Preparing Young Preachers

Mark Driscoll over at The Resurgence has been sitting down with R.C. Sproul for a little one-on-one and yesterday’s question was, How can young men prepare themselves for ministry? Check it out here. (Joe Thorn had also chimed in earlier here.)

Let me start by saying that both the complimentarian and egalitarian sides of the gender role discussion agree that women have a ministry role. Driscoll was specifically asking about pastoral preparation so it makes sense that, given their complimentarian understanding, the response was limited to men. But really, all the women I know would do well to get into the Word and find a great mentor.

Besides that, what caught my attention was when Driscoll asked for a list of “dead mentors”:

Sproul: “Augustine, Athanasius…John Owen, Aquinas! I have tremendous respect for Thomas Aquinas.”
Driscoll: “That’s surprising.”

Driscoll’s response to the mention of Aquinas (which was similar to my own) may be telling of blind-spot in “New Calvinism” circles.

Let’s face it, sometimes we can be a good-old-boys club when it comes to what we find acceptable reading. It reminds me of an interview (here) that Read Better, Preach Better did with Mike Bird. The point is this: Try reading the great thinkers with whom you disagree.

(Incidentally, Dr. Bird has posted a 7 part review of France’s commentarythat I quoted from earlier).