What 40-Year-Old David Platt Would Say to His 20-Year-Old Self
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | Today we talk with David Platt,
00:00:05.320 | who turns 40 years old in just a couple of weeks.
00:00:08.520 | And no one knows how to pack life into a few short years,
00:00:12.160 | like David Platt packs ministry into a few years.
00:00:15.440 | I just went back and looked at the last 12 years
00:00:18.160 | of his ministry, it's remarkable.
00:00:20.480 | In 2006, at the age of 26,
00:00:23.060 | he became the lead pastor of the church at Brook Hills,
00:00:26.280 | named the youngest megachurch pastor
00:00:28.520 | in America at the time.
00:00:30.640 | There he launched Secret Church,
00:00:32.680 | which is an intensive Bible study
00:00:34.880 | that has become popular around the globe.
00:00:38.080 | In 2010, he published the New York Times bestseller,
00:00:41.280 | "Radical, Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream."
00:00:45.520 | He launched the online resource site radical.net
00:00:48.840 | about 10 years ago.
00:00:50.360 | And in 2013, he helped launch the first Cross Conference,
00:00:54.160 | a very strategic missions conference.
00:00:56.880 | In 2014, after some significant experiences
00:00:59.440 | on the mission field,
00:01:00.680 | and seeing the desperation of the globally lost,
00:01:03.220 | he returned to the States
00:01:04.760 | and felt led to leave pastoral ministry
00:01:07.000 | to become the president
00:01:08.640 | of the Southern Baptist Convention's
00:01:09.960 | International Mission Board,
00:01:11.480 | a massive missionary ascending organization.
00:01:14.400 | He moved to Virginia,
00:01:15.600 | and from what I hear, he brought significant change,
00:01:17.880 | not least of which was much needed financial reforms.
00:01:21.280 | Then in February of 2017, he returned to preaching,
00:01:25.140 | this time at McLean Bible Church, a DC area megachurch,
00:01:28.520 | officially becoming the church's teaching pastor
00:01:30.960 | in September of last year.
00:01:32.680 | Initially, he aimed to do both,
00:01:35.080 | to preach and to lead the IMB,
00:01:37.360 | but early this year in February,
00:01:38.880 | he said it wasn't gonna work,
00:01:40.480 | and he intended to resign from the IMB
00:01:42.240 | once the SBC could find his replacement.
00:01:44.760 | We recently reached out to David
00:01:46.480 | to hear his heart for local churches
00:01:48.760 | and how he views the local church as home base
00:01:52.800 | in the advance of global missions.
00:01:55.660 | It's a pattern he sees in the mission of Paul.
00:01:57.960 | - He's with those elders from the church at Ephesus,
00:02:00.940 | a love for the local church,
00:02:02.340 | a desire to preach the whole counsel of God
00:02:05.060 | in the local church,
00:02:06.180 | and that's coupled with a zeal,
00:02:08.740 | an ambition to see Christ preach
00:02:10.340 | where he's not been named.
00:02:12.300 | And so I just came to the conclusion,
00:02:14.700 | okay, if I'm gonna preach as pastor in a local church
00:02:17.660 | and build up a local church in that way,
00:02:19.380 | then I need to find a different way
00:02:21.860 | to serve for the cause of global missions.
00:02:24.140 | So that's when I asked the trustees of the IMB
00:02:27.420 | to begin searching for a new president.
00:02:29.380 | I'm still serving in both these roles now.
00:02:31.580 | Lord willing, we'll do so until a new president is found,
00:02:34.260 | at which time I wanna be supportive of that leader, the IMB,
00:02:39.260 | and then I'll continue serving as teaching pastor
00:02:42.820 | at McLean in DC,
00:02:44.980 | just shepherding that church to glorify God
00:02:48.140 | by making disciples and multiplying churches
00:02:50.100 | among the nations.
00:02:50.940 | Okay, so I wanna do that faithfully in this local church
00:02:54.380 | and alongside the other elders and pastors there.
00:02:58.060 | And then I'm just exhilarated as I think about
00:03:00.300 | how through writing, preaching,
00:03:02.420 | leading radical the ministry,
00:03:04.020 | which is intended to serve other churches on mission
00:03:06.380 | and other avenues the Lord might open up.
