An Interview with John MacArthur
December 19th, 2007
The following interview is a few years old. But it gives some wonderful glimpses into Pastor John’s heart. We thought our readers on Pulpit would enjoy reading it.
Question: What kind of educational background do you have?
John: I was raised in the southern California area, so I attended schools there. My first two years of college were spent at Bob Jones University, and then I completed my college education at Los Angeles Pacific College–now defunct. From there I proceeded to Talbot Theological Seminary to complete my seminary training.
Question: Have you always wanted to be a preacher?
John: I am a fifth-generation preacher. Because my father and grandfather were preachers and pastors, I grew up with a pastor’s heart and a pastor’s mentality. I saw how my father and grandfather functioned, and I understood what it was to be a pastor. From the time I was very small — five or six years old — I would stand on a soapbox in the backyard and preach to my sisters or anybody in the neighborhood who would listen — and get angry when they didn’t respond. I guess I just assumed that I’d be a pastor like my father and grandfather.
But as I became involved in athletics during my college days and found fulfillment in that. I thought that perhaps I’d be a professional athlete. I did have some opportunities to play professionally, both in football and baseball, but by then I had affirmed in my own heart that God wanted me in the ministry. So I chose seminary over an athletic career.
Question: Talk a little about the history of Grace Church and your association with it.
John: When I left seminary I worked in a church with my dad, and I taught at Los Angeles Baptist College, which is now The Master’s College. At the same time I traveled a lot and preached at youth conferences and special meetings. I knew that I needed experience in preaching if I was going to be effective in a church ministry. Then I joined the staff of Talbot Theological Seminary and spent two and a half years preaching all over the country — an average of 35-40 times a month.
At the end of that time I was asking God to open a door for me. At that time the pastor of Grace Community Church had just died of a heart attack. And the pastor before him had also died of a heart attack. I think by then they might have been saying, “I don’t care if he’s good; just get him young!” So after I had preached here one Sunday night, I was approached about candidating, and eventually I came as pastor. The church had 450 to 500 people at the time. It was a strong church in terms of personal relationships and love, and there was good leadership. There was also a wonderful youth program. It was an exciting, energetic and wonderful church even then, although there were not nearly so many people.
Question: What were you committed to, and what did you end up doing in those days?
John: I had said that I wanted at least 30 hours a week to study. I believed that Ephesians 4 says the pastor’s job is to perfect the saints, and that comes about through the Word of God. I thought that possibly the other 10 to 15 hours would be used in visitation and so on. But the men said, “We’ll take care of the visitation, because James says visitation is pure religion. Everybody does that.” But, of course, what you anticipate and what really happens are two different things. I found that my “other 10 or 15″ hours turned out to be another 30 in addition to the 30 I already had for study — I never sacrificed that.
Question: What is your philosophy in building a church?
John: When a reporter asked me once if I had a great desire to build the church, I told him, “No. I have absolutely no desire to build the church. That’s not my job. Jesus said, ‘I will build My church,’ and I would rather not compete with Him. I simply want to allow Him to do that through me in a small way in one location.”
As I see it, my calling is to know God. I do not study the Bible to get a sermon. Instead I approach the Scriptures this way: I have an insatiable hunger to know what the Bible means so that I will know how I can live to glorify God. My ministry is to spend my whole life finding out what the Bible says. And at the end of the week, when I’ve discovered the truths that have been there, I get to share them with the rest of the church. That is a ministry that overflows out of the relationship that I have with the Lord, which comes from the study of His Word. That overflows from my life and touches the lives of those in the congregation. And as we grow together, out of that comes the nurturing of leadership.
It is good to see a humble man take the Scriptures so serious and share that which he has gleaned from the study of the Word by commitment, to share it with the Church.
It is also great to know that John has a desire not to compete for numbers but to see a depth to the relationships of the Church with our LORD and Master Christ Jesus.
I had unwittingly become a 3rd generation “member” of the Grace to You radio family two years ago and shared with my parents about John’s ministry and the depth of verse by verse expositional preaching, when my parents confirmed the integrity and passion of John by saying that my grandparents had encouraged my father to listen to Grace to You about 20-30 years ago in South Africa on Trans World Radio.
To me that says that John has been tested by people I trust for generations and that his honesty, integrity and Biblical Christian charaecter has been proven.
