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Protected "The SBJT Forum: Heroes of the Faith" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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JoyaTeemer: Created page with '{{info}} '''D. A. Carson:''' When I was asked to write on a hero of the faith of my choosing, I began by running through my mind some of my personal favorites: John Chrysostom, ...'

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'''D. A. Carson:''' When I was asked to write
on a hero of the faith of my choosing, I
began by running through my mind some
of my personal favorites: John Chrysostom,
Augustine, John Hus, John
Calvin, William Perkins, George Whitefield,
Andrew Murray M’Cheyne,
Adoniram Judson, the Countess of Huntingdon,
Charles Spurgeon, and many
more. Then I ran through some candidates
for the label from the twentieth century,
some of them still alive, all of them
remarkable: D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John
R. W. Stott, and quite a number of others.
Then I thought of some gifted Christian
leaders I have known from around the
world, some of whom have suffered
enormously, while others have exercised
magnificently fruitful ministries, sometimes
under appallingly difficult circumstances.
Then I thought of Christian
martyrs in Cambodia, among the Karen
people of Burma, pastors in Iran, those
who have suffered and sometimes died
in Indonesia and southern Sudan, only
very few of whom I could name. Where
should I begin? How can I possibly choose
one, when temperamentally I have never
fixated on just one person (save Jesus), just
one book (save the Bible), or just one
movement?

Finally I decided that, just as God overturns
many of the categories that we
human beings think are so important, I
would do the same. I will tell you about
Tom.

I won’t tell you his last name, or where
he served, because some who read these
lines might guess who he is. Certainly
Tom never thought of himself as a hero of
the faith, not once. He was a largely
unknown Baptist pastor, working in a
very difficult cross-cultural context. In his
mid-twenties, the Lord laid such a burden
on him for this largely ignored
people-group that he moved there and
started to learn the language. During the
course of twenty-five years, he planted
two tiny churches. He never wrote a book.
He was not asked to preach at large conferences.
He never traveled overseas as a
kind of influential ambassador of the
gospel to Third World countries. He
wasn’t brilliant at the conceptual level,
though he had a careful mind that paid
attention to details. Administratively he
was at best a plodder.

On the other hand, every day of his
adult life he prayed, on his knees, for at
least 45 minutes, and often much longer.
He was a man of unimpeachable integrity,
and amidst extraordinarily trying
denominational conflict, he chose the path
of rectitude without any trace of discernible
malice towards those who tried to cut
him up. He and his wife reared three children
in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. Dirt poor, at certain periods of their
life they depended for their meals and for
their clothes on quiet intercessory prayer,
and nothing else. After twenty-five years
of ministry, Tom became a tentmaker, supporting
himself and his family, while he
continued his ministry in his chosen
people-group.

When he was in his sixties, he finally
witnessed something of a movement of
the Spirit of God, but the leadership was
in the hands of others. He rejoiced to see
the church grow, but deep down inside
he sometimes wondered if growth had
taken so long coming because he was not
a sufficiently able and spiritual leader
himself, and others, more gifted than he,
had to appear on the scene. In his early
seventies, his wife started drifting away
in the long dementia associated with
Alzheimer’s disease. He cared for her for
nine long years. Released from this
responsibility, he started preaching and
visiting and serving again. Tom ran quiet
regional day-sessions to encourage young
pastors in his area. After three years, he
fell ill with some nasty flu, and had to be
taken to the hospital. There a young doctor
made a mistake, and prescribed the
wrong medicine. Tom died. He was 81
years old.

In some ways, his ministry was quite
ordinary. He preached countless sermons,
he counseled many people, he prepared
and led services, he wrote letters. He was
astonishingly faithful in his visitation, not
least evangelistic visits. Scrupulous to a
fault, he devoted himself to his study, and
although he was never a gifted orator, his
sheep did not come away hungry. He
was a meek man, and people often took
advantage of him. In the early years of his
ministry among the people to whom he
was sent, there was a lot of virulent
opposition, including threats to life and
property. He was hauled in by the police.
Some other Baptist ministers in his area
spent a total of eight years in prison, but
during that time Tom managed to escape
such treatment, only to see one or another
of his children being beaten up by neighborhood
toughs who were encouraged in
their violence by the local religion. His
stamina and sheer faithfulness were
beyond reproach. When on occasion he
was driven to despair, it simply meant he
was driven to his knees. Persistence, faithfulness,
integrity, loving lost sinners, caring
for fledgling churches, keeping his
peace, thinking well of people—these
were the virtues that made him a hero of
the faith.

Tom stands for a lot of other heroes of
the faith. They look after three demanding
children under the age of five, and still
love them and read to them. They persevere
with trust in God’s wisdom even
when they are scared and debilitated by
the ravages of a terminal cancer. They use
their retirement to help the most disadvantaged
in one of the most impoverished
and dangerous countries of Africa. It is
rare to hear a whining complaint escape
their lips. They smile easily, laugh quickly,
forgive readily, love graciously, hope for
better things incessantly. You will often
find them carrying the heavy end of the
load. When they make mistakes, they
apologize, and try to put things right.
Many of them are blessed with the gift of
encouragement. They are known in only
a very limited circle, and they eschew the
praises of people, but their names are written
large in the ledgers of heaven. They
are described in Scripture: they are “overcomers,”
not because they are wiser or
more famous than others, not because
they are on TV, not because they float
above the humdrum problems that afflict
mere mortals, but because in persecution
they endure to the end, they retain sound
doctrine when others follow some foolish
Jezebel, they keep rebuilding their first
love, and they live with one foot in eternity.
These are the overcomers, the heroes
of the faith. And Tom was one of them.

Tom Carson was my Dad. R.I.P.

The SBJT Forum: Heroes of the Faith - Revision history

JoyaTeemer: Protected "The SBJT Forum: Heroes of the Faith" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

JoyaTeemer: Created page with '{{info}} '''D. A. Carson:''' When I was asked to write on a hero of the faith of my choosing, I began by running through my mind some of my personal favorites: John Chrysostom, ...'