The shocking death of Voddie Baucham on September 25 was another in a series of blows that have rained down upon us in 2025. From James Dobson to John MacArthur to Charlie Kirk to Voddie Baucham, [and previously from J.I. Packer, R.C. Sproul, Tim Keller et al] the church has lost a number of leading voices that have been used mightily of God. In any given year, losing one man who had the influence of these four would have been a significant loss, but losing four in such a short space of time is enough to send our heads reeling and cause us to wonder what God’s plans are as we look to the future. While we cannot know what God is doing, for whenever God does one thing He does ten thousand, what seems obvious in this moment is that we are witnessing a changing of the guard.
History has seen such moments many times before. We might think of the moment that Moses knew his time had come and handed off the leadership of the nation of Israel to his protege, Joshua. Or we can look back to the changing of the guard when King David appointed his son Solomon to be king in his place. In the New Testament, a significant changing of the guard occurred when the Apostle Paul knew his departure to heaven was at hand, so he handed over the ministry to Timothy, who was to lead a new generation of preachers. Because of our finitude and mortality, the changing of the guard is inevitable. Indeed, it is part of God’s plans to glorify His Son through the church. No preacher, pastor, counselor, apologist, or Christian lives forever in this world, and eventually our time on this earth ends, and God raises up a new generation to take our place.
One of the most comforting realities to young men in the ministry is the old guard. For young man in seminary and starting out in pastoral ministry, knowing there were men like John MacArthur and Voddie Baucham taking a stand for truth without compromise helped put wind in their sails and steel in their spines. Men like MacArthur and Baucham were used of God to help set the direction for biblical churches, and they served in one sense as guardrails for young men in ministry trying to figure out how to preach the Word and be faithful pastors. With Baucham’s race now run, it seems clearer than ever that the guard has changed. The young men who looked up to and followed the lead of MacArthur, Baucham, and others, are not young men anymore, and it’s time now to step up and lead.
Paul’s instructions to Timothy as Paul came to the end of his race give three principles for men in ministry who are now seasoned veterans called to lead in the days ahead. These principles help set the course for biblical ministries and ensure that the new guard remains just as faithful as the old.
The first principle is that we must be bold rather than afraid. Paul reminded Timothy, “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). The same Holy Spirit who enabled John MacArthur to be faithful for 56 years of ministry, and the same Holy Spirit who gave Voddie both the courage to stand against the tide of our culture and to weep tears of sorrow over the lost – that same Spirit indwells the next generation of preachers and leaders in the church. The Spirit we have been given is not one that incites fear or who leads us to be timid. The Spirit gives us power and love and self-discipline. The Spirit makes us bold in our ministries for the sake of Christ. Baucham was bold for truth, and so must we be as we think about carrying on the ministry in his absence. Many temptations toward timidity, compromise, and fear will come, but the Spirit within us is able to make us stand and to make us strong.
The second principle is that we must be faithful rather than popular. Paul charged Timothy to “preach the Word” (2 Timothy 4:2) and to “fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). Paul knew the temptation to be popular was an ever-present danger. We might look at men like Baucham and MacArthur and see the vast numbers of people they influenced, the books they sold, their online presence, and the crowds that gathered to hear them speak at conferences, and conclude that the goal is to be popular. If we would be influential, then we must ensure that we have a large following to influence. And yet we see that Paul decried the pursuit of popularity because he knew the fickleness of the crowd. Most people are more interested in hearing what they want to hear than what they need to hear. Most people would rather hear a lie they love than a truth that convicts. Few people want to be pierced by the sword of the Spirit. They prefer to have their ears tickled and their own sinful desires affirmed. If you are willing to tell people they can live their best life now, that they are not sinners in need of repentance, that salvation demands nothing of them but whispering a prayer, you can build a massive following and a multi-site megachurch. People throng to be told how wonderful they are. But the faithful preacher is not called to be popular but truthful, not to say what people want them to say but to proclaim what God has commanded them to say. We miss a key element of Baucham’s ministry if we miss this: he was not influential because he was popular; he was influential because he was faithful to the Word of God. As John MacArthur said many times, our responsibility is to be concerned with the depth of our ministries while God will take care of their breadth. If the next generation of preachers will honor Christ and live up to the legacy Baucham, MacArthur, and others have left behind, we must strive to be faithful rather than popular.
Finally, when the guard changes, we need to be reminded that we must train the next generation because our time is limited. Paul told Timothy, “And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Paul had been faithful to train Timothy, so that when Paul died the ministry of the Word was in good hands. But Paul also realized that Timothy would one day be where Paul was, at the end of his race, needing to hand the baton to the next runner. It was imperative that Timothy train another generation of preachers to follow in his footsteps as he followed Christ. It was vital that the next generation learn to train yet another generation, because each generation comes and goes. The guard is constantly changing, and, like Timothy, we only are faithful inasmuch as we raise up the next generation to be faithful when our turn has ended.
The task that stands before us is monumental. In some ways, it feels like we are in Joshua’s shoes at the border of the Promised Land, called to lead God’s people now that Moses has gone. We might have a small idea of what Timothy must have felt when God called Paul to his heavenly reward. We grieve the loss of these dear brothers and these faithful men of God, but we also need to see what time it is. It’s time for the next generation to lead. It’s time for the next generation to take the baton and run with all that we have for the glory of Christ. We must be bold, we must be faithful, and we must train those who come after us. That’s what Baucham did. That’s what all faithful men of God do. May the new guard be found as faithful as the men who have gone before us
By Robb Brunansky who pastors Desert Hills Bible Church in Glendale, Arizona. He has his M. Div. from The Master’s Seminary and his Ph.D. in New Testament from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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