Needless to say we greatly appreciate your comittment to the faith as delivered to us in the Scriptures. Your integrity in the orthodox Biblical doctrines of grace has been a great encouragement to our family and we greatly appreciate the commitment of Grace Community Church in sharing the Gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in the Grace to You radio shows, Masters College, -Seminary and even with the Spurgeon websiet the Phil Johnson manages.
May your commitment to Christ and His Church through faithful expositional preaching impact many generations to come and may our son be amongst those men committed to sharing the hope that Christ Jesus has brough sinful mankind, of which we where once.
Thank you brothers and sisters in grace.
In the grace, mercy & compassionate care of our LORD God Jesus the Holy Spirit, the Word become flesh.
John 1:14
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Thanks for posting this. I’ve listened to John since the 80s and he is always the voice I trust when it comes to handling God’s word.
It is encouraging to read about a man who has been faithful to the same church for four decades. That is nearly impossible to find these days.
May God give John great health and many more years of service.
I want to say “Thank you” to Pastor MacArthur, but I know that it is not John, but Christ in John who compels me. Praise be to God for the ministry He has raised up and the church He has built.
Thank you so much, Pastor John!
As a student in college, seeking to serve God in the ministry, you have been used by the Lord in my life in ways that perhaps you’ll never be able to know in this side of heaven.
Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord’s service. Your example is great. May the Lord continue gifting you and enabling you to do His work.
I look forward to the day when I’ll be able to thank you personally.
I love you and I am praying for you.
- Ivan
Well, here’s another Ivan. How cool is that?
Pastor MacArthur,
I have listened to you for quite a few years. Like the Ivan before me, since my college days.
God has blessed you to be one of the greatest preachers of our generation. Like the Ivan before me, I look forward to meeting you one day, either in this world or the next.
God bless you, my dear brother in Christ.
Ivan Schoen, Pastor
Maranatha Baptist Church
Poplar Grove, IL
I discovered Christian Radio about a year ago or so. That’s when I first heard John’s radio ministry: Grace to You. Awesome! Edifying!
I am so grateful to the triune God for ministering to me through the vessel of John MacArthur.
And now I’m happy that there are others willing and able to carry on the torch by Phil Johnson and the Team Pyro guys.
Rejoicing in the Lord!
Dr MacArthur has been a tremendous blessing in my life as well. I was saved in 1980 and started listening to Grace To You shortly after. I’m thankful for his consistency and faithfulness to the teaching of the Word of God.
In the mid 80’s we used to go up to Word of Life in NY and see him speak. I have his series “The Believer and Sin” that he taught there in 85′ and after twenty plus years I still listen to it to help with my struggles with sin.
I also thank the Lord for using men like John MacArthur to advance the kingdom of God,
john
Thank you John for being faithful in the way you prepare to preach each week. It is refreshing to see a man of God who takes Scripture seriously! God bless you and your family and I pray everyone here has a very Merry Christmas!
God bless
Brian
My family and I have been blessed by John’s ministry since the early 80s. Since then, My wife and I have seen our two children come to know the Lord, including a son-in-law and now we have 7 grand children to witness too. John’s tapes, books, notes, etc., have been a wonderful source for grounding us in the Word (Col. 2:7). My wife and I always said this is a no-nonsense pastor-teacher, who we recall saying, he prepared his messages for God first. That’s rare; that’s special; that’s something real good for the flock to hear!! I’ve had the joy of visiting GCC on several different occasions (one a Shepherds Conference)and I can say from experience, the proof of John’s ministry is seen in God’s flock located on Rosco Blvd. Each time I visited there, I saw enthusiastic and informed Christians serving and proclaiming Christ. A truly a gifted teacher with a well grounded army of ministers!!
V/r Dave
Thank God for such a faithful pastor-teacher in this post-modern, liberal, superficial, tolerant, changing, relevant, user-friendly time…
John,
I have been listening to you since the 80’s as well. A couple of brothers and myself would meet each week and listen to one of your messages and then we would discuss what we heard you preach. I have been pretty much listening to you ever since.
I have two of your study bibles (NKJV and NASB). I used to have a series from you where you talked about how you prepare each week. I have since lost that in a fire.
All I can really say is that I Praise God for the ministry that God has allowed you to have.
May you have many more years of faithful service!!
David
I have always respected Pastor John. I only regret not living closer so I could attend Grace.
Blessings!