Faithful Plodding

If you are not reading Kevin DeYoung yet then you need to be.  He has written another great piece, this time for Ligonier.  This gem is entitled The Glory of Plodding.  In it DeYoung makes the argument that our generation needs “less revolutionaries and a few more plodding visionaries.” 

I realized something along these lines when I attended T4G a couple months ago.  I look up to many of these men as faithful pastors and leaders.  I think most young pastors (especially of a more Reformed persuasion) want to be leading churches like Dever’s Capitol Hill or Piper’s Bethlehem.  We want to be leaders like Ligon Duncan and Al Mohler.  And we want that to happen within the first couple years of our tenure.  But consider this:

• Mark Dever has been pastor at Capitol Hill since 1994. 
• John Piper has been pastor at Bethlehem since 1980.
• John MacArthur has been pastor at Grace Community since 1969.
• C.J. Mahaney pastored at Covenant Life for 27 years. 
• Albert Mohler has been President at Southern since 1993.
• Ligon Duncan has been pastor at 1st Presbyterian Church of Jackson since 1996.
• RC Sproul has been faithfully plodding along as pastor, author, teacher.  Ligonier has been around since 1971. 
• Thabiti Anywabile may be the only exception—but he has the heart of a faithful plodder. 

What’s the point?  These men aren’t where they are necessarily because they are “radical”.  These men are respected because they faithfully plod.  But not every faithful plodder will be asked to speak at T4G.  There are many faithful pastors that may not stand before a crowd of 4,000 but will stand before the Lord Jesus and hear him say, “well done, good and faithful servant”.  And that comes from faithful plodding not from flash in the pan ministry.