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Book Summary

The Imperfect Pastor by Zack Eswine

Summary of The Imperfect Pastor

Main Idea

Pastors desire the ministries to which they have been called. Often the desires are for God to use us in grand ways as he did Augustine, Calvin, Spurgeon, or Sproul.

Many soon-to-be pastors, on the heels of seminary, face a tough reality. Most pastors will never see a fraction of such successes. In fact, ministry will be ordinary work with ordinary people in ordinary places.

Is Christ calling newly minted pastors to climb stepping-stone churches to get their dream church? Could He instead be calling them to walk with Him as humble, needy, and present pastors who will do His work no matter where His providence guides them?

Too often, pastors define ministry success as doing a lot of great work for a lot of people in a little bit of time. They have heartfelt desires to do kingdom work but get “lost in [their] longings” (p. 19).

Often, these good desires push pastors to attempt to bring change and achieve “success” in ways that God didn’t intend for them. On the brink of crashing and burning if they don’t first get asked to leave their churches, they have to slow down.

What is it that makes slowing down so tough? “It is our cravings for something other than fame-shy work, our everywhere for all, know-it-all, fix-it-all attempts to replace God, and our prayerlessness, which leaves us burdened with a load only God is meant to carry.” (p. 118) This burden can lead pastors to burnout or even suicide.

However, Jesus gives us a quiet ambition which draws us to value beholding God and finding our place in His plan. An apprenticeship with Jesus ultimately will bring us back to who we were created to be and enable others to be who God created them to be for God’s glory.

We do this work as imperfect pastors.

Key Insights

Key Insight 1

God Uses the Ordinary

More often than not, God places pastors in ordinary ministries for His glory.

The Imperfect Pastor Key Insight #1

Doing ordinary ministry is not what many pastors or churches “feel” called to do. In fact, it would sound ridiculous for a young man to say, “I aspire to serve as a common, ordinary, mundane, normal, routine, average, usual, and humdrum pastor for an unexceptional, commonplace, everyday, run-of-the-mill congregation. As a preacher, I am unremarkable and middling” (p. 21-22).

Instead of desiring the ordinary, then, we feel that we must do something grand. For example, the most common way to put out a fire is to douse it with water. Few children aspire to work for the water company who provides the water and opt for the role of firefighter instead. This ministry carries over into ministry, as well.

The work of average pastors is mundane, invisible, uncontrollable, and unfinished. Average pastors meet in coffee shops for lunch with desperate parents. Most church members don’t see the desperate parents or the 1 A.M. text message that was sent asking the pastor to meet up for this cup of coffee. Neither the pastor nor the parents even know whether they will need to meet again to discuss the same struggles.

If all pastors aspire to attain celebrity status, preaching at conferences and writing books, “who will sit without haste listening for God over soup in the middle of an ordinary day in a mundane place so that an unknown-to-the-world family who loves Jesus can find their way in him in the midst of what actually hurts them, confuses them, or thrills them most?” (p. 59).

These invisible moments are far from unimportant, but they don’t often show up on resumes or the informal performance reviews used to evaluate a pastor during the couple of hours he does public ministry each week.

Jesus frequently did the invisible work of praying for and spending time with ordinary people. His focus wasn’t on the grand moments. “These two mantras—keep people coming and keep up our approval rating—are the celebrity way,” but Jesus didn’t cave to either of these (p. 67).

By grace, we can choose Jesus’ way.

Key Quotes

“There is beauty and arson in desire.”

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// (Page 22)

“I didn’t envision this kind of daily life. I thought of a pastor as something akin to an itinerant conference speaker, prophetically originating and preaching vision for large crowds and organizations, so that I can constantly demonstrate that we are not like other churches and I am not like other preachers.”

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// (Page 59)

“Have you ever noticed the Jesus way of strategic networking in Luke’s gospel? It is almost nonexistent (at least, as it related to being in the know and connecting with those who matter.)”

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// (Page 62)

Application Questions

  • What are the things in ministry that bore? What things make you restless? Which of these things get more of your energy and attention?
  • What is your definition of a successful ministry? From where does this definition come?
  • If God doesn’t give you a large or prominent ministry, how will that affect your zeal for gospel ministry?

