Answers for Pastors

What is church-based counseling?

9Marks
Church-based counseling is an attempt to draw “counseling” into the general discipling work of the local church. It’s practicing counseling by equipping members and leaders to meet one another’s counseling needs rather than referring people “out” to experts.

What are some practical ways a pastor can train younger men for ministry?

9Marks
Share your pulpit (carefully). Look for ways to give doctrinally and pastorally reliable younger men in your congregation opportunities to preach and teach—even if they are not practiced public speakers.

Why should pastors personally disciple men who are potential church leaders?

9Marks
Scripture commands it. In 2 Timothy 2:2 Paul writes, “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Since 1 Timothy was written not merely for Timothy, but for us all (Rom. 15:4, 2 Tim. 3:16-17), every pastor of a local church should train other men to be teachers in the church.

How can I as a church leader help cultivate a culture of discipleship?

9Marks
Structure your own weekly schedule to include time with younger Christians (breakfasts and lunches, running errands, regular sermon reviews, etc.). If you lead a literate congregation, ask the church for a pastoral budget for book giveaways. Have a stack of books in your office ready for spontaneous giveaways. Encourage people to read them and then call you to schedule a time to discuss the book.

Why should a local church cultivate a culture of discipleship?

9Marks

The members of a local church should cultivate a culture of discipleship because they want to:

Should churches primarily view discipleship as a “program” or a “lifestyle”?

9Marks

Church should not primarily view discipleship as special event or a flashy program. Discipleship is not something that’s occasional or out of the ordinary, something that can be sealed off from the rest of our Christian lives. To be a Christian is to be a disciple of Christ. And being a disciple of Christ means

In practice, how can I disciple other Christians?

9Marks
Join a church. Arrive early at church gatherings and stay late. Practice hospitality with members of your church. Ask God for strategic friendships. If possible, include a line-item in your family or pastoral budget for weekly time with fellow Christians. Discuss this matter with your spouse. If possible, provide such a budget line for your spouse as well.

In principle, how does discipleship work?

9Marks

Discipleship works most essentially through instruction and imitation. Discipleship works best through love. As we lovingly instruct younger believers in the way of godliness and live commendable lives, they grow in Christlikeness by imitating our life and doctrine (see 1 Tim. 4:16).

Is there room for a diversity of voices and styles in a church’s music?

9Marks

Of course! The goal of the musical aspect of worship is to glorify God by praising him for who he is and what he’s done. Different styles of music will highlight different facets of God’s revelation. The same thing goes for songs from different eras in history and nations around the world.

What steps can leaders take to promote congregational singing?

9Marks
Teach about the importance of congregational singing as opportunity arises. This doesn’t have to be restricted to passages such as Ephesians 5:18-19, Colossians 3:16, and Romans 15:6, which explicitly mention congregational singing. A pastor can also rightly address congregational singing in passages that speak about unity, worship, or building one another up in the faith, because congregational singing relates to all of those broader biblical themes.

If congregational singing is a primary goal, how should leaders think about musical accompaniment?

9Marks

If church leaders want to develop and emphasize congregational singing, they should strive for musical accompaniment that is mere and enhancing, rather than full and enveloping.

Why does 9Marks so strongly emphasize congregational singing?

9Marks
It’s biblical. The New Testament commands Christians to sing together, even to address one another in song (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). It’s neglected. In many churches, the music can actually discourage singing, whether because so much of it is performed, or the accompaniment is so loud, or the music is hard to sing. We emphasize congregational singing because so many churches seem to neglect it.

What are the dangers of performance music in a church gathering? Is there any role for “performance”?

9Marks
Performance music can focus our attention on the performers, or even on the music, rather than God.

What common errors do churches make when thinking about music?

9Marks

What style of music is best?

9Marks

Massive battles have been fought over this issue. Churches have split. Pastors have been fired. Countless Christians have taken up arms against each other in order to defend their answer to this question.

Yet at the end of the day, the style of music a church sings is relatively unimportant. What matters most is what we sing, not how.

That said, at least four further points can be made:

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