Pastoring as though God is the One at work

For the last two weeks I have been spending time with an old friend -- Eugene Peterson.  His writing have shaped me powerfully for years.  I am aware that there are reasons to be discerning with him -- gender issues for one -- but I would say that few have a clearer grasp of the history of soul care than Peterson.  Read him carefully, but benefit from his wisdom.  He has read widely -- some of his sources may not be the ones I would point people to -- but he also finds help in unusual places (like learning pastoral ministry from Dostoevsky!).

I first met his works when I was finishing my DMin thesis at Trinity, Chicago.  I wrote on pastors as physicians of the soul and the church.  Peterson helped me navigate pastoral confusion and managerial pastoral models that are so present in our day. He is a counter cultural model in an age which reduces ministry to the pulpit or distorts it to church growth.

I just re-read Under the Unpredictable Plant, a meditation based on Jonah, considering what it means for pastors to live and act like pastors and not like therapists or managers or messiahs. The exegesis is fancied at times, but the points are profound.   

Peterson believes that pastoral work is modest work -- it is dealing with the details of life and the mess of sanctification in a local church.  He cuts through the images of what he calls "air-brushed" congregations we meet in books about how someone built a great ministry!  He calls it all nonsense. Churches are churches and there is grace at work and sin at work in them all.  Pastors are called to embrace their church and not long for some idealized congregation nor are we to climb a career ladder.

He believes that the temptations as pastors are profound and we are not to negotiate those alone.  The care of our souls is to be pursued with the help of others -- or we may become proud and angry with the slowness of our people to respond to us, or we may reduce ministry to the manageable categories of programs and plans.

He cuts through romanticism and sentimentality and wrong models again and again -- often with humor.  What I come away with is that I take myself too seriously and am not so often aware of the profound workings of God the Spirit in grace and redemption in the people I serve.

Here is what I thought of today.  As I read various blogs about ministry, they seem to focus entirely on preaching.  The calling of a pastor certainly involves preaching -- and preaching sets the tone and controls the atmosphere of the church.  Well fed sheep nourished with well considered messages from the Word of God is crucial.  Let us preach well!  It is urgent to do so. If this is not done, all else is out of whack. But Peterson reminds me that ministry is more than preaching. 

Preaching is easy compared to walking into the lives of people with Gospel centered counsel and questions.  I have no memory of lying awake in the middle of the night because of a sermon to come.  I have tossed and turned many times for the sin of people in the church and its tragic effects on their lives and on the congregation.

It is hard work to look for God at work in my people -- it is easy to see sin at work. It takes prayer and reflection to see the workings of grace in the lives of people who are absorbed in the daily routines of life. 

More than that, it is a work of faith to be a pastor who lives with integrity as a pastor -- to make sure I have folks who care for my soul and care for my ministry so that I am not drawn into a career path or become a therapist or a hypocrite whose life on the inside is not consistent in any way with my words.

The church is Christ's - the Lord of glory is at work in our people -- and our task is often as simple as pointing them to what he is doing, or reminding them of his work.  Being a pastor means drawing attention to the Savior and not to ourselves.  It means serving people, not using them for our resumes. 

I cannot think of any more privileged position than to observe and cultivate the work of Christ in a local congregation.

Comments

[Dennis Griffith]

Mark,

Thanks for this post. I share both your appreciation and cautions about Eugene Peterson, BUT my appreciation far outweighs any reservations. I have benefitted by his insights on the pastoral ministry, particulalrly in Working the Angles & The Unnecessary Pastor (w/ Marva Dawn).

But I especially appreciated your post. I am a pastor, but find that my focus reguarly seems to gravitate back toward what "I" do. This post was a call to faith in the Gospel for both life and ministry.

Thanks, again.

[Todd Pruitt]

Mark,

Once again, a great post. I had the exact same response to Peterson's book when I read it right after it came out. Beside the few excentricities it is a very helpful book.

After a particularly hard day I needed to read your words this morning. How kind is God's providence!

By the way, your book "The Transforming Community" may be the best thing I have read on biblical and "gospelish" church discipline.

Blessings,

todd

[Thomas Binkowski]

Thank you for this helpful post. I just received an email of a brother in some trouble, and I often wonder why it is so hard. Thank God that he has given us the Gospel and that it is bearing fruit in peoples lives.