Key Insight 2

Your Inner Life Matters

The pastor’s inner life shapes all that he does and desires in his ministry.

The Imperfect Pastor Key Insight #2

In trying to be everywhere-all-the-time, fix-it-all, know-it-all pastors, we can lose sight of our deepest need—communion with God. We become outwardly focused on things that God doesn’t value, and if we’re honest, we are tempted to “give large amounts of detailed attention to how we appear [outwardly]” (p.67) while, at the same time, neglecting our hearts.

Our ambition has to become quiet. We have to learn to “aspire to live quietly, and to mind [our] own affairs” (1 Th. 4:11). We will become willing to be overlooked in the world, and this willingness will ultimately come from being known and cherished by our triune God rather than men.

How does this happen? It begins by learning to behold God again. Instead of the fast pace that we are used to in our pressure cooker society, we have to take the crock pot route instead and devote ourselves to moments of solitude before the Lord. As we slow down, we will start to notice God in history, in the provisions of daily life, and in His help moment-by-moment.

Practically, beholding God looks like slowing down in His presence and silencing our minds so we can hear from Him in His Word. We take our anxieties to Him when we meet with Him rather than simply getting through our spiritual to-do list so we can get on with the real pastoral work. This is vital because “boredom, restless mind, feelings of wasted time, and anxious fear all collaborate into a gang and try to loot us” (p. 160).

Our times in the Bible move beyond simply gaining knowledge to keeping our identity in Christ intact like Jesus did when He disputed with Satan, saying, “It is written”. We go to God without identity struggles, doubts, and weaknesses, and we “learn once again in this quiet time of the desert that we are beloved” (p. 163).

Key Quotes

“Quiet is a means of God’s grace.”

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// (Page 143)

“Jesus can fix his hunger if he just takes the bread (Luke 4:4). Jesus can prove that he is the Son of God if he just throws himself down (Luke 4:6) He can be the celebrity king possessing everything and inhabiting every place (Luke 4:5). Jesus sifts through all these ugly accusations, temptations, memories, fears, and lies to detect the Father’s voice and stand there among the sentences.”

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// (Page 163)

“You look to the Father through His Word to contemplate His love for you in Jesus. In this quiet time you wrestle lies about your being beloved. You place confidence in His promises.”

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// (Page 62)

Application Questions

  • What are some ways in which you are tempted to resist taking time to sit quietly before the Lord to hear His Word?
  • When was the last time you slowed down to really behold and worship the Lord in private without any motive or agenda other than simply enjoying Him?
  • How has your ministry benefited or suffered based upon the state of your inner life?

Key Insight 3

Pursue Romantic Realism

Romantic realism looks for the beauty in both the mundane and the extraordinary.

The Imperfect Pastor Key Insight #3

 

Pastoring requires dreaming and casting a biblical vision while also accepting the realities and constraints of where we are now. The temptation, however, is to move toward one or another extreme of discontentment and dissatisfaction: romanticism or resignation.

Romanticism can be seen in those pastors who “cannot find God in the ordinary” (p. 247). These pastors live on the high that comes from grand moments, and they are always looking to catch that next heroic moment in order to feel God really moving. They find it hard to believe that God is found in the ordinary or boring aspects of everyday life, and they find it depressing to be in unknown, ordinary places.

Resignation is seen in pastors who also can’t find God in the ordinary. However, they have given up on finding God or His work in their mundane lives and ministries. The cynicism and depression that follow this type of pastor lead to bitterness and discontentment with life in general.

Both of these types of pastors (who can easily shift from one to the other over time) have one thing in common: an all-or-nothing mentality that “either everything is grand or nothing is” (p. 248). It is easy to see how one can easy drift toward a “nothing” mentality when ministry is more often bland than grand.

 

Romantic realism is the Christlike response to both of these mentalities. Romantic realism is shown by people who are “realistic about the fact that heroic moments are not the normal way that God daily visits his people”, and yet “still believe that God is doing something larger than we can presently see” (p. 248).