00:03:08.980 | I wanna leverage my life as a pastor
00:03:11.900 | for the spread of God's glory among the nations.
00:03:14.180 | I actually have a conviction.
00:03:15.620 | I've said this throughout my time in the IMB
00:03:17.260 | that pastors of local churches
00:03:19.780 | possess responsibility for global missions.
00:03:22.420 | And George Pentecost said 100 years ago
00:03:24.900 | to the pastor belongs the privilege
00:03:26.900 | and responsibility of the missionary problem.
00:03:29.220 | And basically what he was saying is
00:03:30.860 | mission organizations can and should do what they will
00:03:32.980 | to organize, but facilitate mission in different ways.
00:03:36.140 | But it's the responsibility and the privilege
00:03:37.940 | of every pastor to fan a flame for God's global glory
00:03:41.940 | in the local church.
00:03:43.540 | And I just think when pastors are shepherding
00:03:46.620 | local churches for God's global glory,
00:03:48.900 | it changes everything.
00:03:50.660 | And I was in Psalm 96 this morning.
00:03:54.140 | This is not just for missionaries.
00:03:56.780 | Like declare His glory among the nations
00:03:58.620 | as marvelous deeds among all the peoples
00:04:00.100 | and praying for the Eritrean Tigray people,
00:04:03.420 | like over a million of them,
00:04:05.220 | 0.05% know and believe the gospel.
00:04:08.860 | Most have never heard.
00:04:09.700 | Like we as pastors must shepherd churches to change that.
00:04:13.700 | So I wanna do that personally
00:04:15.300 | and then encourage churches to be a part
00:04:18.660 | of changing that reality.
00:04:20.220 | - Yeah, that's so good.
00:04:21.660 | So you turn 40 years old in a couple of weeks.
00:04:24.860 | Congratulations on that.
00:04:26.580 | Offer us some midlife reflections
00:04:28.540 | on being roughly halfway home, Lord willing.
00:04:33.100 | As you look back, what would you say
00:04:36.300 | are your biggest regrets?
00:04:37.940 | And as you look forward, what would you say
00:04:40.260 | are your biggest future hopes ahead?
00:04:44.100 | - Wow, that's a sobering question.
00:04:47.700 | You know, when I think about it,
00:04:48.900 | one, I don't presume, obviously,
00:04:50.700 | I know you know this, but I'm halfway home.
00:04:53.700 | Like I've made it this far by God's grace.
00:04:55.580 | I don't presume upon tomorrow.
00:04:57.940 | So I wanna make the most of today.
00:05:00.140 | And that's it.
00:05:00.980 | I have, especially in light of just some transition
00:05:05.700 | ministry-wise that you referenced,
00:05:08.060 | I found myself praying just in a fresh way
00:05:11.020 | that I praise God.
00:05:12.980 | When I look back at the last 40 years,
00:05:15.460 | like what a picture of grace in my life.
00:05:18.940 | Like I would not be having this conversation
00:05:21.140 | with you right now if the Lord has not been so gracious
00:05:24.660 | when he asked about my regrets and my bigotry.
00:05:27.860 | Regret is just my pride,
00:05:30.260 | my seemingly relentless focus on myself.
00:05:34.260 | I'm just the most prideful person I know.
00:05:36.940 | And I shudder to think where I would be
00:05:40.020 | without God saving me from myself
00:05:42.980 | time and time and time again.
00:05:44.300 | So I find myself looking to the future and it's like,
00:05:46.540 | Lord, please keep saving me from myself.
00:05:50.980 | So I've prayed though in that,
00:05:53.860 | that all that by God's grace I've had an opportunity
00:05:57.500 | to be a part of in these past years
00:05:59.100 | would only be a precursor of what is to come.
00:06:02.540 | Like when I think about my dreams,
00:06:05.060 | looking toward the future,
00:06:07.940 | sometimes people ask like,
00:06:09.580 | are you less radical than you were writing about
00:06:13.540 | however many years ago?
00:06:14.980 | I wanna be more radical.
00:06:17.940 | It's interesting, a little background behind
00:06:21.580 | even the name of that, the title of that book,
00:06:24.420 | it came from a conversation I was having
00:06:26.100 | with Brother Andrew.
