“The Frank and Manly Mr. Ryle — The
Value of a Masculine Ministry"
John Piper - Desiring
God 2012 Conference for Pastors
“God, Manhood & Ministry:
Building Men for the Body of Christ"
January 31, 2012
God has revealed himself to us in
the Bible pervasively as King, not Queen, and as Father, not Mother. The
second person of the Trinity is revealed as the eternal Son. The Father and the
Son created man and woman in his image, and gave them together the name of the
man, Adam (Genesis 5:2). God appoints
all the priests in Israel to be men. The Son of God comes into the world as a
man, not a woman. He chooses twelve men to be his apostles. The apostles tell
the churches that all the overseers—the pastor/elders who teach and have
authority (1 Timothy 2:12)—should be
men; and that in the home, the head who bears special responsibility to lead,
protect, and provide should be the husband (Ephesians 5:22–33).
Masculine
Christianity
From all of this, I conclude that
God has given Christianity a masculine feel. And, being a God of love, he has
done it for the maximum flourishing of men and women. He did not create
women to languish, or be frustrated, or in any way to suffer or fall short of
full and lasting joy, in a masculine Christianity. She is a fellow heir of the
grace of life (1 Peter 3:7). From which I
infer that the fullest flourishing of women and men takes place in churches and
families where Christianity has this God-ordained, masculine feel. For the sake
of the glory of women, and for the sake of the security and joy of children,
God has made Christianity to have a masculine feel. He has ordained for the
church a masculine ministry.
And, of course, this is liable to
serious misunderstanding and serious abuse, because there are views of
masculinity that would make such a vision repulsive. So here is more precisely
what I mean. And words are always inadequate when describing beauty. Beauty
always thrives best when she is perceived by God-given instincts rather than by
rational definitions. But we must try. What I mean by “masculine Christianity,”
or “masculine ministry,” or “Christianity with a masculine feel,” is this: Theology and church and mission are
marked by overarching godly male leadership in the spirit of Christ, with an ethos
of tender-hearted strength, and contrite courage, and risk-taking decisiveness,
and readiness to sacrifice for the sake of leading, protecting, and providing
for the community—all of which is possible only through the death and
resurrection of Jesus. It’s the feel of a great, majestic God, who by his
redeeming work in Jesus Christ, inclines men to take humble,
Christ-exalting initiative, and inclines women to come alongside the men
with joyful support, intelligent helpfulness, and fruitful partnership in the
work. There are, I believe, dozens of sweet and precious benefits that come to
a church and family that has this kind of masculine feel.
Traits
of a Masculine Ministry
Eight Traits of “Masculine ministry,”
or “Christianity with a Masculine Feel” from the life and ministry of J. C.
Ryle.
1. A masculine ministry believes that
it is more fitting that men take the lash of criticism that must come in a
public ministry, than to unnecessarily expose women to this assault.
A masculine ministry puts men at the
head of the troop with the flag in hand and the trumpets in their mouths, so
that they, and not the women, take the first bullets.
The point here is not that a woman
couldn’t endure such assaults. No doubt a godly woman could. The point is not
that women can’t endure criticism, but that godly men prefer to take it for
them, rather than thrust them into it.
Courage in the midst of combat,
especially harsh and painful combat, whether with arms or with words, is not
something a woman can’t exercise, nor even something she shouldn’t
exercise under certain circumstances. The reason we call such courage “manly”
is not that a woman can’t show it, but that we feel a sense of fitness and joy
when a man steps up to risk his life, or his career, with courage; but we
(should) feel awkward if a woman is thrust into that role on behalf of men. She
may be able to do it, and we may admire her for doing it, if necessary. But we
wish the men were numerous enough and strong enough and courageous enough that
the women could rejoice in the men, rather than take their place.
2. A masculine ministry seizes on
full-orbed, biblical doctrine with a view to teaching it to the church and
pressing it with courage into the lives of the people.
Behind the increasing liberalism,
ritualism, and worldliness that he saw in the church, Ryle saw a failure of
doctrinal nerve — an unmanly failure. Dislike of dogma, he wrote, is an epidemic which is just now
doing great harm, and especially among young people. . . . It produces what I
must venture to call . . . a “jelly-fish” Christianity . . . a Christianity
without bone, or muscle, or power. . . . Alas! It is a type of much of the
religion of this day, of which the leading principle is, “no dogma, no distinct
tenets, no positive doctrine.”