Romantic realists understand that even heroic moments are typically used by God to get His people back to the ordinary lives they were living. They see that heroes often go unnoticed in their generations and that heroic moments are heavenly but are not heaven themselves.

Romantic realism allows us to rejoice in the ordinary word and sacraments of church life. It allows us to be where we are for the long haul. It allows us that Jesus has “called us on some street in a local place as those who belonged to somebody somewhere and whose family name had become our own” (p.252).

Key Quotes

“Jesus is calling you to stop all this tramping about and come finally home.”

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// (Page 249)

“No matter how gifted we are, God invites us to Himself for the sake of local people in a local place with the long learning of local knowledge in Jesus until He comes.”

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// (Page 249)

“No matter how gifted we are, God invites us to Himself for the sake of local people in a local place with the long learning of local knowledge in Jesus until He comes.”

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// (Page 250)

“What I am learning is that the romantic realist finds his or her way toward a long rhythm in a local place.”

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// (Page 253)

“Grace is everywhere”

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// (Page )

Application Questions

  • Why would God want you to be content with where you are when He could use you to do bigger and better things in a different setting?
  • Do you naturally lean toward romanticism or resignation? How does this impact your view of day-to-day ministry?
  • How can romantic realism benefit you in your current ministry setting?

Chapter Ideas

Chapter 1

Desire

Desires aren’t always as noble as we like to make them seem. At times, even the longing of a pastor to do great work is simply worldly desires manifested in a church context. The desire to do something great for the kingdom of God can quickly shift into a desire to build the kingdom of self.

Pastoral desires are shaped by how we define greatness and our expectations of God’s timing in granting ministry success. Since God doesn’t typically use the speedy route, many pastors’ love for God and people begins to wane. They forget that God often brings joy in Him through waiting and persevering. Desire greatness, but desire it patiently.

There is no satisfaction or true joy apart from loving Christ. Find Jesus as your treasure and let the overflow from that joy spill over into the lives of the people around you. This will lead to successful ministry.

Key Quotes

“Make no mistake. Desire is a firework. Handled wisely it fills the night sky with light, color, beauty, and delight. Handle desire poorly, and it can burn your neighborhood down (James 4:1-2).”

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// (Page 19)

“Most God-given joys we seek get damaged when words like instantly and haste and impatience are thrown at us.”

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// (Page 28)

Chapter 2

Recovering Our Humanity

Pastors are not superhuman. Pastoring is about finding true humanity in Christ and pointing our neighbors to the Human for whom we were created. Rooted in Genesis 2, our aim should be to love God and others wherever we are for God’s glory alone.

Recovering humanity means that pastors will deal with ordinary people in ordinary places most of the time. They can’t be everywhere at all times doing everything the church and world expect of them. Pastors need to be good husbands, fathers, friends, and shepherds who do the things that matter most to Jesus. This won’t feel like success, but it is.

Resisting humanity will ultimately lead to failure in ministry. Pastors have committed suicide by failing to accept the reality of their humanness. God does great things through men and women of God—even with our limitations and weaknesses. It is vital that pastors believe this.

Key Quotes

“Pastoral desires, however grand and noble, do not deliver us from bodily limits.”

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// (Page 36)

“It is easy to do a great thing for God so long as greatness does not require interior humility, practical love for the people right in front of us, or submission to the presence of Jesus in the place we already are.”

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// (Page 42)

Chapter 3

Leaving Home

Pastors carry two sorts of theology with them. “Big T” theology is picked up from the formal teaching of Bible teachers. However, there is also “little t” theology—the theology inadvertently picked up throughout our lives— which shows up unexpectedly.

The “little t” theology affects areas like: views of manhood, how we treat women, our perspectives on race, and the numerous other areas in which ideas and habits are more caught than taught. “Little t” theology is on full display when we experience rejection, criticism, and disappointment in ministry. Our ways teach.

In Christ, there is grace for pastors in the midst of misguided family perceptions, hometown rejection, and ministry failure. We can look to Jesus’ example in these areas as a source of joy and hope. Even in the face of rejection, Jesus loved people and displayed His “Big T” theology. Pastors can do the same.

