The Pastor as Scholar & The Scholar as Pastor
John Piper & D. A. Carson
'One of the most encouraging and helpful books I have seen in a long time. If you are a pastor, read it. If you have a pastor, put it in his hands'
R. Albert Mohler Jr
Structure
The Pastor as Scholar is helpfully split into 4 Sections:
- Introduction: The Return of the Pastor-Scholar
- The Pastor as Scholar: A personal Journey and the Joyful Place of Scholarship – John Piper
- The Scholar as Pastor: Lessons from the Church and the Academy – D. A. Carson
- The Preacher, the Professor and the True Pastor-Scholar
Really this can be seen as two separate books in a way, with two similar yet different viewpoints on the same subject matter. All of which is tied up very well with the introductory and conclusive chapters.
It is also worth noting that the book was initially a seminar that Piper and Carson gave together, and so has a very relaxed almost conversational style to it, which makes it a very easy read.
Review
The 'question' this book aims to address is 'what do you want to be a Pastor, or a Scholar'. But I think the book also answers the question: ' what do you want as a spiritual leader, a Pastor or a Scholar' as I believe that although this is a book aimed at people in or heading for ministry, that it is also a book for anyone who sits under a Pastor! The conclusion, they both come to, of course, is ' why can't you be both!'
The two main sections of the book are written by Piper and Carson, and they each offer their unique (and well qualified!) view on the subject matter. For the purposes of this review, I am going to review the sections by Piper and Carson individually.
- The Pastor as Scholar – John piper
Piper opens his section by sharing what he calls his 'personal pilgrimage to the pastorate'. In this theme he talks not only about his 'biographical' pilgrimage what I have called 'Birth to Bethlehem', but also his 'idealogical' pilgrimage. The way Piper expresses the place scholarship has in the over arching theme of his ministry is this – 'that God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him', and this is a phrase and a concept that he relates and revisits several times through his section of the book, and we'll come back to this idea later.
One of the things I enjoy about Piper's writing and preaching is his passion, and this again is something that very much comes through in this book, and an issue he discuss' directly. I found Piper's insight on this idea of passion a challenge, especially as he speaks about the cultural differences between British and American attitudes to 'baring our souls', as he puts it, and about speaking publicly of things that mean most to us.
Whilst I acknowledge that sometimes if someone is speaking about the things that are closest to their heart, it can sometimes become about the speaker, and not the text (though I don't think that criticism can be levelled at Piper), it challenged me to think about the fact that if something is important to me (God's word in this case) it should burst forth from me, I shouldn't be able to contain myself, and that should affect the way I share God's word with people.
The next 20 or so pages are spent on the biographical route Piper took to ministry, which I found very interesting to read, especially to consider that from a young age he found it extremely difficult (nearly impossible) to speak in front of a group of people! Through his biography we see that although Piper started out as a 'Scholar' working very much in the academic world, that he was later called into a pastoral ministry.
Piper also talks about 'treasuring'. He discuss' that we need to treasure God's word before we can do good deeds for His glory. Piper very much sees his ministry as being 'driven to attain a heart and mind that treasures God's word' so that he isn't hypocritical in his deeds, and so to treasure God's word he must study it – in other words be a scholar!
But Piper is balanced and does address the downsides/dangers of having a scholarly 'bent' in you ministry. Whilst he maintains that right thinking about God is of utmost importance, he also maintains that 'right thinking about God exists to serve right feelings for God' (a theme that is covered fully in Pipers book Think: the Life of the Mind and Love of God). He makes the point that even the devil has right thoughts about God, but thoughts don't automatically equate with affection - thoughts and thinking are not enough!
Piper finishes his section with '9 biblical basis for the scholarly service of joy'. He covers a lot of ground, too much to cover here, but just to whet your appetite here are the 9 sub headings:
- Zeal according to knowledge
- Understanding in and through thinking
- Life given through reasoning
- Jesus assuming logic
- A use of the mind Jesus hates
- Paul's rhetorical question
- Pastors able to teach
- The hard mental work of book reading
- The Scholar as Pastor – D. A. Carson
Carson begins his section by discussing what is meant by the term Scholar, something which sounds like it should be addressed nearer the beginning of the book, but actually fits in well where it is. Carson discuss' the limitations of the term scholar, but sticks with it using it to mean both 'academia' and 'book study'
Carson puts forward that there is no correct 'answer' to the issue, but rather wants the reader to recognise that God gives people different gifts, and that each should work out their roles of Pastor and Scholar as they feel called and able.
Carson goes on to discuss the importance of seeing our intellectual endeavour as being important to God, not only in 'Christian' study, but in any study we undertake, another example of how this book is useful for people other than those heading for ministry.
Its then on pg76 that Carson hits what I think is a key issue in the intellectual/pastoral debate, he writes:
'...just because I study the half-life of a quark, a pilated woodpecker, the consistory records of Geneva in the years after Calvin’s death, the destructive influence of Richard Simon, or a Hebrew infinitive construct does not guarantee that I love God better. In fact, it may seduce me into thinking I am more holy and more pleasing to God, when all I am doing is pleasing myself: I like to study. After all, plenty of secularists are fine technical scholars who enjoy their work and make excellent discoveries and write great tomes, without deluding themselves into thinking that they thereby prove they love God and deserve high praise in the spiritual sphere. Nothing is quite as deceitful as an evangelical scholarly mind that thinks it is especially close to God because of its scholarship rather than because of Jesus.'
I think this is something we can quite easily fall into, whether it be to do with study or another supposedly devotional aspect of our life, we can sometimes see it as the ends, rather than the means.
Carson also then spends some pages telling us a little of his pilgrimage into ministry, and it's interesting to note that he took the 'reverse' route to Piper in that he started as a Pastor, then moved into the scholarly realms.
Carson then finishes off his section with 12 lessons for the Scholar as Pastor, and again I am just going to list those headings here:
- Take Steps to avoid being a mere quartermaster
- Beware the seduction of applause
- Fight a common disjunction
- Never forget people
- Recognise different gifts
- Recognise what students learn
- Make the main thing the Main thing
- Pray and work for vision
- Love the church
- Avoid lone-ranger scholarship
- Be interested in the work of others
- Take your work seriously, but not yourself
- The Conclusion
A few pages at the end are left for a conclusion which nicely sums up Piper and Carson's routes into their ministries, discuss' the importance and prevalence of Pastor-Scholars today, but most importantly acknowledges Jesus as the ultimate example of a Pastor-Scholar, engaging heart and head, not compromising one for the other. Finishing with this:
'This new generation of Christian leaders does well to look to Piper and Carson and Keller and the others. We may do even better, in some senses, in looking to Luther and Calvin. We do better still looking to Paul. And we do best Looking to Jesus.'
Closing Comments
I really enjoyed reading this book, I found it thought provoking and challenging, whilst being highly readable. The issue of Pastor-Scholar, is dealt with very adeptly by two highly knowledgeable and Godly men, from two very different stand points.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is a Pastor, or has a Pastor, and especially to those considering their own ministry paths.
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