Reformed Wisdom

"Those who think this doctrine of authority puffs up the preacher have not begun to feel the sheer terror of being a preacher.  They think preachers want to be in the pulpit.  Well, some do.  But no preacher who wants to be in the pulpit ought to be in the pulpit.  Nobody who likes the limelight ought to be a preacher.  We do not want in our pulpits men like Diotrephes who loved to have pre-eminence, who couldn't wait to be given the microphone (3 John 9).  No, to be a preacher is one of the most deeply humbling experiences in the world.  Preaching drives us to our knees, puts gigantic butterflies in our stomachs, and makes us cry out, 'Who is sufficient for these things?'" -- Christopher Ash, The Priority of Preaching, 42.