Encountering Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones 5

This will be the last of these for the time being.

An overlooked ministry

It is, I believe, commonly recognized that the Doctor had a hidden ministry of personal counselling. I think much more significance should be given to this, and more thought given to the influence this had on him. After the Sunday services and Friday evening addresses on Romans the Church Parlour could be filled with as many as 20 to 30 people waiting to see him. It was just like being in a doctor’s waiting room at his surgery. One by one people would go in to his vestry. The Doctor sat. He usually had a cup of tea or coffee to drink – I’m not sure which – and a Kitkat to eat. Those who came in stood. He would listen to the problem; sometimes he would anticipate what was going to come next – he must have heard much the same sort of thing time and again. He would give his advice; clearly and succinctly. There were others waiting. Occasionally he would see people at other times – I once went to see him on a Thursday afternoon. In addition to this there were those who phoned him up, these were more likely to be fellow ministers. Others wrote letters and these were answered promptly – at least the two or three that I wrote to him were. His preaching ministry and his general understanding of the needs of the times must surely have been influenced by the things which he heard by the many who sought his advice.

Encountering Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones 4

The Christian life

Without wishing to present an inaccurate stereotype I do think that in the period I am referring to as well as the negatives already referred to, the positive side of the Christian life was too much pictured in terms of witnessing and personal evangelism. Gregarious extroverts exhorted everyone to be witnessing or handing out tracts practically all the spare time you had – as they sometimes still do. I remember in one of my few conversations with the Doctor saying that where I lived I sometimes passed groups of lads in the evenings and felt convicted that I ought to speak to them, but I was not sure about it. My memory may be faulty, but I think that he replied that a lot of harm could be done by Christians zealously buttonholing others who then felt victimised and were put off rather than helped. He suggested I prayerfully attempted to approach them and see how I got on. This I did and as a result decided that while others did had much more of a gift of getting alongside strangers this was not something which I was generally able to do fruitfully. The Doctor’s view of the Christian life was far bigger and more rounded than that of some of his contemporaries. Of course, being ready to confess one’s own faith and being unashamed of the gospel is a vital part of Christian witness, as is a readiness to befriend those you are brought into contact with. It also requires time and wisdom to build fruitful gospel relationships from scratch.