Nathan Williams was the youth pastor at his father’s church, and not that much older than the youths he was pastoring. And how the young guys looked up to him. Nathan was cool. He played lead guitar on the worship team and he was a high school music teacher. And he was married to Tanya. Nathan was fairly good looking but Tanya was gorgeous. She was hot, all the guys agreed, and how they envied Nathan. If it wasn’t Tanya, who would it be? Nathan sometimes mused, standing on the stage, gazing around the congregation. There was no shortage of attractive young women. It was just harmless fantasizing. He caught Lizzie McAlister’s eye and got a smile. He would never go so far as to flirt or get involved with another woman. He was always mindful of his marriage and his reputation. And no one wanted another scandal in the church.
Tanya was an assistant youth pastor. She was Nathan’s co-pastor for Bible studies and outings, like going bowling, go karting and movie nights. But they also had their guys groups and girls groups when it came to actual pastoring. At the guys meetings they could discuss things like sexuality, which Nathan agreed to do when the boys got together and requested it. Tony Pester had questions about premarital sex and Nathan gave the usual good Christian answer that sex was intended exclusively for marriage, not outside of marriage and not before marriage, and yes, he assured his inquisitive audience, he practised what he preached.
“I guess we’ll have to take your word for it,” Tony snickered.
“So premarital sex is a sin?” Jason Vyle said. “What about masturbation? What about wet dreams?”
Nathan considered his response. Jason had drawn the short straw to ask the embarrassing questions they all wanted answers to. “Wet dreams are a natural bodily function,” he said, “and you will have wet dreams if you don’t masturbate, maybe even if you do. No I don’t think masturbation is a sin. I think it’s part of normal psychosexual development and it’s a way of managing your sexuality.”
“Speaking from experience,” Tony said with a smirk.
“Yes,” Nathan replied. “I wouldn’t believe any young guy past puberty who said he never masturbated.”
“Why play hard to get with yourself?” Jason quipped.
“Okay, agreed,” Tony said. “We’re all a pack of wankers.” Which prompted a bit of nervous laughter.
“You can put it that way if you like,” Nathan said. “Not a sexual sin, but on a cautionary note, maybe it’s a matter of degree. Some people become addicted to masturbation. Then I believe you are getting into sin territory, as with any form of addiction and bondage.”
“Bondage,” Tony snickered again.
“I don’t mean the sexual perversion you’re obviously thinking of, Tony,” Nathan said with a look that was a rebuke. “I mean being bound by an addiction, by a habit that takes control of your life.” A quiet gravity settled on the group as they contemplated the wise counsel of their youth pastor.
*
Nathan also enjoyed the respect, even the adulation in some cases, of his students at the high school where he was a music teacher. He taught performance music and he was mentoring three different rock bands. He’d been approached to join a rock band himself, but he preferred to dedicate his time and talents to Christian music and the church band. He taught music theory to students of varying levels of enthusiasm and dedication. A few sat the Trinity music exams and his star student, Cynthia Manson, passed the Grade 8 Music Theory exam with distinction, with a near perfect score. Cynthia rushed excitedly into the music room to share the news of this grand achievement with Nathan as soon as she received notification.
“Wow Cyn!” Nathan exclaimed. “Congratulations. I’m so proud of you.”
“I know. I can’t believe it,” she said and gave Nathan a hug. Their embrace went on longer than a mere congratulatory hug and began to strain the boundaries of propriety. Nathan recovered the good sense to pull back and they were both a bit shocked at the sensual physicality they’d felt. Fortunately it was morning break time and there was no one else in the room. Nathan suddenly remembered the prohibition on male staff being alone in a room with a female student and remembered also that he had a meeting to go to. He quickly exited the room but afterwards recalled that moment whenever he saw Cynthia and it also came to mind sometimes just in idle moments.
Nathan was one of those people who seemed to be naturally endowed with charisma, and in this regard he took after his father. Joseph Williams was the senior pastor of the church where Nathan served as the youth pastor. In fact, Joseph and Elaine Williams had founded the church together. Behind every great man… as they say, and Joseph’s wife always had his back, but few people realised how influential she was and how much work she did behind the scenes. Joseph occasionally acknowledged her as his prayer warrior. They had established and grown quite a large Pentecostal, Charismatic church, or what some derisively called a happy clappy church. Nathan had had to explain on more than one occasion that Charismatic referred to the Greek word kharisma, meaning a gift, with reference to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It was not some personality cult based on the charisma of the leader. It was a church that operated in the power of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Nathan was the second of three sons and if he was the golden boy, his older brother Stephen was the black sheep. Also quite a charismatic character but too worldly, was how his father described him, too fond of money, booze, and women. Stephen had had an affair with a single woman in the church, which resulted in the end of his marriage. He was now living in Australia and working in the mines. There was some animosity between Nathan and Stephen when Stephen left, after they’d had an argument and Nathan called his brother a bloody fool.