Key Quotes

“Ways teach. They form the primary classrooms of our learning. For better and for worse, we learn to see the world and present ourselves in it for witness, not just from creedal statements we learn in class but also from relational mentoring with those with whom we do life (Prov. 13:20; 22:24–25).”

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// (Page 46)

“Once Jesus ‘began to teach in the synagogue,’ the welcome mat was removed by most. ‘They took offense at him’ (Mark 6:1–8; Luke 4:16–30).”

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// (Page 52)

Chapter 4

Invisible

Describing the work of a pastor is difficult when much of a pastor’s work seemingly is invisible. God often uses pastors in the mundane, invisible, uncontrollable, and unfinished areas of real life. Rather than chasing a platform, Jesus modeled this invisible ministry.

Jesus gives pastors an example of “fame-shyness” (p. 60). People were constantly looking for Him, but Jesus wasn’t always available. His way of ministry often was withdrawing to prayer, spending time with broken people, and refusing to show partiality to the popular crowd.

We often struggle with trying to appear as something we aren’t. We fear losing members and failing. We need courage, patience, and grace to trust Jesus more than appearance. Jesus was rejected for doing gospel work, and pastors need support when they are rejected for the same reasons. Pastors need to remember that they are known by Jesus.

Key Quotes

“Jesus’ way is not the celebrity way.”

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// (Page 64)

Chapter 5

Everywhere for All

God did not create humans to be everywhere at once—including pastors. As we pursue our calling in one direction, we necessarily have to leave other callings and directions behind. Jesus was of Nazareth. He was not everywhere all the time.

Too often, we desire to climb grand mountains of ministry success when an ordinary, mundane life may be the mountain God gives us. The shepherds at Jesus’ birth saw the glory of the Savior but returned back to their despised and weary job. The prophet Jeremiah lived in the brutal days of Israel’s exile while promising the hope of a future prosperity that wouldn’t be seen by most of the people he preached to, including himself.

Each day, most pastors will return to monotony. Many may desire to leave for easier, bigger, and better ministry. They must learn to stay put, seek the glory of God where they are, and continue deepening their roots as they learn how to pastor for God’s glory and to build His kingdom.

Key Quotes

"God did not create humans to be everywhere at once—including pastors. As we pursue our calling in one direction, we necessarily have to leave other callings and directions behind. Jesus was of Nazareth. He was not everywhere all the time."

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// (Page 76)

“He who called you to where you are declares that you needn’t repent of being in one place at one time. You needn’t repent of doing only a long, small work in an extraordinary but unknown place. Standing long in one place for a while allows the roots to deepen. It allows pastors to become pastors. Slowly the shade grows and a life gives. It is Jesus of Nazareth who walks with you.”

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// (Page 87)

Chapter 6

Fix It All

Pastors are expected to fix problems. The problem is that we often believe that we can. A false sense of omnipotence makes us think that our words and biblical knowledge will fix things. We see from Jesus’ experience with the Pharisees that theological clarity isn’t enough to change people’s hearts.

In order to ‘succeed’, some pastors raise their voices and use intimidation to get their point across. Others use defensiveness—either in emotional outbursts or silent record-keeping—rather than simply admitting that they don’t have the power to change things.

Pastors have to acknowledge that we are powerless apart from Christ. We can’t, of ourselves, increase the fruitfulness of our ministry, bring the peace people desperately beg for, or do everything that needs to be done. Pastors can’t fix it all, and we all have to live with that. God will still use us for His glory.

Key Quotes

”You were never meant to repent because you can’t fix everything. You are meant to repent because you’ve tried.”

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// (Page 96)

“There is nothing we can do in ministry that does not require God to act, if true fruit is to be produced (John 15:5). Everything pastors hope will take place in a person’s life with God remains outside the pastor’s own power.”

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// (Page 97)

Chapter 7

Know It All

Being a know-it-all pastor reveals a false sense of omniscience. As the misuse of a flashlight can actually hinder people from seeing in a dark room, so can the misuse of Scripture get in the way of the Light they were meant to provide. Zeal for scripture without true knowledge and humility is dangerous.