00:06:27.420 | So God smuggler, smuggling Bibles
00:06:30.020 | and all of his life going into hard places around the world.
00:06:33.140 | I was on a phone call with him one day
00:06:34.900 | when I was in the process of writing this book
00:06:36.740 | and I asked him, so I can't remember how old he was
00:06:39.420 | at that point, but pretty advanced in years.
00:06:41.500 | And I asked him, I said,
00:06:43.020 | Brother Andrew, if you had to do it all over again,
00:06:44.860 | what would you do?
00:06:46.020 | And what would you change?
00:06:48.220 | And he said, without hesitation,
00:06:50.660 | he said, I'd be more radical.
00:06:53.460 | He said, not radical for the sake of being radical,
00:06:55.660 | but radical for the sake of the gospel.
00:06:57.420 | And I think like that's my art.
00:07:00.140 | Like I don't wanna be radical
00:07:01.140 | for the sake of being radical, whatever that means.
00:07:03.060 | Like I want to be absolutely committed
00:07:06.660 | for the sake of the gospel
00:07:07.900 | to making Christ and his glory known in the world.
00:07:11.740 | So I wanna love God with all my heart, my soul, my mind,
00:07:16.740 | my strength in the days to come.
00:07:18.660 | I think I love him more today than I ever have.
00:07:22.620 | And I just want that to continue to be the case.
00:07:25.740 | Obviously I wanna love my family well.
00:07:27.780 | I look at my wife and my kids.
00:07:31.820 | I wanna, I'm in Deuteronomy right now,
00:07:33.900 | in my time with the Lord.
00:07:34.860 | I just wanna pass the word and works of God
00:07:39.260 | down to the next generation and their kids.
00:07:41.980 | I wanna love the church well.
00:07:43.780 | I am so thankful for the stewardship.
00:07:47.020 | It's overwhelming that just the stewardship
00:07:49.100 | of pastoral ministry.
00:07:50.340 | I wanna love, lead this church well
00:07:53.380 | and leverage my life for the spread of the gospel
00:07:56.540 | to the nations and all of that.
00:07:58.140 | Like I would say a big theme in my prayer time recently
00:08:03.140 | has been, it's based on Psalm 90,
00:08:06.620 | to just to number our days and make in a heart of wisdom.
00:08:08.900 | Like I have just found myself leading
00:08:10.860 | in this next stage of life ministry
00:08:13.980 | for wisdom and courage.
00:08:15.940 | So those two things in particular,
00:08:17.500 | I don't want one of those without the other.
00:08:19.060 | I don't wanna be courageous and foolish like that.
00:08:21.980 | That's not good.
00:08:22.820 | I also don't wanna be wise and timid.
00:08:25.500 | I don't wanna be wise and courageous.
00:08:27.340 | I wanna have a wisdom to discern the will of God
00:08:30.060 | and I wanna have courage to walk it.
00:08:31.780 | I wanna do all that God puts on my heart to do.
00:08:34.460 | As I look at next stage,
00:08:35.940 | I just wanna do all that he puts on my heart to do,
00:08:39.020 | just praying in a Psalm 90 17 kind of way
00:08:42.020 | for his favor and the establishment of the work of my hands.
00:08:47.020 | So, and I'm pretty exhilarated about shepherding,
00:08:52.580 | on one hand shepherding local church,
00:08:55.780 | but love the Lord and make disciples there in DC
00:08:59.380 | and from DC to the end of the earth.
00:09:01.580 | And then looking to leverage opportunities
00:09:04.860 | to be a part of, I just see a world of urgent,
00:09:08.500 | spiritual and physical need,
00:09:09.860 | unreached and on top of physical need.
00:09:12.940 | And I wanna see the church with the gospel,
00:09:16.500 | glorifying Christ and all that
00:09:18.020 | and leveraging my life toward that end.
00:09:20.380 | - Amen, that is just such a constant theme
00:09:23.420 | in your life and ministry over these very fruitful years.
00:09:27.220 | Thank you for that.
00:09:28.780 | Speaking of looking back,
00:09:30.380 | what advice does 40 year old David Platt have
00:09:35.180 | for 20 year old David Platt?
