Portraits of a Pastor: The 9 Essential Roles of a Church
Leader, edited by Jason K. Allen, is a collection of nine essay with a
conclusion on the being or the essence of being a pastor. Shocking as it may be to many in the
twenty-first century church, “administrator,” and “sexton” did not make the
list.
The authors of this book identify the biblical roles of
the pastor to be those of shepherd, husband and father, preacher, theologian,
church historian, evangelist, missionary, leader, and man of God.
I found these essays encouraging – affirming what I
believe about the ministry – and precise – drawing clear boundaries around what
the ministry is not.
In a time when many believe that the pastor’s role is to
be a social worker or a social justice warrior, this book is a welcome tonic.
Besides affirming things I believed about the pastorate,
I was encouraged when one of the authors argued that Peter sinned in denying
Christ, but was restored to the ministry, so there is no sin, other than
apostasy that disqualifies a repentant return to the ministry after sin.
This is one of the books I would recommend to anyone
considering a call to ministry.
[This review appears on my blog, my YouTube channel,
Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]
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