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The Most Important Arena of a Planter’s Life
Any neglect of your inner life and spiritual formation will not only weaken your ministry—it is slow-cooking a disaster.
Self-care is all the rage these days. I think Spurgeon wouldn’t mind the term—if we are talking about tending to our lives for the purpose of godliness and giving the gospel to others.
The first lecture in Spurgeon’s Lecture’s to My Students focuses on the minister’s self-watch. We must keep watch over our heart, soul, mind, and physical strength. Our entire self is offered to God in the ministry. We need all our faculties in order. A Michelin Star chef ensures his knives are sharp, the kitchen is clean, and he studies the interplay of flavors and textures. The tools of the trade cannot be neglected. The same applies to planters. As Spurgeon says:
We are, in a certain sense, our own tools, and therefore must keep ourselves in order. If I want to preach the gospel, I can only use my own voice; therefore I must train my vocal powers. I can only think with my own brains, and feel with my own heart, and therefore I must educate my intellectual and emotional faculties. I can only weep and agonize for souls in my own renewed nature, therefore must I watchfully maintain the tenderness which was in Christ Jesus. It will be in vain for me to stock my library, or organize societies, or project schemes, if I neglect the culture of myself; for books, and agencies, and systems, are only remotely the instruments of my holy calling; my own spirit, soul, and body, are my nearest machinery for sacred service; my spiritual faculties, and my inner life, are my battle axe and weapons of war.
There are a few questions and cautions to consider here from Spurgeon:
Are you growing as a preacher? One simple area to start: Learn how to use your voice. Vary the volume, speed, cadence, and emotional range. Flat preaching is torture. Watch how you preach.
Are you reading theological books and commentaries? Leadership books are helpful, but don’t neglect to grow your heart and soul with solid works from the past and present. It will bless you and your hearers. Watch what you read.
Most importantly, are you tending to your own spiritual life? Planter, any neglect of your inner life and spiritual formation will not only weaken your ministry—it is slow-cooking a disaster. Spurgeon tells us, “For the herald of the gospel to be spiritually out of order in his own proper person is, both to himself and to his work, a most serious calamity.” This is true for two reasons.
1) Neglect of the Soul Weakens You
A few years ago, I developed a minor occurrence of extra heartbeats. It’s a small amount, but enough to warrant an annual visit to the cardiologist. A heart that doesn’t effectively pump blood to the rest of the body will weaken other organs and lead to more misfires. The same is true of the spiritual life.
Spurgeon points out that if a pastor allows his heart to be “weakened in spiritual things, and very soon his entire life will feel the withering influence.” Union and communion with Christ is our spirituality’s operational core; it’s the heart of the heart. Is the gospel real to you? Listen to Spurgeon’s piercing insight on this point:
As ministers, that your whole life, your whole pastoral life especially, will be affected by the vigor of your piety. If your zeal grows dull, you will not pray well in the pulpit; you will pray worse in the family, and worst in the study alone. When your soul becomes lean, your hearers, without knowing how or why, will find that your prayers in public have little savor for them; they will feel your barrenness, perhaps, before you perceive it yourself. Your discourses will next betray your declension. You may utter as well-chosen words, and as fitly-ordered sentences, as aforetime; but there will be a perceptible loss of spiritual force.
It won’t take long for people to notice the dynamics change. The best sermons come from a man on fire from meeting with God. A man’s public prayers are often an x-ray into his walk with God. Humdrum, perfunctory, zeal-less, and casual prayers usually come from a pastor who is merely performing. Get real with the risen Christ—not just for your ministry but for your life with Him. And because we have an enemy.
2) The Devil is Watching Your Soul
Remember the supernatural enemy of your life and ministry. Satan’s keeping watch over your soul, too. Our enemy salivates when a planter is more concerned with his social media strategy than his spiritual disciplines. The devil delights in dreaming up ways to get you tangled in his web. Spurgeon says, “The great enemy of souls takes care to leave no stone unturned for the preacher’s ruin.” He doesn’t have any quit in him. He doesn’t get tired. No sleep, no need for caffeine, no caloric expenditure; he runs on the diesel of wanting to steal, kill, and destroy you, your family, and your ministry. And as Spurgeon points out, pastors are on his radar:
Take heed, therefore, brethren, for the enemy hath a special eye upon you. You shall have his most subtle insinuations, and incessant solicitations, and violent assaults. As wise and learned as you are, take heed to yourselves lest he outsmart you. The devil is a greater scholar than you.
Keep watch over your life. Do you know your own temptations? Be honest with yourself. Make no provision for the flesh (Rom. 13:14). The devil knows our peculiar temptations. He will dangle the bait, hoping to land you in a world of hurt.
You shall see neither hook nor line, much less the subtle angler himself, while he is offering you his bait. And his baits shall be so fitted to your temper and disposition, that he will be sure to find advantages within you, and make your own principles and inclinations to betray you; and whenever he ruineth you, he will make you the instrument of your own ruin. Oh, what a conquest will he think he hath got, if he can make a minister lazy and unfaithful; if he can tempt a minister into covetousness or scandal!
Planter, watch your life. As Paul told the Ephesian elders, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).