We only can know in part (1 Co. 13:12), and we must be willing to accept this limitation. Knowing more doesn’t eliminate our fallenness, nor does it eradicate the sin in others. Jesus exemplified knowledge that leads to love for God and others. As we pursue knowledge properly and patiently, we will realize our need for grace. This often doesn’t seem to happen.

The answer is not to reject knowledge. Rather, we need to see Christ’s example of patient and perfect knowledge and daily admit our need for humility. We can trust that God will graciously provide knowledge as we focus on Him and His Word.

Key Quotes Test

“Because we are right on one thing never means that we are right about everything or even what matters most.”

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// (Page 109)

“Because we are right on one thing never means that we are right about everything or even what matters most.”

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// (Page 115)

Chapter 8

Immediacy

In a culture of immediacy, pastoral patience is not optional—it is vital. The temptation of ministry is to do everything in haste because we feel late or have the fear of missing out and getting behind the curve. 

In reality, pastors need to have a marathon mentality so that we are not ready to give up when times get tough.Through Paul, God shows us the marathon way with vivid illustrations of soldiers, athletes, and farmers. Time is needed to change hearts and church cultures.

In the midst of turmoil and trials, pastors learn to be patient even with their enemies. Patience requires courage and strength. It requires preaching that is gracious and encouraging. It requires members and elders showing grace to pastors and pastors showing grace to members and elders.

Ultimately, “patience requires patience” (p. 131).

Key Quotes

“So maybe we can describe haste as ‘feeling late’ or ‘thinking we have to run.’ Wherever we are, it is like we are itching to leave. We have somewhere we are supposed to be, but where we are is never that place. So we constantly feel we are missing out, losing our chance, or forfeiting what we could have had if we could just get there before the hourglass sand empties out.”

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// (Page 121)

“Pastors are long-distance grace runners. Congregations provide the route their marathons will take.”

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// (Page 124)

Chapter 9

A New Ambition

The everywhere-for-all, fix-it-all, know-it-all pastors seeking success as fast as possible have to go on a detox. Ministering in these ways is like hosting a dinner and interrupting the guest of honor—the guest being God Himself.

Pastors must learn the importance of silence. We must learn to listen quietly as God gives us a new ambition for a quiet ministry. A “sabbath heart” that pursues rest in Christ is vital when forsaking the people-pleasing that so characterizes our old ways and ambitions.

Getting new ambitions requires the understanding that:

  • God has placed us within our pastoral boundaries.
  • Our fear of missing out causes us to miss out on the ministry God has set before us.
  • Smaller is always better than larger unless God pushes us into larger ministry.

Scripture shows us a quiet, poor, and wise Savior. It shows us that we lose what’s most important to us when we start interrupting God rather than quietly letting Him guide us. Pastors need quiet hearts that can hear from God.

Key Quotes

”In all our attempts to do for God without waiting for him, we’ve lost our quiet heart, our capacity for treating neighbors with hospitable room rather than using them for our platform or strategic plan, and we lose our ability to wait with discernment for God’s timing and ways. We’ve grown reactive, consuming of others, and hasty, and all of this for God. This means that we are likely to mentor others into these qualities as well.”

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// (Page 149)

“In the quiet God is heard and the mending begins.”

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// (Page 150)

Chapter 10

Beholding God

As we pursue a quieter ambition, we have to learn to behold God again. The chief aim for a pastor should be to seek God, desire Him with all of our affections, and find rest in Him alone. From there, we help God’s people find their rest in Him, too.

Beholding God impacts several areas of pastor’s lives including:

  • Our meetings, as we consciously rely on God during all of our interactions
  • Our intercessory prayers, as we spend more time praying for people than getting stuff done
  • Our time meeting with the Lord, as we quiet our minds to enjoy His presence
  • Our thought lives, as we talk issues over with God rather than ourselves
  • Our definition of quiet time, as we become less academic and more earnest about the cares of our souls
  • Our approach to the Word, as we admit how little we know and seek God for help.

Beholding God is something that can be our soul’s activity in all circumstances.

