a vow that if, at any time, my views changed, I would, of my own initiative, make those changes known to my Presbytery. I believe that I have a number of colleagues who are ethically remiss in that department.

The changes occur and the damage is done when we become “men-pleasers” rather than remaining God-pleasers.

MD: Once this kind of decline sets in can it be reversed?

RG: Theoretically, yes, but historically the answer has been no. Of course it depends on the degree of decline, but once you’ve started down the proverbial slippery slope, it’s next to impossible to find the brakes. I’ve been accused of holding to “domino” and “conspiracy” theories, but more often than not I’m correct not because I’m so insightful and profound, but because there is a history that can be traced. When I was a student and later a pastor in Holland I watched a solid Reformed church gradually disintegrate. How did that occur? It began with wanting women Deacons. Two years later, the issue was women Elders. The next year is was female pastors. When I left in 1984 it was the ordination of homosexuals. Ironically, the same pattern followed me to Canada where in a very short expanse of time the Christian Reformed Church followed suit.

Liberals are tenacious and conservatives are cowards, always wanting to be nice guys. The case of Charles Hodge and Charles Finney is a classic case in point. We fail to see that the denomination we may love is under attack and quite often the matter seems so innocent and insignificant, until one morning we wake up and no longer recognize our church.

MD: Is there greater danger from openly, and aggressively, unorthodox preachers in a denomination or from the people who want to keep organisational unity?

RG: I think it’s hard to pin this one down, primarily because both are insidious. For example, in the PCUSA there are open, aggressive, agenda-driven, permanent-PMS feminists who are a huge danger. At the same time, we must also be on our guard for the “iron fist in the velvet glove” that comes from Mr. Nice Guy. I have witnessed both. Referring back to my comments about cowardice, I’ve noticed that if you attempt to confront Mr. Nice Guy, you turn into the town bigot in the eyes of some. My response, however, is: so be it. History points us to the irrefutable fact that both the openly aggressive as well as the quiet agenda-driven folk are detrimental.