Eugene H. Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir (Harper One, 2011), 336 pages.
I love older pastors. They are a unique gift to the church and especially to younger pastors. This is why I was curious to read The Pastor by Eugene Peterson. This book of his memoirs is a glimpse into the life and ministry of this man who, although he pastored over 30 years and wrote many books, is best known as the author of the biblical paraphrase, The Message.
The Pastor is an easy to read, autobiographical account of one man’s journey in realizing his calling to be a pastor and the constant progression of life’s events that helped bring him to that place. Hence, the catch phrase of the book is “Every step an arrival.” The book begins with his childhood, family life, and living in what the author refers to as the “sacred ground” of Montana—a place to which he comes back throughout his life for rest and reflection. The storyline progresses into his early years of adulthood where his aspirations were to be a professor and teach languages. Peterson’s life took, however, an unexpected, abrupt turn as he came to realize he was to be a pastor, through a series of pivotal events and influential relationships. This brought him to the place of not just pastor, but church planter in the growing suburbs of Bel Air, Maryland where he pastored the church he planted for the next thirty years.
Three helpful lessons for pastoral ministry from this book:
There were several aspects of Peterson’s memoirs that prove beneficial to pastors serving in the trenches of pastoral ministry. Every pastor would do well to embrace and apply these lessons, regardless the kind of church or ministry you serve:
Be resistant to the consumer mindset of church.
Many of us reject the idea that tricks and novelty can in any way build a church, especially a healthy one. Peterson’s life-long rejection of this idea to appeal to the consumer to build a church made him a bit of a renegade in the prime of his ministry and is undeniable throughout the book. His conviction that Christ’s church should not look like the world is an important caution and should be heeded by those who are intensely focused on one primary generation in the church or who might be driven by consumerism in a more subtle form than they realize.
Realize pastoral ministry is largely about connecting with people.
One of the prevalent disconnects that exists on most seminary campuses is the one of theology and practicality. This disconnect will continue as these students take their first pastorates if they do not learn at some point what Peterson knew from the beginning and he faithfully held fast to throughout his ministry. The most engaging characteristic of this book is the way Peterson vividly describes his interactions with the different kinds of people he had met. These interactions helped mold him as a pastor and his understanding of pastoral ministry. The content of the book can be summarized by the people he knew, the experiences he had with them, and how those experiences made him the pastor he is. This book reflects that Peterson got something about ministry really right, and proved he knew what so many still need to learn. Pastoral ministry is largely about people and our long-term invest to care for them.
Growth as a pastor comes through trial and error.
Peterson emphasized that pastoral growth comes, not through further education or finding that niche of pragmatism, but from the way God uses our experiences in ministry to mature us, teach us, and make us wiser than before. This message from this seasoned man needs to be heard by every young aspiring pastor who thinks that next degree or popular conference is what will make them a faithful pastor, when some of the best pastoral preparation is to roll up your sleeves, get dirty and messy, and learn as you minister to God’s people.
Three concerns when reading The Pastor:
I cautiously refer to these critiques as “concerns,” not to be disrespectful to my senior in the ministry who has seen and done much more than I. These concerns are only birthed from my reading of this book and are not based on a fuller evaluation of Peterson’s well-known ministry:
Be careful that your calling and ministry is evaluated by Scripture, not experience.
Although there is merit in the way God prepares a man for ministry through his experiences, Peterson placed an uncomfortable amount of focus on experience as that which identifies a pastor, instead of the biblical qualifications clearly mapped out for us in Scripture (1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, 1 Peter 5:1-4). In fact, the book ironically entitled, The Pastor, was eerily silent on the issues of internal and external calling in Scripture. According to this volume, which recounts Peterson’s personal experience and call as a pastor, calling is to be evaluated based on the happenstances of life instead of Scripture. Be careful that you do not evaluate your calling, pursuit of pastoral ministry, or your level of faithfulness in ministry by your experience alone.
Be discerning about your associations in pastoral ministry.
