There are some wonderful thoughts on the current world of pastoring in Scot McKnight’s latest post on the Out of Ur Blog, “Pastors or Personalities?” He tells what one professor of mine used to call a “horror story” about looking up the pastors of one church on their website under “Personalities.” After some reflection about why that (rightfully) repulsed him, he provides some positive critique on what a pastor should be.
One thought I found especially refreshing:
Third, it requires a commitment to reverence both before God and about the task of pastoring. Perhaps the biggest needs of the current generation are models of holiness and reverence.
I am more and more convinced that the movements of the 80's and 90's toward corporate models of marketing church and molding pastors have done much more damage than we can now realize. Are we currently in an era of the church where the “greatest” among us will be the least significant in the last 100 years? Only time will tell, but I would not be surprised if the unnatural focus on pastoral “leadership” and church growth has led us down a historical cul-de-sac of irrelevance.
The world does not need more CEOs and marketing gurus wearing the title of “pastor.” It desperately needs people who will faithfully, truthfully, and thoughtfully present the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2 comments:
Amen to that. I love Scott McKnight and he is spot on. He and Eugene Peterson are great models for Pastors, and great thinkers.
Though Peterson worries me from time to time, some of his pastoral works have been vocation savers for me. This point of view needs to overtake what has dominated the evangelical culture for the last couple of decades.
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