In all the expansion of the 1980s there were at least two
The 1980s
project, was President, and Dr Charles Smith was called from Grace Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, to be the Dean and the Vice President. Subsequently Dr Richard L. Mayhue, who was an associate with MacArthur at the church from 1980 to 1984, returned to Grace to join the faculty in 1989, becoming
Dean and Senior Vice President.
In a Grace to You letter of September 1986, MacArthur wrote of the features that were his vision for the new seminary. They included:
1. A faculty committed to nurture, not just to lecture.
2. A commitment to small-group discipling relationships between students and faculty members. 3. A focus on high-quality personal, educational, and ministerial development. 4. The cultivation of an attitude of worship and spiritual devotion. 5. An expositional curriculum and ministry model. 6. An internship program that complements the student's program of study. 7. A program designed to culminate in ordination for ministry. 8. A placement ministry committed to assisting each graduate in the early years of ministry. 9. A positive outlook focusing on biblical certainties and God's grace rather than critical theories or reactions. 10. A chapel program carefully structured for specific spiritual goals related to Christian living and ministry. 11. The cultivation of a worldwide vision through involvement in evangelism and missions. 12. A discipling ministry available for each seminarian's wife and family.
13. Effective training in leadership attitudes and skills.
In all the expansion of the 1980s there were at least two dangers of which MacArthur was conscious. He was aware of how some preachers built para-church organizations which weakened rather than benefited the churches at large. Their high profile and apparent success drew people and resources that were needed elsewhere. MacArthur saw the purpose of both Word of Grace and Grace to You as service to churches, 'the main ministry should flow from them'. His desire was that 'our radio teaching not hinder, but strengthen every aspect of the service of pastors across the land'.
Our role is not to supplant the local church's ministry, but rather to work alongside the church, providing another resource for those hungry for the truth of God's Word. Media ministries can never substitute for involvement in a biblical church, group Bible study, or interaction with a teacher.
MacArthur was outspokenly opposed to any thought that his radio or tape hearers should treat the church in Sun Valley as a substitute for a local church of their own. In all the information that went out from the Grace media agencies it is remarkable how very little is ever said of the congregation he was serving.
He also taught the staff of Word of Grace and Grace to You not to imagine that his ministry had some indispensable place in the kingdom of God. Thus when on one occasion he was warned that one of the radio outlets might have to close down as the income received could not meet the funding required, his reply was, 'So what?'
The second danger in the expansion was that it would drain the attention MacArthur could give to his own congregation.
If it had all come about only by human arrangement this would no doubt have happened. But, as already noted, each new development had seen the God-given provision of likeminded colleagues. John had elders and others beside him who understood very well that the whole work depended on keeping the preaching of the Word of God at the centre, and that meant relieving John of many other things. As he commented in 1986: Their work behind the scenes frees me up from many of the day-to-day tasks I might otherwise be faced with, and that enables me to concentrate on the priorities of my family, study and teaching.
Well-wishers occasionally suggested an alternative role to him. Why did he not consider laying aside the local church commitment and simply serve the churches by radio and conferences in the wider fields which were open? To that possibility he was never drawn. Once asked by one of his young sons, 'Are you going to retire, Daddy?', the answer was, 'As the Lord permits, I hope to continue teaching God's Word and shepherding His flock until the day I go to be with Him.' His whole life was, and remains, bound up with the people at Sun Valley. He has never wavered 1n the conviction that the pastorate was the work
God had given him. An article he wrote on "Ten Reasons I am a Pastor' underlined why he put this calling first. The reasons included the following: The church is the only institution Christ promised to build and bless . . . The corporate functions of the body all take place in the church . . . I can be consumed with study and communion with God. There's a public side to me that the congregation sees, but there's a private side to me that only God knows. While I might preach three hours a week, I study thirty. And those hours spent each week in God's presence are a high and holy privilege . . . I am directly responsible to God for the lives of the people He has given me to shepherd. As a radio teacher, 'm not as personally