Should a Christian Leader’s Personal Salvation Story Be known?

Only this morning my wife and I were watching a religious broadcast in which a nationally prominent individual in the religious world was leading a throng of people in praise and worship. During the course of the broadcast, for some unknown reason, the thought occurred to me, “I have never heard that person’s salvation story.”  So I asked my wife, “Have you ever heard him tell how and when he became a Christian?”  After some thought she replied, “No, I can’t say that I have I have always just assumed he had one because of what he does.” I replied, “Well, I guess that is what I have done.”

It was this brief conversation that got me to thinking about the place of the personal salvation testimony in regard to our spiritual leaders. It is a given that we expect every person who seeks to lead the body of Christ in its every form to have a personal salvation experience that they can articulate as to the nature and occasion of that experience. However, what I found myself wondering was: How important is it that those who seek a place of leadership articulate that experience to those among whom they minister. Is doing that a part of the “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (I Peter 3:15)

As I started to seek an answer to that question I began to reminisce about my journey as a Christian and Baptist pastor/preacher.  That in turn brought me to my interaction over the years with all the “Pulpit Committees” (early ministry) and “Pastor Search Committees” (later ministry). I suspect nearly every pastor/preacher who ever served on a church staff will relate to what I want to share.

However, before I talk about my experiences I want to say just a word about the terms “Pastor Search Committee” and “Pulpit Committee.”  I know that many people who lived through the transition from churches using a “pulpit Committee” to seek and recommend a preacher to their church to “Pastor Search Committee” see this nomenclature as merely a change in terminology.  However, I see a little more than a name change. I see an emphasis shift.

When I first began the group that was charged with finding a pastor for the church, especially Baptist churches,  when the pulpit was vacant was called a “Pulpit Committee.” This sentence is key to understanding the term “Pulpit Committee.” In the 1950-70s, the period of time of my early ministry, the pulpit represented the primacy of the preaching of the “Word of God” and the centrality of the Bible in everything the church did. Pastor’s were more frequently than not referred to as “Preachers” not “Pastors.”  As Preachers their primary responsibility was to “Give themselves to prayer and the Word of God” (Acts 6:4 “but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word”).  They were the sole arbiter of who would stand behind the pulpit, often called the “Sacred Desk.”

The pulpit carried the designation of a “Sacred Desk.” for several reasons. First it was where the preacher stood when he declared the Word of God to the people. That is the sacred nature of the gospel made the place where it was declared sacred as well. Perhaps not to the same degree but sacred none-the-less. This is drawn from the fact that at the return of Israel form bondage Ezra stood upon a “pulpit of wood” to read the Word of God to the people. The second reason was a reminder that it has been from behind this desk that the gospel has been preached and read since the foundation of a particular church. It represent s the continuity not of the preachers but the preaching of the Gospel in a church.

Baptists have traditionally placed it in the center of the platform to stress the centrality of the preaching of the Gospel. Others have what we sometimes call a split chancel to stress that the pulpit is for the reading of Scripture and preaching of the gospel and the other is lower in position and for the other speakers and singers in a service. The Pulpit here is the exclusive domain of the preaching and reading of the Word of God.

I have said all of this simply to give flesh to the phrase “Pulpit Committee.” The members of this

committee were primarily charged with seeking the individual they believed God had chosen to preach and teach the Word of God in their church. Hence they were calling not so much a pastor but a preacher.

So what happened to cause us to change the terminology. It is really quiet simple.  Churches were calling preachers when what they really wanted was a pastor. It was often expressed as “calling a preacher when what they wanted was a pastor. It was the recognition that churches generally want individuals who were adequate preachers but superb pastors.  Churches were moving ever so slowly away from the centrality of preaching and the Word of God to a Shepherd of the Flock emphasis. Hence the “Pulpit Committee” terminology has given way to the “Pastor Search Committee” terminology.

Now this has been happening for a long time. Both committees where seeking someone who could fulfill both rolls. Unfortunately no one person can fulfill both rolls at a high level. So the Pulpit Committee would seek someone who could preach well, i.e., a Preacher and was adequate as a Shepherd of the Flock. The Pastor Search Committee would seek someone who was a superb Pastor and an adequate Preacher.

This dichotomy has resulted in many a battle in the church when members begin to want more of one or the other emphasis and their preacher/pastor cannot provide but half the ticket. It is a rare individual who can excel at both. The real solution is to have a preacher to deliver the sermons and word of God and a pastor to care for the flock. This is often derailed by lack of funding.

Now, back to the Personal Salvation testimony. Whether it was a “Pulpit Committee” or a “Pastor Search Committee” every single one of those with whom I was involved started the same way. After a brief time of informal conversation and a prayer for the Lord’s leadership and the guidance of the Holy Spirit the Chairman of the committees would start with, “well preacher lets begin with you sharing your salvation experience with the committee.”

They assumed I was a Christian and they assumed I had experienced the new birth but they wanted to hear me tell about it. That was quickly followed by, “Tell us about your call to preach.” Later that would be broadened to “Tell us about your call to ministry.” I often asked this more contemporary question with, “Well, I can’t say I ever had a distinct call to ministry but I did have a definite call to preach and I am happy to tell you about that.” These two questions would invariably also be asked when I participated in an open question and answer session with the congregation prior to a vote on calling or not calling me to be the pastor of their church.

As I said in the opening paragraphs, I have never heard or read the salvation testimonies of many of our contemporary church leaders. I am not suggesting that they do not have one but I am suggesting that if they are going to lead us in our worship of the Lord we ought to at least know something about the conversion, new birth, becoming a Christian or salvation of those leading us. It would be encouraging; it would be inspiring; it would be instructional; and yes, it would be reassuring as well.