Thesis 13- We must pray for those who watch out for our souls.
The Reformers did not merely affirm that Scripture alone could bind the conscience, they also stood firm on the doctrine of the perspicuity of Scripture. Perspicuity is a rather fancy, or unclear word meaning, “clear.” That is the Reformers, while recognizing that some parts are more clear than others, affirmed that the Bible is clear in what it teaches. One need not have specialized training in order to know what the Bible was actually saying. While this doctrine was probably a comfort to humble believers at the time of the Reformation, in our day we might find it a tad insulting. Wouldn’t it be better, we seem to reason, if the Bible were complicated, and it took a genius like me to make sense of it all? We complicate what is simple, in order to manifest our pride.
Consider, for instance, this plain command from the author of Hebrews- “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give an account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably” (Hebrews 13: 17-18). I think it is safe to say that among those of us who are in tradition of the Reformation, that we are more apt to spend our time enjoying debate over who actually wrote the book of Hebrews than we do praying for those who watch out for our souls. When we argue about who wrote Hebrews we can show off how smart we are. When we pray for those who watch over us, we must confess how needful we are.
We come to texts like the above, and we have to find something to argue about. It couldn’t possibly mean that we ought to obey those who watch out for our souls. That’s just too easy. It couldn’t be calling us to pray for those who watch out for us. Wouldn’t it be better if we construct the perfect argument in favor of the perfect form of church government? Wouldn’t we be wiser to write the most perfect book of church order? Wouldn’t the church be safer from error, from schism, from a failure to love one another, if we study more carefully the nuances of Robert’s Rules of Order, for the sake of our elder board meetings?
Most all of us have seen failures in the church. We have seen moral failures among our pastors. We have seen church splits more nasty than celebrity divorces. We have seen internal church feuds that make the Hatfields and McCoys look like a quilting bee. We have broken fellowship over the color of the carpet in the church narthex. What we have failed to do is pray. We have failed to pray for our pastors and elders. We have failed to see them as shepherds called to watch over our souls. The solution isn’t a movement or a program. The solution is obedience. Pray for those who watch over your souls. And pray that you would obey them in all submission, that their callings would be joyful. Such would profit you well.