We have hundreds of “jellyfish”
clergyman, who seem not to have a single bone in their body of divinity. They
have no definite opinions . . . they are so afraid of “extreme views” that they
have no views of all.
We have thousands of “jellyfish”
sermons preached every year, sermons without an edge, or a point, or corner,
smooth as billiard balls, awakening no sinner, and edifying no saint. . . .
And worst of all, we have myriads of
“jellyfish” worshipers—respectable Church-gone people, who have no distinct and
definite views about any point in theology. They cannot discern things that
differ, any more than colorblind people can distinguish colors. . . . They are
“tossed to and fro, like children, by every wind of doctrine”; . . . ever ready
for new things, because they have no firm grasp on the old.47
This aversion to doctrine was the
root cause of the church’s maladies, and the remedy was a manly affirmation of
what he called “sharply cut doctrines”48
recovered from the Reformation and the Puritans and the giants of the
eighteenth century in England.
Mark what I say. If you want to do
good in these times, you must throw aside indecision, and take up a distinct,
sharply-cut, doctrinal religion. . . .
The victories of Christianity,
wherever they have been won, have been won by distinct doctrinal theology; by
telling men roundly of Christ’s vicarious death and sacrifice; by showing them
Christ’s substitution on the cross, and His precious blood; by teaching them
justification by faith, and bidding them believe on a crucified Saviour; by
preaching ruin by sin, redemption by Christ, regeneration by the Spirit; by
lifting up the brazen serpent; by telling men to look and live—to believe,
repent, and be converted. . . .
Show us at this day any English
village, or parish, or city, or town, or district, which has been evangelized
without “dogma.” . . . Christianity without distinct doctrine is a powerless
thing. . . . No dogma, no fruits!49
The point of calling this failure of
doctrinal nerve an unmanly failure is not that women can't grasp and
hold fast to the great doctrines of the faith. They can and should. The point
is that when the foundations of the church are crumbling, the men should not
stand still and wait for women to seize the tools and brick and mortar. And
women should expect their men to be at the forefront of rebuilding the ruins.
The point of saying that the remedy
for doctrinal indifference is a manly affirmation of “sharply cut
doctrines” is not that women cannot or should not make such affirmations. The
point is that long, hard, focused, mental labor should not be shirked by men.
Men should feel a special responsibility for the life and safety and joy of the
community that depends on putting these “sharply cut doctrines” in place. This
issue is not what women are able to do, but what men ought to do.
J. C. Ryle waited for no one. He took the brick and mortar and trowel and spent
his whole life rebuilding the sharp edges of gloriously clear truth to make a
place where men and women could flourish in the gospel.
3. A masculine ministry brings out
the more rugged aspects of the Christian life and presses them on the
conscience of the church with a demeanor that accords with their proportion in
Scripture.
Ryle is most famous today for his
work on holiness and sanctification. And the overwhelming impression you get in
reading his book on holiness is how unsentimental and rugged most of it feels.50
That is, it feels very much like the New Testament, especially the Four
Gospels.
Over against the perfectionism and
Keswick quietism of his day, he was unrelenting in stressing that sanctification,
unlike justification, is a process of constant engagement of the will. And that
engagement is war. He asks,
Is it wise to teach believers that
they ought not to think so much of fighting and struggling against sin, but
ought rather to ‘yield themselves to God’ and be passive in the hands of
Christ? Is this according to the proportion of God's Word? I doubt it.51
Words such as these appear to me
clear, plain, and unmistakable. They all teach one and the same great lesson. .
. . That true Christianity is a struggle, a fight, and a warfare.53
“A true Christian,” he said, “is one
who has not only peace of conscience, but war within.”54
And this is true at every stage of maturity: “The old, the sick, the dying, are
never known to repent of fighting Christ’s battles against sin.”55
The tone he sets for the Christian life is “the soldier’s life.” “A holy
violence, a conflict, a warfare, a fight, a soldier’s life, a wrestling, are
spoken of as characteristic of the true Christian.”56
“He that would understand the nature of true holiness must know that the
Christian is “a man of war.”57
Of course, this is not the only
picture of the Christian life; but it is a true and prominent one. And Ryle
sets it forth with clarity and with a tone that fits the soldier-like theme it
is. But the point, again, is not that women cannot, or should not, fight sin
with as much urgency as any man. Nor is the point that she is unable to see
these things in Scripture, bring them out, and press them on the conscience.