Key Quotes

“The purpose of quiet with God is hospitable welcome to the weary.”

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// (Page 153)

”May he recover us again so that we relearn to open the Bible, not ‘as a common book, with a common and unreverant heart; but in the dread and love for God the author.’[*] We open the book to behold not it but him as he is revealed to us in it. Soon the Bible becomes again for us like the drippings of the honeycomb, more appealing to us than any material gain or status in this world (Ps. 19:10).”

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// (Page 164, *Richard Baxter)

Chapter 11

Finding Our Pace

Pastors are burdened for people and from people. To thrive, their pace must allow them to live and behold God moment-by-moment, day-by-day. The Biblical picture of a day includes four portions: morning, noon, evening, and the night watches.

Mornings (sunrise to noon) are for thanksgiving to seek grace for the day ahead. At noon (noon to 6 PM), as weariness from our daily work increases, we must lean on grace as we remember our salvation in Christ. In the evening, (6 PM to 10 PM) we seek Christ to help put away work so we can be loving and hospitable to friends and family.  In the night watches (10 PM to 6 PM), we take the day’s cares to God and find rest in Him. 

Each daily portion requires attention and prayer. Weekly, we set aside a day for rest so we can recover and have the energy to pastor well.

Key Quotes

“A pace conducive to the conditions we face can help us a great deal, because anxieties are coming.”

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// (Page 169)

”If the morning beckons us to sing, the afternoon humbles us into a remembrance that we need his salvation. The morning teaches us to praise. The afternoon teaches us patience and perseverance. The noonday has a beginning and an end. To cross its finish line is grace and strength! Another mile and our burdens carried.”

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// (Page 171)

Chapter 12

Care for the Sick

An important part of pastoring is touching people whose lives have been wrecked by sickness and death. We will hold a feeble hand, hug a sick and grieving widow, or touch the forehead of a dying saint. This is gospel touch—touch that reflects brotherly love in Christ.

Jesus’ ministry to the sick has been shared with pastors. We meet with saints whose lives have been shaken by the death of a loved one, and our great work is to listen, love, serve, and speak the gospel into situations as we give them our presence and our loving attention.

When saints are sick and call for the elders to pray, we come with oil and faith to pray for healing. We must pray with a mindset of humble faith in God’s ability to heal and His faithfulness to carry us when He doesn’t. Ultimately, we point sick and dying saints to the forgiveness they have in Christ alone.

Key Quotes

“Beyond the pokes of medical people, the elderly often enter a famine of touch as if dwelling in the desert years of their lives.”

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// (Page 189)

”The sickness of body or mind throws a brick at the mirror of our perfect image. We see our reflection shattered and find ourselves more needy for grace and the merit of Jesus than we ever knew when our joints and muscles worked.”

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// (Page 197)

Chapter 13

Care for the Sinner

Pastors care for the sick, but they must also care for the sinners in their midst. Hardened hearts will be in our pews, and church discipline will be necessary. Self-examination and wisdom are essential.

In church discipline, we see both godly and worldly grief. As we help congregants discern whether their sorrow is godly or not, we will encounter genuinely softened hearts and wicked, hardened hearts. We need God’s grace to love and care for those who are truly repentant.

Galatians 6 requires that we only pursue church discipline when our believing brother is caught in a sin or transgression—not unbelievers. In the church we see many types of transgressions by believers, even gross and frightening sins, and God’s designated restoring agents are spiritual people (true believers). Some saints, even pastors, won’t be able to be intimately involved in the restoration process for specific sins. However, it is a weighty task for pastors to lead their churches in caring for sinners.

Key Quotes

“Not every weakness or struggle arises from sin.”

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// (Page 210)

”A question arises: Is there any kind of sin that we would find ourselves unwilling to enter or unable to treat in a Jesus way? Our answer will show us where we need individual grace and a community in Jesus that can handle more things collectively than we can personally.”

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”A question arises: Is there any kind of sin that we would find ourselves unwilling to enter or unable to treat in a Jesus way? Our answer will show us where we need individual grace and a community in Jesus that can handle more things collectively than we can personally.”

