Tribute to James M. Grier

(This tribute was originally posted on Dr. Grier's website, which is maintained by Peter Osborn, but I wanted it to be a part of my own blog as well...)

Tribute to James M. Grier (January 2013)

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.’” – Jer. 9:23-24


Servant of God, Minister of the Word

These words from the prophet Jeremiah are the verses that Dr. James M. Grier customarily attached to his correspondence and they are an apt summary of what he aspired to and experienced in his own  life, and what he so passionately sought to cultivate in the lives of others.  Dr. Grier faithfully and fruitfully served the church of Jesus Christ by being a  servant of the Gospel of Christ.  With a deep and enduring  confidence in Scripture as God’s self-authenticating Word he was exceptionally equipped for a lifetime of ministry as pastor, professor, seminary leader, mentor and friend.  And in all of this he was lovingly supported by his wife, Shirley, whose partnership in life and ministry he so deeply cherished.

In the tributes that he himself has posted on [his] website, Dr. Grier wrote very personally about his relationships with two people who had a very special place in his life.   In that same spirit, what I  write here is shaped by my own 33 year relationship with him as professor, pastor, mentor and friend. The ‘Brief Bio’ on this website provides a summary of the details of his ministry; I hope to provide a portrait with broader strokes of the ways that God’s grace and truth were manifested in and through him.

I first met Dr. Grier when I was a student at Cedarville, taking one of his philosophy courses.  Such classes sometimes have the reputation for insinuating doubt when it comes to Scripture or Christian doctrine, but in Dr. Grier’s case just the opposite was true.  While he clearly and honestly asked the hard questions that arise in philosophy, ethics and apologetics (“can you think that thought?”), at the end of the day students came away with a deeper and riper confidence that all truth is God’s truth and that Scripture is the unerring guide to finding true wisdom for this life and the life to come.

But as much as I appreciated and profited from his teaching, it was his preaching of God’s Word (in chapel services and when he served in one of his interim pastorates) that would mark me most profoundly for life and pastoral ministry.  Dr. Grier was a servant of the Word and an instrument of the Spirit when he preached – in hearing him again and again I knew it was God’s own message to me through his messenger.  On one Lord’s Day he preached powerfully from Philippians 1 about how the apostle Paul had made the advance of the Gospel the central focus of his life, and it struck me then (and has proved true ever since) that this was Dr. Grier’s compelling, controlling ambition as well.

In this central focus he embodied the best of the Christian traditions that had shaped him through educational experiences at Baptist Bible College and Westminster and Grace theological seminaries.  He himself had been powerfully impacted by godly scholars like Cornelius Van Til and John Murray (a fellow Scotsman), but in many ways it was probably Charles Spurgeon who best exemplified the kind of personal piety, pastoral impact and transformational preaching that Dr. Grier embraced as a model for authentic ministry.  (He often told me how privileged he felt to have been able to preach at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London.)  And so the commitment to faithful pastoral ministry, passed down from his father, was enriched by these and many other forebears in the faith.

Such a devotion to the Gospel and the pastoral ministry of God’s Word is also what led him, in his ‘retirement years,’ to travel to places like Southeast Asia to seek to provide theological education and enrichment to pastors and church leaders there.  (But even in this he told me more than once that he
always felt like he had received from these brothers in Christ much more than he had shared.)
But his primary educational impact was made in his years of teaching at Cedarville College (now University) and his strategic leadership at Grand Rapids Baptist (Theological) Seminary (and then later also at Puritan Reformed Theol. Sem.).   In all these places, it was not only the students who were impacted by him, but also fellow faculty, administrators and staff who were enriched by his counsel, example and friendship (which included his inimitable sense of humor!).

