He personally owes everything to Jesus Christ. As a sinner he
Introduction: What Is an Evangelical Leader? 3
wrote, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ."? And what
is to be imitated the Scriptures do not leave in doubt: Almost
every time Scripture holds up Christ as our example to follow,
the stress is on his humility.
3. An evangelical leader is a man prepared to be unpopular. From the days when Ahab said to Elijah, 'Are you he that troubles
Israel?', faithfulness to Scripture will not bring the approval of
the majority. Dr MacArthur says bluntly, "You cannot be faithful
and popular, so take your pick.' A quest for popularity is a very
short-term thing. For an evangelical, 'success isn't measured 1n
hours, or even centuries. Our focus 1s fixed on eternity.' Success
'js NOt prosperity, power, prominence, popularity, or any of the
other worldly notions of success. Real success is doing the will
of God regardless of the consequences."*
4, An evangelical leader is one who is awake to the dangers
of the times. Not every Christian has the distinction that was
once given to the tribe of Issachar, 'The men of Issachar had
understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do'
(1 Chron. 12:32). There are periods in church history when
the leaders have seriously mistaken the way in which the cause
of Christ is to be carried forward. The signs of the times have
been misread. A true evangelical leader is raised up to provide
God-given direction.
5. An evangelical leader will not direct attention to himself.
He personally owes everything to Jesus Christ. As a sinner he
sees the need to live in a spirit of repentance all his days. He
knows the contrast between what he is in himself and the mes-
2 Telve Ordinary Men (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2002), p. 44 ina chapter where MacArthur sets out what leadership means.
3 The Jesus You Cam't Ignore (Nashvile: Nelson, 2008), p. 205.
+ Ashamed of the Gospel (Wheaton: Crossway, 1993), p. 29.
4 JOHN MacArTHur: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
sage that he preaches: 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us'
(2 Cor. 4:7). 'God chooses whom He chooses in order that He
might receive the glory. He chooses weak instruments so that
no one will attribute the power to human instruments rather
than to God, who wields those instruments."
It follows that genuine spiritual leadership will lead
others to the conclusion: 'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of
Your truth' (Psa. 115:1).
> Tivelve Ordinary Men, p. 13.
Youth in California
ohn Fullerton MacArthur Jr. was born in Los Angeles, fame on June 19, 1939. Rather inaccurately 'Junior'
was often to remain appended to his name, for the truth is that
many a 'John MacArthur' had gone before him. One of the
MacArthur family by that name had emigrated from Glasgow,
Scotland, to Canada in 1815. This immigrant's son and grand-
son were also 'John', and it was not until a fourth-generation
member of the family line was born about 1885, and named
Harry, that the Christian name changed.
Harry MacArthur, the grandfather of our subject, was work-
ing as a chief telegrapher on the Canadian Railways at Calgary,
Alberta, when he became a Christian. His wife, Olivia Mary
Fullerton, was the daughter of a Thomas Fullerton, who was
minister of the Presbyterian Church of Charlottetown, Prince
Edward Island, on the east coast of Canada.! Fullerton had come
from Scotland where his father had also been a Presbyterian
minister. There was thus Scottish ancestry on both sides of the
marriage of Harry and Olivia.
! Thomas Fullerton was minister of St James Presbyterian Kirk in Charlottetown, 1893-1921, a ministry interrupted while he served in the Canadian army during the Boer War.
6 JouN MacArrHur: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
Harry and Olivia MacArthur moved south to Los Angeles
while their only son, John, born in 1914, was still a boy. Perhaps
it was the desire to preach that drew the parents to California, for
Harry was to prepare for the gospel ministry at the Bible Insti-
tute of Los Angeles. His subsequent life-work was to include a
pastorate in the city, much preaching for other pastors, and the
setting up of a radio broadcast, 'Voice of Calvary', in 1942.
John ('Jack') MacArthur, the son of Harry, attended schools
in Los Angeles and then studied at Eastern Baptist Seminary
in Philadelphia. Influenced by his father's life and example, it
was his early ambition to devote his life to preaching the Word
of God, and indeed he was to do that almost every week from
the time he was nineteen. His first pastorate was at Manches-
ter Baptist Church, Los Angeles, and in the same city on June
25, 1937, he married Irene Adeline Dockendorf. The couple
had met some years earlier when Irene was fourteen, the year
of her conversion. Their son, John E MacArthur, was born in
1939, as already noted. Our subject would thereafter be known
to the family as 'Johnny'. The complete family was to include
three daughters, all younger than John: Jeanette, Julie, and
Jane. Johnny's earliest memories of home were not, however, of the city where he would spend his life. Soon after his birth
his father joined the extension staff of Moody Bible Institute as
an evangelist, and his early infancy was to be spent itinerating with his parents from place to place, including Chicago and Philadelphia. Of the latter city, and a brief school attendance,
he was to retain a faint recollection.
Early in the 1940s Jack and Irene MacArthur were back in
the greater Los Angeles area, for a short period at Eagle Rock
Baptist Church. When Jack was called to Fountain Avenue