The Scriptures, particularly in its wisdom literature, depict prudence as a central habit “that denotes applying knowledge to some useful purpose.”[1] Solomon says in Proverbs that prudence acts in preparation and deliberation toward right acts: “every [prudent] man acts with knowledge, but a fool flaunts his folly” (Prov. 13:16), and, “the simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thoughts to his steps” (14:15). Solomon also shows that prudence guards and guides: “the prudent see danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it” (27:12), and, “a fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent” (15:5).
Likewise, the New Testament demonstrate prudence as a practice of the Christian to discern the best means and ends for the sake of their realization in the true Good. Hebrews 5:14 notes, “solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Instead of falling into lawless acts or being double-minded, James warns us to practice the meekness we have received through the implanted Word by being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger (1:19–21). Jesus teaches in Matthew 7:24–27 that the wise man applies what he knows to be true so that he can be safe from the storm (i.e., enter the Kingdom of heaven).
Therefore, since virtue “is a right and well-ordered habit of the mind which facilitates the soul in all its operations, ordering it to blessedness,”[2] prudence is the mother of the virtues. Prudence can simply be said to be well-ordered reason in well-ordered action. Prudence distinguishes according to the order of love so that one is empowered to be good and to act well in daily life. The Christian practices prudence because of their “becoming partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). That is, those in Christ have been swept up into the vast ocean of His being, which is so full of life where they find all happiness, contentment, and bliss. This takes shape in their acting in accordance with new covenant reality through the happy life of attentiveness and guidance by God’s Spirit.
Building Up the Body
For the pastor, the virtue of prudence (right reason for right action) is found in the whole of ministry, but maybe it’s most present in the way in which we equip the saints for the work of ministry. In Ephesians 4, Paul shows that the pastor’s ministry of equipping isn’t to increase the church numerically nor to determine the ROI of the church’s various programs. This ministry entrusted to the pastor is for the purpose of the saints growing into the maturity of Christ’s fullness (v. 13). In other words, the pastor’s ministry of equipping is theological and spiritual in nature. Thus, the focused aim of the pastor is the body building itself up in love (v. 12, 16).
The doctrine of union with Christ has great importance for the pastor’s practice of prudence because for those in Christ, their thought, speech, and actions are done through the Spirit, in which He, through the grace of regeneration, has enlivened and restored our faculties from bondage. As sinners are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of the Beloved, their entire being is restored and remade. So, for the pastor, his labors in equipping the saints require biblical prudence grounded and shaped by the new life in the Spirit of Christ who sanctifies and renews real people that were once dead to sin but are now made alive in Christ Jesus. From decisions about Scripture and song selection in the liturgy to the decisions on a sensitive pastoral care matter, the prudent pastor’s ministry is engulfed by the reality that we are no longer compelled to settle for lesser loves by looking to ourselves, but by God’s grace, we are freed to choose love—God—and delight in Him through gratitude and worship.
Here, we see a reverberating effect of the ministry of the Word. As the pastor practices prudence for the “right action” of equipping the saints toward maturity in Christ, now, those in Christ can practice well-ordered reason in well-ordered action. Now, those in Christ can practice prudence that distinguishes according to the order of love so that we are empowered to be good and to act well in daily affairs. Webster notes, “the Christian moral life, arising within a perception of the primacy of God’s regenerative grace in Christ which the gospel announces, entails learning how to steady oneself by its reality, how to act in its wake, how to refuse the charms and threats of other reality indications.”[3] With a new heart of flesh, spiritual eyes, and incorporation to Christ’s body, we can see that Christ is the chief good, the one at God’s right hand, where “there are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11). Christ’s divine power has granted to us all that is needed for life and godliness. Being attentive to this reality, both in the world and in Christ, will help us see that God has richly provided us all that is needed to make it home.
Entrust to Faithful Men
The first, and arguably most important, aspect of prudence (or any of the virtues) is that it must contain the right desire. “It is a great virtue in a virtuous man to despise glory, because this contempt is seen by God, but is not revealed to the judgment of men.”[4] Virtue for self-glorification, or virtue signaling, is destructive and deformative because it is a practice of the old man, whose father is Satan. Not only can false prudence look like in virtue signaling, but it also can look like manipulation or slothfulness all for selfish gain at the expense of others. The true practice of true virtue is intrinsically self-denying. Recall that the very act of sin goes against the essence of our beings and therefore the purpose of our life. “No one who is prudent will have a high view of himself.”[5] False prudence is following the old man’s father and his ways of wickedness.
This angle of virtue, and prudence in particular, bears important significance on the unique task of pastors to train and entrust faithful men in pastoral ministry. The “approved worker” not only avoids irreverent and empty speech, but seeks to correctly teach the word of truth in both life and doctrine. In other words, the way in which a gospel minister is approved is through his willingness and eagerness to be an example to the flock as he correctly teaches them. The corrupted desire of compulsory oversight and greedy lordship runs counter to the privilege of “sharing in the glory about to be revealed” (1 Pet. 5:1). The one who seeks his own glory cannot model to the congregation of how to seek the glory of Christ; indeed, he will lead the congregation astray.
Pastors, as you seek to entrust and commit to faithful men the message delivered, do so in such a prudent way that is modeling what you want to raise up: willing men who clothe themselves with humility and eager men who seek the glory of Christ alone.
Editor’s Note: This is an edited excerpt from Every Perfect Gift: Classical Virtues for Christian Formation
[1] John Calvin, Commentary on 1–2 Corinthians, 1:401.
[2] Thomas Traherne, The Shining Human Creature, 33.
[3] John Webster, God Without Measure, Vol. 2, 18.
[4] Augustine, City of God, V.19.
[5] Basil the Great, On Christian Doctrine and Practice, 111.