Peterson spoke of the value of networking and partnering with other pastors for the sake of fellowship, instruction, and encouragement, a concept with which I would heartily agree. My concern came from what seemed to be a lack of discernment in his doctrinally broad spectrum of associations. In regard to this “company of pastors” Peterson writes, “Theologically we covered the spectrum, from Christian to Jew, from conservative to liberal, and nearly every shade in between. This diversity did not divide us” (pg. 149).
He goes on to describe the most helpful counsel often came from the Jewish Rabbi as he instructed the Christian pastors. We can disagree with many issues of doctrine and practice and still benefit from a band of brothers who shepherd God’s people. However, we must draw certain lines in the sand of association, first of which should come when a pastor is not faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Peterson accounts of clearly crossing that line all throughout his memoirs whether it be learning ministry from a Jewish Rabbi or a monk in a monastery. Be discerning of your pastoral associations for if the gospel is compromised, there is nothing of any eternal significance around which to associate.
Beware of theological ambiguity for the sake of mass appeal.
I was puzzled to read a 300+ page book on the memoirs of a pastor and come to the end with no idea of any substantial theological convictions Peterson possesses. That does not mean he lacks them, but after reading this book I am concerned they are not as pronounced as they should be coming from an older pastor reflecting on his life-long ministry. Although Peterson is very anti-consumer church, he also possesses a theological ambiguity that seems to be for pragmatic reasons. My hope in reading the memoirs of an older, well-known, and experienced pastor would be to rejoice with him in the great doctrines of the faith that have sustained him through all the challenges and difficulties of the trench work of pastoral ministry. Unfortunately, I could not.
Pastors, make sure as we reflect back on our own ministries that not just our experiences with our flock come to our minds. A confidence in God’s sovereignty, the hope of justification by faith alone in Christ, and the unchangeable attributes of our great God could never be absent as we share about those experiences, especially, if you are that unique gift of an older pastor.
Brian, thanks for the helpful review. Having finished Peterson’s book yesterday, I had many of the same reactions as you. His emphasis on personal and patient ministry with people is a lesson for us all. I was also disconcerted when he did not delineate the roles of Christian pastors and Jewish rabbis. However, I want to push back a little on your assertion that Peterson withholds his theological convictions.
He has much to say about the nature of doing church, his own journey toward valuing historical theology and church heritage, sabbath, and the nature of sacrament — all theological notions. Perhaps it will be helpful for readers to keep the genre of the book in mind, as some of Peterson’s other books (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Living the Resurrection) make clearer and more extended biblical-theological proposals than this one. While he gives his insights in The Pastor through the means of personal narratives, he gives his insights nonetheless.
During my reading, I was compelled to write down one particular example of his theological specificity in the way he defines the church precisely because it is so theologically loaded, “Church is the core element in the strategy of the Holy Spirit for providing human witness and physical presence to the Jesus-inaugurated kingdom of God in this world. It is not that kingdom complete, but it is that kingdom” (pg. 110). As I will reflect bak on my ministry one day, I hope it is as Trinitarian as Peterson’s.
Again, thank you for the thoughtful review.
I’m concerned about your “concerns” Brian. For the record, I have never read anything by Eugene Peterson, not even his famous Message. So I am far from being a fan. But come on Brian, your “concerns” sound more like accusations to me.
What evidence do you have that Peterson was theologically ambiguous “for the sake of mass appeal.” This of a man who ALREADY has mass appeal. If you know anything about the publishing industry, especially the Christian publishing industry, you’ll know that Peterson could have written a cookbook and it would have been published. An author of Peterson’s stature does not need to be theologically ambiguous for the sake of mass appeal. Case in point: You didn’t read his memoir because you wanted to read about a pastor’s life. You read it because it was Eugene Peterson’s memoirs.
To your second “concern” I would caution your readers of drawing the lines in the sand too clearly and ending up being so insular that you only surround yourself with those who completely agree with you (take note Gospel Coalition). I don’t know how it is in mega churches, but the majority of churches in America are small (<100) and pastors get together to work together. I pastor a church of 52 members and I get together often with the pastor in the area. There are fundamentalist pastors, Pentecostals and very liberal Mainline, we are whites, blacks and Asians. We get together and share in fellowship and pray for one another. All of us learn from each other and these meetings facilitates missions and outreach projects. Didn't Moses learn from Jethro? What's wrong with learning from a Rabbi? There is a lot about pastoring a church that we can learn from non-Christians.