She is fully able to do that. The point is that the theme of Christian warfare
and other rugged aspects of biblical theology and life should draw the men of
the church to take them up in the spirit of a protective warrior in his family
and “tribe,” rather than expecting the women to take on the spirit of a
combatant for the sake of the church.
4. A masculine ministry takes up
heavy and painful realities in the Bible, and puts them forward to those who
may not want to hear them.
One of the heaviest and most painful
realities in the Bible is the reality of hell. It is a godly and loving and
manly responsibility of the leaders of the church not to distort or minimize
the weight and horror of hell. Ryle faced the same thing we do. In 1855, he preached
the sermon that 24 years later was published in the expanded edition of Holiness.
There he said,
I feel constrained to speak freely
to my readers on the subject of hell. . . . I believe the time is come when it
is a positive duty to speak plainly about the reality and eternity of hell. A
flood of false doctrine has lately broken in upon us. Men are beginning to tell
us “that God is too merciful to punish souls for ever—that there is a love of
God lower even than hell—and that all mankind, however wicked and ungodly some
of them may be, will sooner or later be saved.”. . . We are to embrace
what is called a “kinder theology.”. . . Against such false teaching I desire,
for one, to protest. Painful, sorrowful, distressing as the controversy may be,
we must not blink it, or refuse to look the subject in the face. I, for one, am
resolved to maintain the old position, and to assert the reality and eternity
of hell.58
He pointed out that no one in
Scripture “used so many words to express the awfulness of hell” as Jesus did.
Hell, hell fire, the damnation of
hell, eternal damnation, the resurrection of damnation, everlasting fire, the place
of torment, destruction, outer darkness, the worm that never dies, the fire
that is not quenched, the place of weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth,
everlasting punishment—these, these are the words which the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself employs.59
He confessed that it sounds
dreadful. But then said that the question is: “Is it Scriptural?” If it is, we
must not shrink back. “Professing Christians ought to be often reminded that
they may be lost and go to hell.60
Ryle’s manly courage that takes up a
heavy and painful reality and presses it on people who may not want to hear it
was not a callous courage.
God knows that I never speak of hell
without pain and sorrow. I would gladly offer the salvation of the Gospel to
the very chief of sinners. I would willingly say to the vilest and most
profligate of mankind on his deathbed, “Repent, and believe on Jesus, and thou
shalt be saved.”61
The point is not that women are
unable to lift the weight or bear the pain of the reality of hell. The point is
not that they are unable to press it into those who don’t want to hear. The
point is that one of the marks of mature manhood is the inclination to spare
her that load and its costs. We admire her for embracing the truth, we share
her longings to nurture with tenderness, and, if we can, we carry for her the
flaming coals of final condemnation.
5. A masculine ministry heralds the
truth of Scripture, with urgency and forcefulness and penetrating conviction,
to the world and in the regular worship services of the church.
Not all preachers have the same
personality or the same tone. Some are louder, some are softer. Some speak
faster, some slower. Some with long sentences, some with short. Some with many
word pictures, some with fewer. Some with manifest emotion, some with less.
Some with lots of gestures, some with few. These differences are inevitable.
But preaching, as opposed to
teaching — kerussein (Greek) as opposed to didaskein — involves a
kind of emotional engagement signified by the word “heralding.” There is in
preaching a kind of urgency and a kind of forcefulness. A message is being
delivered from the King of the universe — with his authority, in his name — and
this message deals with matters of infinite importance, and the eternal destiny
of the hearers hangs on how they respond to the message.
This is preaching. And no matter
what a preacher’s personality or preferred tone, this preaching necessarily
involves urgency and forcefulness and a penetrating conviction which aims to
come with divine thrust into the minds and hearts of the listeners. And
therefore, this is a manly task. Coming to a people with an authoritative word
from God, aiming to subdue the hearts of men, and summon them into battle, and
lead the charge at their head against the principalities and powers—this is
where men belong.
