Book Review: The Christian Ministry (9Marks)
This book review was prepared for 9Marks.
For those familiar with 9Marks, The Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges may need little introduction. It was first published in 1830. However, it has been partly popularised again by its use in the pastoral internship at Capitol Hill Baptist Church and the references to it in 9Marks resources. And if all that wasn’t enough to bring it to your attention, Joel Beeke, the Chancellor of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, recently called it the single best pastoral theology book in history![1]
What’s all the fuss about? Why should you read it? What can we possibly hope to learn from an Anglican vicar writing in rural England almost 200 years ago? This article identifies six key lessons Bridges teaches us in his book. These six lessons demonstrate why it should be seen as indispensable reading for anyone who is serving in or aspiring towards pastoral ministry.
1. The weight and worth of ministry
From the moment you read his opening sentence, Bridges seeks to convey the grandeur of God and the glorious purpose he has for his people. The book begins by declaring, “The Church is the mirror, that reflects the whole effulgence of the Divine character. It is the grand scene, in which the perfections of Jehovah are displayed to the universe.” (1) This is the theological perspective that permeates the rest of the book, and Bridges uses it to assert the worth and weight of ministry. If the church reflects the unbearable brightness of God’s character, it is hard to overestimate the value of Christian service. If we are the stage upon which God presents his perfections to the world, no cause on earth is more important than strengthening churches.
Reading Bridges helps you to realise that you really are building an eternal temple for the Lord (Eph 2:22), and that all the costs and comforts of ministry must be considered in that light. Indeed, it is likely to leave you confessing with Thomas Scott, “I can think of no work worth doing compared with this. Had I a thousand lives, I would willingly spend them in it”. (23)
2. The path to prepare for ministry
Having outlined the glory of the work, the book moves on to identify how we get there. Bridges highlights three elements that any pathway preparing men for ministry should include: study, prayer and exercise (67). These three things make a minister, and Bridges provides practical, wise and balanced advice on each of them. For example, he asserts the importance of general study and theological reading at some length (33–50), while still safeguarding the central place of Scripture. Similarly, the importance of prayer is emphasised in the strongest terms. Bridges declares that the main qualification of an expositor is that he “be a man of prayer – he needs the internal instruction of the primary Teacher.” (61) And yet, he also stresses the need to practice your growing gifts “under the superintendence of a judicious Pastor.” (66) Such an exercise teaches you lessons that you could never grasp in your study or on your knees. If you are looking for a reliable and realistic guide to preparing for ministry, you can find it in Bridges.
3. The dangers and difficulties in ministry
Bridges not only wants men to enter ministry, but he also wants them to have a fruitful ministry. To this end, he inquiries into the causes of inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Do you sometimes lack a heartfelt devotion to your calling? Are you slowly slipped into worldliness? Do you have a problem with people pleasing? Have you been tempted to indulge the flesh? Are you desiring what you don’t have? Do you struggle to switch off? Are you puffed up in pride? Has your personal prayer life withered? Is your family flourishing spiritually? Do you doubt that God can work today like he has in the past? These are the ten dangers that Bridges examines, arguing that any one of them could be the rock upon which your ministry may run aground. In this, the book acts as a lighthouse, illuminating these perils so we can avoid spiritual shipwreck.
4. The place of the pulpit in ministry
Having introduced the ministry in general, and investigated causes of ineffectiveness, Bridges turns to consider our public work, particularly preaching. For Bridges preaching is “the most responsible part of our work – the grand momentum of Divine agency – the most extensive engine of Ministerial operation” (187). These chapters are a timely reminder of the privilege that it is to “stand up in the name of the great God” (193). However, as well as reinforcing our confidence in the place of the pulpit, Bridges also provides plenty of practical advice on how to preach more effectively. He has detailed counsel on how to prepare our sermons, as well as how to develop your own personal style. His meditations on the proper spirit of preaching are also heart searching, calling us to boldness, wisdom, plainness, fervency, diligence, and love.
5. The centrality of Christ for ministry
The danger of any book on ministry is that becomes a practical checklist of steps to success, overlooking the more complex spiritual nature of the work. However, while always practical, Bridges never loses sight of Christ as the sun of the spiritual solar system. Before a similar illustration was deployed by Charles Spurgeon, Bridges declared that we “might as well speak of a village that has no road to the metropolis, as of a point of Christian doctrine, privilege, or practice, that has no reference to Christ crucified.” (241) He urges us to ensure that there is much of Christ in our ministry, and shows us how to achieve this in ways that are doctrinal, experimental, practical, applicatory, discriminating and decided. If you want help persistently plotting a path to the cross in each area of your ministry, allow Bridges to show you the way.
6. The people to be pastored through ministry
As well as never losing sight of Christ, Bridges also refuses to take his eyes off the people. While he is unashamed in declaring preaching to be the most important work, he is also realistic in admitting that “often the most difficult work remains when we have come down from the pulpit.” (383) The office of the minister is one of both preacher and pastor, and Bridges shows how the pulpit should be personally applied when we move among the pews. Using the popular idea of the minister as a spiritual doctor, he helps us to understand how to diagnose many of the most common diseases among our flock and administer the appropriate medicine for each.
Read this book!
These six lessons show the significance that reading Bridges can have on your ministry. Read it slowly by yourself to reflect on your own unique challenges. Read it alongside others to fuel your discussions about ministry together. Read it on internships or training programmes, or when discipling those aspiring to ministry. While some practical aspects of the book reflect the Anglican parish system that which Bridges ministered, and he can at times be scornful when speaking of Baptists and Presbyterians, the evident virtues far outweigh any potential vice. In particular, the book is a wonderful collection of choice quotations from other historic pastors. This means that if Bridges sometimes fails to land his point or shed much light, you can count on his quotations from figures like Matthew Henry, Richard Baxter or John Owen to do so. It has been said that “a preacher has three books to study - the Bible, himself, and the people.” (350) We should be thankful that Bridges has provided us with a fourth book to study as well, for reading it can help us to become a far better student of the other three!
[1] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-christian-ministry