Pastor Tillotson,
I am very excited for your time at Faith. I love the college
and seminary there and I think you would be a very good fit for what the school
needs in the years to come. I graduated with my bachelor’s from FBBC in 2007
and currently pastor a small town church in eastern Iowa. During my time at
Faith I noticed a couple things that bothered me and I wanted to share my thoughts
with you to encourage you to possibly fill in some gaps that are possibly
missing from this fine school.
I was saved as an adult at the age of 21. I surrendered to
the ministry at this time and entered FBBC when I was 23. I loved evangelism
and was zealous to see souls saved. I was shy and a bit hesitant at the time to
share my faith until I entered your school. The Personal Evangelism class gave
me the tools and the confidence I needed to share my faith with several people.
I was excited to share my faith and did so as often as the Lord gave me
opportunity.
FBBC has a great deal of elements that are, in a word, “beautiful.”
The theological education is top notch. The godliness among students and faculty
are as good as you will see anywhere. The convictions toward God’s word and
against heresy are exactly where the Lord calls His people to be. The college
truly is worth its weight in gold. The main problem, as I see it, is a serious
lack of evangelism by the student body and a lack of communication among the
faculty toward students to see that change.
I was reading today from Point
Man by Steve Farrar. In the book, he shared some insights that made me
think of FBBC and prompted me to write this open letter. In the book Farrar
says, “The enemy does not mind if you
are spiritually active. He just does not want you to be spiritually effective. Spiritual activity does not
equal spiritual effectiveness.” This really jumped out at me in application
to my own ministry but I also couldn’t help but to think back on my time at
Faith.
When I was there I was surprised how little the students
shared their faith. I remember during my four years there only seeing one activity
organized among the students to share the gospel. And that was four seniors
sharing the gospel with Jews at a nearby kosher restaurant.
I have heard a prominent young pastor and recent graduate of
FBBC and seminary share with me how he won’t share the lifesaving message of
Christ with someone until after he has built a strong relationship with that
person. This to me is more than a little silly. I am very thankful that the
apostles did not have the same stance. I heard an elderly pastor in Iowa and
graduate of FBBC tell his deacons after being asked why he doesn’t evangelize. “I
preach the Bible not the gospel.” I remember in my own time at the college becoming
very discouraged because I felt we were taught how to share the gospel but didn’t
get to see it modeled by the majority of the school. I think we all know that there
is a great imbalance between discipleship and evangelism at the school and in
the Iowa GARBC churches as well. One the school has in spades and the other is,
in a word, “lean.”
Pastor Tillotson, you seem to be a man with a great heart
for outreach. Your track record proves that you know how to lead others to
Christ and know how to teach people to do the same. Please bring that same
leadership to the school encouraging both students and faculty not to have
discipleship without evangelism because both are as important as salvation is to
those who are perishing. Let this school that so many people love, be both
spiritually active as well as spiritually effective. I am sure that you are
already making this a priority and I want to encourage you to keep going down
this road. Thank you for your time and be assured I am praying for you and this
great school that the Lord is not near finished with.
Sincerely,
Pastor Matt
Read
Proverbs
3:5-6
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