I received the book Brothers, We Are Not Professionals from Barry Carpenter of Expositors International Ministries over 9 years ago. I placed it on my book shelf and neglected to read it. However, this summer I am taking the Applied Ministry class at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and it is one of our required readings. I can not commend this book to pastors or those who aspire to be a pastor enough. Piper brings out a lot of key issues pastors deal with on a day to day basis, all the while reminding pastors to keep God in the center of all that they do. I wish I had read it before now, but I know I have appreciated this book more now than I would have before.
The first significant lesson I gleaned from Dr. Piper’s book was that being a
pastor is not glamorous. The secular world has outlined a false reality when it
comes to being a vocational minister. The minister’s life is one full of messes and not one of ease, as some would think. No-- being a pastor is hard
work. The life of a pastor is one given to prayer and the Word of God. These
two things take much time and labor if done correctly. I have struggled with
both of these in my ministry for the fact that I do not see them as laborious. Regardless of how much
time and energy I have put into praying and studying God’s Word, I have felt like I have not truly "labored or worked." The reason behind this is the false perception I was given
while growing up in the church. The pastor was nothing more than a glorified
chaplain. In other words, he really did not “work” because work consisted of hard, physical labor.
Even though the pastor may not do physical labor, the mental and spiritual work
is often just as laborious, if not more so. However, by God’s grace, I am learning
each day that prayer and the study of God’s Word is essential and difficult work. 1
Timothy 5:17 says, “Let the elders
who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor
in preaching and teaching.”
The second significant lesson learned was for me to
stay fervent in God-honoring, Christ exalting, and gospel-centered prayer. A
reality for me has been falling into seasons where I honestly fail to pray. It
was not that I did not believe prayer to be important, but I failed to pray. I
would think about praying; I even knew that I needed to pray, but I did not
pray. As a pastor, I believe that
this is the very thing in which Satan wants us to fail. If Satan can make the
men of God too busy to pray-- not only for his family, church members,
community, and the lost-- but also for his preparation of sermons, then Satan
has accomplished his mission. The pastor’s sermons will be dead, dry, and dull
without the aid of the Holy Spirit. A truth I have learned is that when I begin
my day by praying for my family, God’s people, and for opportunities to share
the gospel, I find the power and the presence of God to be so much stronger. A
pastor who fails to pray is a pastor who thinks he can accomplish what only God
can accomplish.
The third lesson I gleaned from Piper’s book was the life-giving
doctrine of justification by faith. As Piper so well stated, “The preaching and
living justification by faith alone glorifies Christ, rescues hopeless sinners,
emboldens imperfect saints, and strengthens fragile churches” (17). The
doctrine of justification by faith glorifies the Lord because it strips man’s
ability in setting himself free from the bondage of sin. This freedom from sin
is due to the fact that God chose to send His Son to provide a way of escape
for all those who would believe upon Christ by faith. Living by justification
by faith sets not only the believer free, but also the one who preaches this
doctrine. I have found that living justification by faith is much more of a
reality for me, as I continually embrace this truth on a daily basis. It allows
me to live without any condemnation because I am justified in Christ by faith
alone. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore, now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
The fourth lesson gleaned from the book was that I need to watch out for
sacred substitutes. Piper stated, “Ministry is its own worse enemy.” There are
several interruptions that can prevent the pastor from doing what he has been
called to do. One survey surprisingly showed “the three top ministry obstacles
were; busyness (83 percent), lack of discipline (73 percent), and interruptions
(47 percent)” (59). Thus, Piper combated, “The great threat to our prayer and
our meditation on the Word of God is good ministry activity” (60). I can
certainly relate to this survey. Often I find myself being busy, yet rarely
ever accomplishing work. I have to continually pray and seek wisdom from above
in making the right ministry decisions of where I will spend my time. This
particular chapter was convicting, yet liberating.
The fifth and final lesson I gleaned to be valuable was “Brothers, Fight
For Your Life.” I found the quote by Dr. Martin-Lloyd Jones to be of great
value, as he expressed the importance in fighting for your time. As a pastor, I
must be growing continually by reading, studying, meditating, and writing as I
lead to teach and grow God’s people. This takes time-- precious time. I have
found myself wrestling with the idea of not being available for people. I think
this largely stems from being prideful thoughts, such as, “My people need me.” It makes me feel wanted. In
reality, it is sin of which needs to be repented. However, by God’s
grace,
I am working at fighting for my life by reading in twenty minutes spurts
throughout the day, turning my cell phone on silent, and turning off e-mail and social media in order to
accomplish the work which is placed before me each day.