Finally, your first "concern" carries the accusatory tone that Peterson defines his identity as a pastor based on his experiences rather than the Bible. Come on Brian, the guy paraphrased the whole Bible and is an expert in languages. He can probably recite those passages you cited from memory… in Greek. I think it's safe to assume that he has studied those passages closely. Like Nate said, this was his memoir, not a textbook on how to be a pastor (another book he has probably written). The very definition of memoir requires that one share their personal experiences and relationships, that's the point of the book! It's like reading Julia Child's memoirs and complaining that there are no recipes. Put down the memoir and go buy her recipe books! Maybe if you wait a year or so they'll actually publish Peterson's cookbook!
Thanks for your review, Brian, and I hope it motivates many to read this valuable reflection on the life of a faithful pastor. Like Tony, however, it seems like your concerns are not based a careful reading of the book. Theological convictions permeate this book, although Peterson often states these convictions in a more narrative, imaginative way than a typical theologian, perhaps more like the biblical authors. In fact, what is so brilliant about this book and Peteron’s other writing is that he reminds us that theological convictions must never be abstracted from daily life. Peterson discovered early on that “sin was not a word defined by a lexicon. Salvation was a not a reference traced down in a concordance. Every act of sin and every event of salvation involved a personal name in a grammar of imperatives and promises in a messy community of friends and neighbors, parents and grandparents, none of whom fit a stereotype” (22). If this does not run against the grain of mass appeal, I’m not sure what does!
Also, Peterson’s writing and pastoral vocation is completely permeated with Scripture. He may not be quoting Scripture directly and proof texting, but his reflections are soaked with it. If one doubts this, I would recommend reading Peterson’s remarkable books on pastoral ministry (Five Smooth Stone, The Unbusy Pastor, Under the Unpredictable Plant, and Working the Angles), and I promise you will be stunned by his biblical foundations, which extend beyond the Pauline epistles to include the vast richness of God’s Word.
Gentleman,
Thank you for your comments and your push back done in a respectable way. I would not at all say the book is void of theological observations. I just felt Peterson’s “more narrative, imaginative way” of describing his theological conclusions still left things unclear to me. I am glad to hear they are clearer in some of his other works, which I am not familiar with, but trust you have a more accurate knowledge of them than I.
[...] writings on this blog, I am fairly successful at dodging controversary. Yet, when I agreed to write a review of Eugene Peterson’s memoirs entitled, The Pastor, for The Gospel Coalition, I knew the [...]
Thanks Brian for the review. I share your sympathies in that your desire was to honor and respect your elder, while at the same time giving an honest review. Unfortunately, we live in an age of compromise and it seems that Tony and many others have imbibes that spirit deeply. What is the point of meeting with other pastors (religious leaders) if you cannot even agree on the basic gospel message? Seems irrelevant to me, but I am not as nice as the reviewer which is why I wasn’t asked to do the book review. Thanks for your pastoral insight
Brian,
We have met before, and I read your blog daily. So I think I know something of your heart. I appreciate your careful and thoughtful review of Peterson’s book. I have not read “The Pastor” but have read other books by him and based on those works, I am unwilling to recommend him to others. Your observations of Peterson are right in line with my own. I was not surprised by the things you mentioned. I’ve noticed them myself.
With regard to Tony L’s comments, I’m reminded of Machen’s words on this topic of drawing lines in the sand:
“Clear-cut definition of terms in religious matters, bold facing of the logical implications of religious views, is by many persons regarded as an impious proceeding… But with such persons we cannot possibly bring ourselves to agree. Light may seem at times to be an impertinent intruder, but it is always beneficial in the end. The type of religion which rejoices in the pious sound of traditional phrases, regardless of their meanings, or shrinks from ‘controversial’ matters, will never stand amid the shocks of life.” (J. Gresham Machen, Christianity & Liberalism, Eeerdmans, p. 1).