The youngest son, David, had not been endowed with the same family charisma but was blessed with the virtue of a sound Christian faith, which, as his father said, was the most important thing in life. David is a fine young man of godly character and a servant heart, he said. David is a nerd, his classmates at school had said. What that really meant was that he was quiet and studious, had few friends and cared little for socialising. He was now attending Bible College, as Nathan had, before going on to university. David also planned to go on to university to study Law after Bible College.
David was all of those things, Nathan would agree. He was nerdy, he was smart, he was virtuous, a good Christian. A young man of godly character with a servant heart, as his father said. What did that actually mean: of godly character? Just that he was a good Christian, Nathan supposed, but his father had never said that about him, that Nathan was a godly man, or that he had a servant heart. Wasn’t he serving in the church with his youth ministry? He didn’t need to ponder long about the godly man. As providence would have it, his father delivered a sermon on the very topic: What does it mean to be a godly person and to be a friend of God?
The main theme of his message was the fear of God, not to be afraid of God, he clarified from the outset, but to be in reverential awe of God and in love with God. “And what is the abiding characteristic of the fear of God?” he asked rhetorically. “It is to hate sin, as God hates sin. God is holy and holiness cannot abide sin. What is your attitude to sin?” he challenged the congregation. He invited them to consider the case of the married man who lusts after another woman. “If he gives in to temptation he is clearly a sinner.” The pastor’s eldest son came readily to mind for most of the audience. Pastor Joseph continued: “If he does not commit the sin of fornication or adultery because of his fear of the consequences, of all that he stands to lose if he is found out, he has not sinned in deed. But if he continues to find the prospect of that sin alluring, he is sinning in thought, with a secret besetting sin. He loves the sin,” Pastor Joseph said gravely. Then with rising volume and pitch he declared “The godly man hates the sin because he loves the Lord and that is why he does not commit the sin.” He took Matthew Chapter 5 as his main text and quoted Jesus as saying, “Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Pastor Joseph also invited the congregation to consider the case of the man who insults another in anger: “Jesus said, ‘Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement… and anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fires of hell.’ These are the standards we are held to if we want intimate friendship with our holy God, to be a godly man.” Pastor Joseph referred to various Bible verses on the fear of the Lord and finished with, “How often the prophets tell us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
*
David returned home when he’d completed his year at Bible College, with a Certificate in Christian Ministry and a Diploma in Christian Studies. Nathan went to his parents’ home to visit David in the morning before going to work and was surprised to find the door locked. He would usually just knock and enter but now he stood at the door knocking and waiting. He knew his parents were away in Australia but they’d told him David would be there. He must have gone out, he thought, and was about to leave when David unlocked and opened the door.
“Well good morning sunshine,” Nathan said. “Were you having a sleep in?”
“Good morning to you. No, I’ve been up for an hour. I was having my prayer time in my room.”
“Good for you. You gonna keep up the Bible College morning devotions routine?”
“Yes, I start each day with prayer now,” David said. “Anyway, come in. You want a cup of coffee?”
“Yeah, a quick cuppa. Can’t stay long. I’m on my way to work.”
The brothers sat and talked about their experiences at Bible College. They had done the same courses but with different teachers.
“We listened to podcasts of some of Dad’s sermons and Bible teaching,” David told Nathan. “Did you know that was part of the Christian Studies course?”
“No I didn’t, but I’m not surprised. I know he’s highly regarded in Christian circles.”
“Did you hear his sermon on the fear of God?” David asked.
“Yeah, of course. I was there.”
“What did you think?
“It was all sound Bible based doctrine, as usual,” Nathan said, “but a bit extreme, I thought.”
“We all thought it was quite inspirational and challenging,” David said. “Anyway the course was good preparation for ministry.”
“Are you thinking of going into ministry? I thought you were gonna to be a lawyer.”
“I still want to go to Law School, but I’m going to put it off for another year and join a YWAM team.”
“Youth With a Mission. Well, good for you. Have you discussed it with Dad?”
“Yes, I have his blessing.”
“So where are you gonna go?”
“Where ever they send me.” David was quietly self-assured, as ever.
