It might be expected that such a book would only be aimed at those in the pew, but remarkably there have been famous ministers in the history of the church who only realised they were unconverted after their ordination. Thomas Scott (1742-1821) is known for his famous Bible commentary, an edited version of which was published as a ‘Study Bible’ by former Stranraer minister William Symington in the mid-1800s. Scott became a minister as a way to earn a living after his plan to become a surgeon failed, and he realised that his father was going to leave the farm he had been working on to his brother. His conversion came later, through the influence of his ministerial colleague John Newton, the former slave-trader who became an abolitionist and wrote ‘Amazing Grace’. Scott describes his experience in his autobiography, ‘The Force of Truth’.
Here in Scotland, Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), one of the founders of the Free Church of Scotland, was appointed as a minister because of family connections, and spent most of his time lecturing on mathematics and chemistry at the University of St Andrews. Although censured by his local presbytery for neglecting his parish, he was unrepentant, arguing that a minister’s duties consisted of little more than preaching on Sunday, leaving the remainder of the week for whatever scholarly or scientific interests he wished to pursue. Unsurprisingly, attendance at his church declined!
One winter however he became dangerously ill and began reading the works of evangelicals, such as the abolitionist William Wilberforce and, ironically, Thomas Scott. Chalmers was soon converted and his parish ministry transformed. He then moved to Glasgow where his ministry had a huge impact on many who had been consigned to poverty by rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.
In America, the Irish immigrant Gilbert Tennant made it his mission to awake his fellow Presbyterians from their spiritual stupor, and preached an infamous sermon entitled ‘The danger of an unconverted ministry’. Then as now, it couldn’t be assumed that those standing in a pulpit actually believed Jesus’ teaching.
The great danger of unconverted ministers is that it leaves the people in the pews unlikely to believe a gospel they never hear. They assume that being a Christian simply involves attending church and trying to live a good life – and are never told anything to the contrary.
Imagine the anger there would be if our new alert system wasn’t used in a time of real danger. Or if technical problems meant that those who could have been saved by an alert never received the message. To have information about an imminent danger and not alert people would be a serious thing.
Joseph Alleine wrote his book to ensure that no-one in his day could say that they hadn’t been warned. And all these years later, it’s not too late to hear and respond to his alarm. Which is, of course, simply the alarm sounded by the prophets, the apostles and Jesus himself: ‘Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish’ (Luke 13:5).
Published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 4th May 2023