Pastoral care, counsel & friendship

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”  (1 Cor. 11:1)    While Dr. Grier would have been reticent to apply these words to himself, it is unmistakably true that one of his most lasting legacies will come from the enduring impact of his mentoring and advising and encouraging countless pastors, ministry leaders and devoted laypeople as they sought to live faithful, kingdom-centered lives.  He was exemplary in friendship -- on the one hand his own commitment urged you on to deeper consecration, but at the same time his gracious, Christ-like spirit was a source of forgiveness and restoration for prodigals who had strayed.Even in some of the most difficult of situations, Dr. Grier would be a pastor to pastors, drawing alongside to walk with them through some of the worst of relational, pastoral or medical trials. Time and again Dr. Grier was a source of fine-tuned, wisely-nuanced, eminently practical counsel for addressing difficult situations effectively without, as he would say, “driving a thumbtack with a sledge hammer.”  His judicious temperament, along with specific areas of expertise in theology, philosophy and medical ethics led to his being asked to serve on committees and boards that included a hospital, hospice and mission institute.  In all these relationships his counsel and presence served to “adorn the Gospel” and Dr. Grier was continuously burdened to evangelize those whom Providence had brought into his life.

“The Olde Pilgrim”

In his final years, Dr. Grier referred to himself (first rather whimsically but then with increasing significance) as ‘the olde pilgrim.’  Of course even in this he echoed the Scriptures via especially the Puritans.  He knew his life in Christ was a journey to the Celestial City and that along the way he would be called to endure many dangers, toils and snares.  Enabled by God’s grace, directed by God’s Word, led by God’s Spirit, and encouraged by God’s people he faithfully pursued his progress along the narrow way, a long obedience in the same direction.

But in the last several months, he would face his greatest trial, as cancer struck and continued to spread.  There is always the possibility, with a ‘public person’ like a pastor, professor or Christian leader, that once you get past the public persona you will be disappointed to find that in reality there is much less substance and solidity to their faith and devotion.  But with Dr. Grier it was, again, just the opposite.  The more personally I knew him throughout the years of our growing friendship, the more I was struck by the depth and reality of his interior life and character, so that what he was in public was the overflow of what he was ‘in secret’ where only the Father sees and knows.  This became even more clear as he knew that his fight with cancer would end in death, a difficult death.  And so, with even greater focus and purpose, he turned to the Scriptures, and through them to the Lord Jesus himself, to find in him that sympathizing Savior and strengthening High Priest who had walked the paths of suffering before Him.  In my last conversation with him, I read from Hebrews 2 and 4 and – always the teacher – through tears he commented on the key words and ideas, the solid realities that now were the source of his hope.

When I asked him, in one of our last visits, what was really on his mind, he spoke immediately of his concern for Shirley and for Kevin.  His voice trembled with words of deep affection and appreciation.  He cherished his loving wife and the beauty and creativity that she had brought to their marriage, life and ministry together.  And he spoke again of his love for his son, Kevin, and his admiration for his accomplishments, and for those of  his wife, Dr. Robin Grier.  It was clear that she is loved by Jim and Shirley as well.

But finally his thoughts turned again to the Savior and to arrival in that Celestial City, the departure to be with Christ, which is “better by far” (Phil. 1:23).  And that reminded me of Bunyan’s classic, as he pictures the scene for those who die in faith, looking to their Savior:

“…'I see myself now at the end of my journey; my toilsome days are ended. I am going to see that head which was crowned with thorns, and that face which was spit upon for me. I have loved to hear my Lord spoken of; and wherever I have seen the print of his shoe in the earth, there I have coveted to set my foot too. His name has been to me as a  civet[perfume]-box; yea, sweeter than all perfumes. His voice to me has been most sweet, and his countenance I have more desired than they that have most desired the light of the sun.  'I have formerly lived by hearsay and faith; but now I go where I shall live by sight, and shall be with him in whose company I delight myself….”  “The Pilgrim’s Progress”

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

“And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’”    -- Revelation 21:1-5


With sincerest love, respect and gratitude to God,
Doug Phillips
Pastor for Ministries, South Church – Lansing, MI