J. C. Ryle’s preaching is model for
preaching in these ways. J. I. Packer refers to his “electric force of
utterance.”62
Ryle knew that he had to crucify his florid,63
literary style which marked his early preaching. The nature of preaching
demanded something different. Something simpler, but more forceful and
penetrating. What developed was really astonishing. Packer describes it,
referring to his brisk, spare, punchy style . . . its
cultivated forcefulness, its use of the simplest words, its fusillades of
short, one-clause sentences . . . its a rib-jabbing drumbeat rhetoric, its easy
logical flow, its total lack of sentimentality, and its resolve to call a spade
a spade.64
Ryle knew the preaching of his day
was languishing. It was “dry, heavy, stiff, dull, cold, tame . . . and
destitute of warmth, vivacity, direct appeal, or fire.”65
So he made every effort to break the mold, even as a dignified Bishop of
Liverpool. He would keep it simple, but he would untame his preaching. His
simple, forceful, clarity was renown. One older lady came to the church hoping
to hear the Bishop, but afterwards said to a friend, “I never heard a Bishop. I
thought I’d hear something
great. . . He's no Bishop. I could understand every
word.”66
Ryle took it as a great compliment.
Listen to what Packer means by the
“electric force” of “fusillades” and “rib-jabbing, drumbeat rhetoric.” This is
from a sermon on Lot’s lingering as he came out of Sodom and how so many
Christians linger as they leave sin.
- Would you know what the times
demand?—The shaking of nations—the uprooting of ancient things—the
overturning of kingdoms—the stir and restlessness of men’s minds—what do
they say? They all cry aloud—Christian! do not linger!
- Would you be found ready for
Christ at His second appearing—your loins girded—your lamp
burning—yourself bold, and prepared to meet Him? Then do not linger! . . .
- Would you enjoy strong
assurance of your own salvation, in the day of sickness, and on the bed of
death?—Would you see with the eye of faith heaven opening and Jesus rising
to receive you? Then do not linger!
- Would you leave great broad
evidences behind you when you are gone?—Would you like us to lay you in
the grave with comfortable hope, and talk of your state after death
without a doubt? Then do not linger!
- Would you be useful to the
world in your day and generation?—Would you draw men from sin to Christ,
adorn your doctrine, and make your Master's cause beautiful and attractive
in their eyes? Then do not linger!
- Would you help your children
and relatives towards heaven, and make them say, “We will go with
you”?—and not make them infidels and despisers of all religion? Then do
not linger!
- Would you have a great crown in
the day of Christ’s appearing, and not be the least and smallest star in
glory, and not find yourself the last and lowest in the kingdom of God?
Then do not linger!
- Oh, let not one of us linger!
Time does not—death does not—judgment does not—the devil does not—the
world does not. Neither let the children of God linger.67
There is urgency, forcefulness,
penetrating power. Preaching does not always rise to this level of urgency and
force and authority, but regularly does, and should. Again the point is not
that a woman is not able to speak this way. The point is that godly men know
intuitively, by the masculine nature implanted by God, that turning the hearts
of men and women to God with that kind of authoritative speaking is the
responsibility of men. And where men handle it with humility and grace, godly
women are glad.
6. A masculine ministry welcomes the
challenges and costs of strong, courageous leadership without complaint or
self-pity with a view to putting in place principles and structures and plans
and people to carry a whole church into joyful fruitfulness.
Leadership in the church — tending
and feeding and protecting and leading the sheep — is not only the work of
preaching, but also a firm, clear, reasonable, wise guiding voice when it comes
to hundreds of decisions that have to be made. This calls for great discernment
and no little strength. There are a hundred ways that a church can drift into
ineffectiveness; and wise leaders spot these early, resist them, and win the
church joyfully into a better direction. And what is required again and again
is a decisive strength that does not weaken in the face of resistance.
Packer describes Ryle’s leadership
like this:
His brains, energy, vision, drive,
independence, clear head, kind heart, fair-mind, salty speech, good sense,
impatience with stupidity, firmness of principle, and freedom from inhibitions
would have made him a leader in any field.68
Ryle was called by his successor to
the bishopric of Liverpool, “that man of granite with the heart of a child.”69
He was described as “the most rugged and conservative of all Anglican
Evangelical personalities.”70
He said of his own leadership: “The story of my life has been such that I
really cared nothing for anyone’s opinion, and I resolved not to consider one
jot who was offended and who was not offended by anything I did.”71
These are the words of man surrounded by a rising tide of liberalism,
ritualism, and worldliness in the Church of England. They are the voice of
strength against overwhelming odds.