He did spend a year with WYAM, very involved in aid programmes and evangelising, mostly in remote Pacific island communities. He then went on, as planned, to university and studied Law. After four years of dedicated study, he graduated LLB with honours and flourished in the legal profession, so much so that he rose to the position of Crown Prosecutor. He stayed involved in his home church and served on the church board, where he contributed his legal expertise to the business of running the institution.
Nathan likewise continued to flourish in his teaching career, though with a change of direction after several years of teaching music. He took on extra professional development and qualified as a guidance counsellor. He was still involved with music, his first love. He still helped out with school rock bands and joined a jazz band himself. A younger man took on the role of youth pastor but Nathan continued to serve as a musician in the church, as director of music, in fact, for the worship teams.
Whatever else the Williams boys were, they were family men. Nathan and Tanya had four children. David eventually married a girl he’d met through YWAM and had three children. Stephen was a family man of sorts. He had remarried and started a new family. He never returned from Australia, which was a grief and a sorrow to his parents. But they visited him there whenever church business took them to Australia.
*
Joseph Williams continued in his role of senior pastor of the church he had founded and he was also a pastor to pastors. He was much in demand as a speaker at national, and occasionally international, church conferences. At one conference for pastors and church leaders he took the stage after an effusive introduction and confessed that despite his usual prayers for guidance and inspiration before the event, the Lord had not yet shown him what he was to preach on. He stood at the lectern with only a Bible because the only message he’d received from the Lord was that that was all he needed. He asked the audience to join him in silent prayer while he waited on the Lord for direction. They waited patiently for over half an hour, praying, probably none more fervently than Elaine, sitting in the front row, before Pastor Joseph announced the Holy Spirit had directed him to turn to Matthew 26, verses 26 to 28: Jesus’ words to his disciples: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Pastor Joseph then proceeded to preach on the subject of servanthood. His last words, again from the book of Matthew were: “The last will be first and the first will be last.”
*
Politically, the church was like a constitutional monarchy. The senior pastor was the head of state but the church board legally governed the institution and made decisions about staff appointments and finances and so on. It was also like a member of a Commonwealth as it was part of a federation of churches of the same denomination and was accountable to an executive team in Australia. But in the words of Joseph Williams: “We are all accountable to the King of kings. Let us all remember whose church it is, the church of Jesus Christ.”
Joseph Williams was not just a Sunday preacher. He was a pastor in the true sense of the word, a shepherd who cared for his flock. He had a ministry to people with complex needs and spent many hours in intercessory prayer and counselling. He had a gift for counselling, as he operated with a gift of knowledge, which often gave him insight into people’s problems, and he was able to discern their hurts, their wounded spirits, their impediments to healing, their bitterness, their unforgiveness, their addictions, their unconfessed sins.
He had seen other pastors suffer burnout and was beginning to be concerned about his own diminishing energy. He began to delegate more responsibility to assistants, including Nathan and David, both of whom took turns at delivering communion messages and occasional pulpit spots. Bible College diplomas were deemed to be a minimum qualification, but Christian character was a more important consideration for lay preachers. Joseph also cut back on projects and commitments outside his own church. He didn’t have to say yes to every request, Elaine reminded him and she suggested maybe it was time to retire from full-time ministry. The years were taking their toll and the ageing pastor finally informed the board that he planned to step down from his position and it was time to appoint a replacement senior pastor.
It was not uncommon for churches within the federation for a son to succeed his father as the senior pastor, not by divine right or royal prerogative to ascend to the throne, but by the assent of the board if they agreed that it was the true calling of the aspiring pastor. Notwithstanding that the endorsement of a senior pastor like Joseph Williams was like an imprimatur, the board met, discussed, prayed and sought the guidance of the Holy Spirit before coming to a final decision in a subsequent meeting. In that meeting, one senior board member, Peter Carruthers, declared that the Lord had quickened a scripture to him, from First Samuel 16, which he paraphrased as: The Lord spoke to the prophet Samuel and said, ‘I have not chosen any of these seven sons of Jesse. Send for the youngest son, the boy tending the sheep. David appeared before Samuel and the Lord said, ‘Rise and anoint him; he is the one.”’ The other board members considered this a confirmation of their choice.
Joseph Williams’ eldest son was obviously not a contender for senior pastor. Nathan, the second son had been groomed for leadership but he was not even nominated. It was the youngest, who was chosen, in absentia from the meeting, as he was the nominee. So David Williams resigned from his position in the Justice Department and was anointed senior pastor and all agreed they’d found the right man, a godly man, for the position.