00:09:37.420 | What would you say?
00:09:39.220 | - I would say, so I think three words come to mind.
00:09:43.700 | One is surrender.
00:09:45.900 | Just lay your life before the Lord every day,
00:09:53.300 | deny yourself, like, Lord, save me from myself,
00:09:57.300 | save me from my dreams, plans,
00:10:00.100 | but I wanna do whatever you want me to do.
00:10:02.300 | I wanna go wherever you want me to go.
00:10:04.260 | I just think, I was actually at the Cross Conference
00:10:08.340 | one night in our worship
00:10:10.140 | and this Matt Boswell, he's leading musical worship.
00:10:14.540 | And he just paused at one point and he said,
00:10:17.380 | just think back on God's faithfulness in your life
00:10:19.940 | for a minute and just thank him, praise him.
00:10:22.300 | And I just was overwhelmed with a point of tears
00:10:24.820 | because I'm sitting surrounded by all these college students
00:10:27.140 | and I'm thinking 20 years ago,
00:10:29.500 | I never could have imagined some of the things
00:10:31.860 | the Lord has done, how he's led.
00:10:33.420 | And I just wanna be open to however he wants
00:10:38.420 | to lead my life.
00:10:40.300 | So surrender, second word, abide.
00:10:42.860 | Like, I think the key in it all is abiding in him,
00:10:47.860 | in his word, in prayer.
00:10:50.580 | Like, I've not regretted in the last 20, 40 years
00:10:54.580 | for that matter, anytime spending the word,
00:10:56.860 | anytime spending prayer, fasting, just seeking the Lord
00:11:00.780 | and walking in obedience to his commands.
00:11:03.980 | I just, I don't know what all the coming years
00:11:07.300 | that the Lord gives them to me hold,
00:11:09.140 | but I'm trusting that if I'm surrendered to him,
00:11:12.660 | totally just my life before him and abiding in him,
00:11:16.260 | then the third word that comes to my mind is rest.
00:11:20.100 | Like, I can rest that he will lead, he will guide,
00:11:23.700 | he will direct my life for his purposes.
00:11:26.940 | And in the end, I wanna finish faithful.
00:11:31.940 | I think 1 Corinthians 4, one and two,
00:11:36.140 | what is required of us as servants of Christ
00:11:38.220 | and stewards of the mysteries of God
00:11:40.180 | that we be found faithful.
00:11:42.340 | That is my prayer.
00:11:43.660 | So my encouragement would be to my 20 something self
00:11:46.620 | or other 20 something, or anybody for that matter,
00:11:49.380 | like surrender to the Lord, abide in him and rest,
00:11:53.260 | just trust him as he leads and guides and directs
00:11:57.340 | and Lord willing, our lives will be spent for his purposes.
00:12:02.340 | - Amen, so good.
00:12:04.300 | Thank you for taking time to talk with us today, brother.
00:12:07.700 | I really appreciate it.
00:12:09.100 | - Well, I just know I am incredibly thankful.
00:12:13.060 | You're not asking me to say this at all,
00:12:16.420 | but I would just say, I look back at my life
00:12:19.820 | and there's no question that the ministry of Pastor John,
00:12:24.020 | desiring God has had a huge and formative effect
00:12:27.460 | on my own mind, my own heart, my own relationship with the
00:12:30.420 | Lord in ways that I am indebted to God for his grace
00:12:35.060 | and then through you all.
00:12:36.100 | So yeah, just thank you for the impact you've had on me
00:12:39.900 | and countless others like me.
00:12:41.980 | - Thank you for the accommodation and the encouragement.
00:12:44.260 | I appreciate it.
00:12:45.100 | Thanks, David.
00:12:45.940 | - Thanks Tony, see ya.
00:12:46.780 | - All right, goodbye.
00:12:47.820 | That was David Platt from his office.
00:12:49.980 | I'm your host, Tony Ranke.
00:12:51.140 | The Ask Pastor John podcast will return on Monday
00:12:53.820 | with Pastor John.
00:12:54.660 | We'll see you then.
00:12:55.500 | Have a great weekend.
00:12:56.620 | (upbeat music)
00:12:59.200 | (upbeat music)
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