Chapter 14

Local Knowledge

Pastors have been called by God to do the gospel work of which they are a part. At first, this is an open-handed willingness for whatever God desires. However, we can lose this mentality and begin to vision-cast apart from the context of our congregations.

Like road builders, we can use dynamite to blast away obstacles to build our paths. However, like Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12, ignoring the counsel and wisdom of our congregations can lead us to wreak havoc in our churches.

Humble pastors can use local knowledge to shape their visions. Other pastors, church leaders, and theological perspectives impact congregants in numerous ways, and these ways should be acknowledge and valued.

Though pastors are change agents for the church, we must also remember that the church is a change agent for pastors as well. With this consideration, we need to be willing to admit when we don’t yet have what the church needs.

Key Quotes

”After all, you are an unknown person in an unknown place who will seem irrelevant to most people in the world today, not to mention those who will read about your life centuries from now. And yet God gathers up every detail of your days with love and interest. The next time you open his book, remember this local knowledge that God wants you to inhabit, okay?”

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// (Page 213)

“Sometimes we can’t help a people until after we’ve been with them for a while, and being with them is the means God uses to teach us what he wants us to offer them.”

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// (Page 226)

Chapter 15

Leadership

Do our leadership strategies come from Jesus or the world? Do we lead in a way that we would want our people to follow?

Elder meetings should be a time of worship, accountability, decision making, and love rather than data-driven corporate business meetings solely driven by visions of growth and successful programs. Since pastoring is relational and people-focused, elders should train from and among the people over an extended period of time. There is intentionality, but it is in the context of community and church life together.

Good leadership also focuses on more than simply doing things right. Decision-making also includes asking: “What is the right way to do this?” and “Is this the right time?” (p. 243). The process is tough and it is tempting to join the “inner ring” of friendship with those who seem more important or help gain us some advantage. However, pastors have to learn to trust Jesus, not the inner circle.

Key Quotes

“An elder unable to speak transparently regarding his personal need for grace will make it difficult for people in the congregation who know themselves to be sinners to come and talk with him about it.”

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// (Page 234)

Chapter 16

Romantic Realism

In Judges, we read of prophets and judges whom God called to rescue His people. We also learn the story of Ruth and Boaz from this time period. Too easily, we gravitate to the grandiose desires to be like Deborah or Samson rather than the ones who ended up in Jesus’ genealogy.

Many heroes are unknown to their own generation. Romantics are so busy looking for the grand moments that they can’t see God where they are. Resigned pastors have given up on the idea of seeing God use them or their ordinary work at all.

Romantic realism sees God in the ordinary but longs for the grand and heroic moments. It is rooted in the cross of Christ, where the Hero recovered the relationship and presence of God in everyday life. Romantic realism sees how God uses alphabets, ink, paper, wafers, and grape juice to meet with His people day by day.

Key Quotes

“The great work to be done is right in front of you with the persons and places that his providence has granted you.”

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// (Page 249)

”What I’m trying to say is that life and ministry are an apprenticeship in Jesus in which, by his grace, he recovers our humanity, and for his glory he enables others to do the same. Bernanos had it right. ‘Grace is everywhere.”

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// (Page 253)

  

Conclusion

As pastors, our aspirations to trust God in our calling can shift from being open-handed to God’s plan to doing large things famously and as fast as we can. We are reminded that this path toward being a successful celebrity pastor is not for most pastors.

God calls most pastors to be ordinary pastors among ordinary people in ordinary places. If we can shift our aspirations to God we will avoid the trap of being self-reliant, everywhere-for-all, fix-it-all, know-it-all, urgent pastors. We will be able to love and shepherd the way God has intended.

As we walk in an apprenticeship with Jesus, we can see in His Word and His life what it looks like to pastor well. We are imperfect pastors relying on the grace of the Perfect Shepherd.

God Uses the Ordinary

More often than not, God places pastors in ordinary ministries for His glory.

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Your Inner Life Matters

The pastor’s inner life shapes all that he does and desires in his ministry.

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Pursue Romantic Realism

Romantic realism looks for the beauty in both the mundane and the extraordinary.

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Summary of The Imperfect Pastor

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