About Josh

Mission

…to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 4:12–16

I love this passage, and for many years now I have identified those first words as my life’s mission: to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. I believe that every Christian is called to ministry, and the pastors and teachers we usually think of as “in ministry” are those God has gifted to train up and empower everyone else.

One of the main purposes of ministry is to build one another up, to pursue unity and maturity together in love. Jesus Christ is our foundation and example. He came as a servant, a friend of sinners, a teacher, and ultimately as a sacrifice for our sins. He is our risen Lord, and together we are united to Him by the Holy Spirit. Being connected to Him means we already have what we need to grow in unity and maturity. We just need to do the work of disciplining ourselves and encouraging one another for the glory of God.

An essential part of this work is teaching. Jesus spent much of His time teaching, and He commissioned His apostles to teach others. Much of this has to do with living a life of obedience to God and love to others. But we can’t get very far without tending to the truth. Christ and the apostles modeled for us a concern for right doctrine, attending diligently to Scripture and opposing false teachers.

This is the model I strive to follow. I love God’s Word and God’s church. I am concerned about false doctrines and those who teach them. I want to think carefully about ideas that matter—not so that we can recite all the right facts, but so that we can grow in faithfulness unhindered, to have our desires, our values, and our actions shaped and energized by the truth.

But where can we find the truth? And what do we do with it when we have it? We as human beings have incredible access to information right now, but that doesn’t make us wise. Wisdom and character come when we submit everything to Christ. They come when we meditate on His Word in the context of His people. They come when we endure the trials of life by faith. I long to be a person of wisdom and character. If you do, too, then I want to do whatever I can to help you achieve that.