In the last few years there has been a question looming in my head:
What is a pastor?
Pastor is a noun. A noun that has lost its clear meaning over the years.
Is a pastor a business man? Is a pastor a CEO? Is a pastor an influencer for the locals or even the masses if successful?
Some pastors are more like John Mark Comer, a spiritual formation type. A pastor who wants to care for the soul.
Some pastors are like Mark Driscoll. Pastors who defend the truth, ready for the battle to protect their sheep, or maybe protect their ego?
Some pastors are like Carl Lentz. Pastors who are personalities that you long to be like. They are people who inspire and motivate.
Some pastors are like Nobody. Pastors who show up, preach a sermon and you never really know personally because they come to do a job, get a check and vanish until the next Sunday.
My junior year of highschool I felt called to be a pastor. I felt called in the sense that there was this very clear burden on my heart to care for the flock. I wanted to see them grow. I wanted to watch them mature, I wanted to help them grow into a deeper understanding and relationship with the Divine.
But then my first real internship, I was told Pastors do grunt work. They clean the church, pull bulletins in pews and do not actually try to change the community because the community is a lost cause.
I then had another internship and this pastor was on the road. He took me to meet with people in the community and meet them in the darkest moments. This pastor was on the front lines and really sought to be there with people(For Into The Fray podcast fans, this pastor was Robby Rowe).
But with these two examples and the many others that I have not shared, I learned pastors are all different. Not one is the same as the next. This is why Eugene Peterson makes the argument that we need adjectives to describe the type of pastor we should actually be.
The Contemplative Pastor is a pastor who has come in not to just receive a paycheck. This pastor is one who has guarded himself from personality pitfalls and the idol of celebrity. This pastor is one who seeks to develop people into the individuals and community God has called and created them to become.
A contemplative pastor is one who slows down. Their counseling sessions are spent in more silent listening and deep but continuous prayer.
A contemplative pastor is one who watches out for their own soul as well. Though they nerd out at the ideas of developing sermons and teachings, this pastor also takes time away to restore themselves from the hard labor of caring for souls.
This pastor is one who understands that they are called to shepherd Gods flock. This is not the work of someone who wants to build huge congregations and be known as the one with the largest mega church. Rather this pastor knows that 100 congregants is more than enough to care deeply for.
In a time where so many of us feel this deep need to build brands, build “christian empires”, and to be the face of every ministry in our churches; this book written by a pastor who did the hard work seeks to cut through the noise of mega church culture and provide an alternate route. One that actually fills the souls of the congregants up as well as the pastor.
ANY AND EVERY PASTOR OR WANT TO BE PASTOR SHOULD READ THIS BOOK FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR SOUL.
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