I am fully aware [he wrote in 1878]
that Evangelical churchmanship is not popular and acceptable in this day. It is
despised by many. . . . But none of these things move me. I am not ashamed of
my opinions. After 40 years of Bible reading and praying, meditation, and
theological study, I find myself clinging more tightly than ever to
“Evangelical” religion, and more than ever satisfied with it.72
“None of these things move me.”
“More than ever I am satisfied with [the evangelical faith].” Immovable joy in
truth is a precious trait in the leaders of the church. A masculine ministry
looks on the forces to be resisted, and the magnitude of the truth to be
enjoyed, and feels a glad responsibility to carry a whole people forward into
joyful fruitfulness.
7. A masculine ministry publicly and
privately advocates for the vital and manifold ministries of women in the life
and mission of the church.
The aim of godly leadership is a
community of maximum joy and flourishing for everyone within—the women, the
children, the men—and maximum impact on the world for the glory of Christ. It’s
not about the privilege of power, but about the burden of responsibility to
enhance the lives of others.
Ryle was outspoken in his zeal for
women in the various ministries of the church. He drew attention to Romans 16,
where 11 of the 28 names mentioned are women, and said, The chapter I have mentioned appears
to me to contain a special lesson for women. The important position that women
occupy in the Church of Christ—the wide field of real, though unobtrusive,
usefulness that lies before them . . . I cannot go away with the common notion
that great usefulness is for men only, and not for women. . . . It should never
be forgotten that it is not preaching alone that moves and influences men. . .
. Humanly speaking, the salvation of a household often depends upon the women .
. . [and] men’s character is exceedingly influenced by their homes.73
There are countless needs in the
community, and needs on the mission field, Ryle says, that cry out for the
ministry of women.
There are hundreds of cases
continually rising in which a woman is far more suitable visitor than a man.
She need not put on a peculiar dress, or call herself by a Roman Catholic name.
She has only to go about, in the spirit of her Savior, with kindness on her
lips, gentleness in her ways, and the Bible in her hands, and the good that she
may do is quite incalculable. Happy indeed is the parish where there are
Christian women who “go about doing good.” Happy is that minister who has such
helpers.74
The aim of a masculine ministry is
the fullest engagement of every member of the church in joyful, fruitful
ministry. The aim of leadership is not to be the ministry, but to free
the ministry, according to God’s word, by the power of God’s Spirit, for the
glory of God’s name.
8. A masculine ministry models for
the church the protection, nourishing, and cherishing of a wife and children as
part of the high calling of leadership.
The year after he came to Liverpool
as bishop, Ryle published a book of eight messages for children. It’s called Boys
and Girls Playing based on Zechariah 8:5.75
It reveals the rare mixture of concern for children along with a very masculine
feel. One of the messages is called “The Happy Little Girl” about a girl he met
in public carriage who spoke of Jesus. He asks, “Dear children, are you as
happy and as cheerful as she was?”76
And another message is called “The Two Bears” about the two bears that killed
forty-two children for mocking God’s prophet. And he says, “Dear children,
remember these things to the end of your lives. The wages of sin is death.”77
He was a masculine lover of children.
Before his ministry was complete, he
had loved and buried three wives, Matilde, Jessie, and Henrietta. He had thee
sons and two daughters. All the testimonies we have of his children praise
their father for his care for them. Whether he did this well, the evidence is
too sketchy to know. But what we do know is that he tried. He gives us a hint
of the burden he carried in his small biography of Henry Venn, who also was
made a widower in the pastoral ministry with children to care for:
Those who have had this cross to
carry, can testify that there is no position in this world so trying to body
and soul as that of the minister who is left a widower, with a young family and
a large congregation. There are anxieties in such cases which no one knows but
he who has gone through them; anxieties which can crush the strongest spirit,
and wear out the strongest constitution.78
But no matter how difficult the home
life of a pastor, it is part of the calling, part of the masculine ministry.
Watch a Five-Minute Video of the Opening of This Message
Below
is a brief but powerful excerpt from the late Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's
1983 address upon his acceptance of the Templeton Prize, which "honors
a
living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming
life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or
practical works.” His prophetic warning of what happens to a nation that
forgets God has also been borne out in America over the past thirty-one
years. 
