jordanabina
2020 Book Reviews: The Pastor by Eugene Peterson – The book that I’m going to tell you about was by far my favorite of the year so far. I know we’re not that far into 2020 but it’s still true. But before I tell you about it let me give some other thoughts first.
There is no doubt in my mind that making a book list every year has improved my ability to stay consistent in my reading. It forces me to make time to spend in a book.
No sounds around me except the early morning creaks in the walls.
No light from the sun through the window in my front room.
Only me, my vintage floral chair, the blue frayed blanket my wife loves, a book of my choosing and God.
It’s always a treat and I have grown to cherish it.
But there is a problem that I’ve run into…
It’s a problem that wants to poison my ability to stay on track with my reading and distract me from the pace I must run in order to finish by the end of 2020.
The problem? A really good book.
It didn’t take long for me to run into this problem in 2020. This January I read Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and The Pastor by Eugene Peterson.
It was the last one on the list, The Pastor, that took me by surprise. It pierced me in ways I wasn’t ready for, and maybe in some ways, I wish I hadn’t read, but still being so happy I did. Peterson writes with such honesty, such realness, and style that doesn’t worry about criticism.
The problem with a really good book like this is it becomes extremely difficult to move on. I don’t just mean move onto another book but in general. Some books, some thoughts demand a response. For me, The Pastor demands such a response.
Peterson takes you back to the beginning of his story as a boy, then as a young man, and eventually to the place he never really intended or wanted to be, pastor.
What makes a pastor? What makes a man?
Peterson discusses this and more by looking at the process of life that God Fathered him through.
The role of parents, the role of the local church community, the natural and spiritual attractions to sacred places. All of these are elements of Peterson’s walk towards pastorship and eventually to the task of translating The Message.
Peterson, being dramatically impacted by the book of Revelation written by John the disciple, begins to see in hindsight how God has been shepherding Him towards the ministry. Ministry can be ugly, fickle, and sometimes when it gets away from Jesus, even down right wrong. But God is still sovereign, He has a plan and a purpose for our lives.
He wants to bring purpose from everything in our lives.
One story in particular from this book, pierced me, which makes sense when you hear the story. I wish I could write to you the entire quote but allow me to paraphrase.
Peterson talks about a summer home where he spent time reading and on this particular occasion was reading Herman Melville’s, Moby Dick. The scene in the book is that of a storm, raging around them as they chase the great white whale, Moby Dick.
“The sailors are laboring fiercely, every muscle taut, all attention and energy concentrated on the task. The cosmic conflict between good and evil is joined; chaotic sea and demonic sea monster verses the morally outraged man, Captain Ahab.”
Eugene Peterson, The Pastor
Peterson talks about how everyone is panicking, working, and fighting the chaos of the storm. The work, the toil, and the exhaustion begin to set it.
“In this boat, however, there is one man who does nothing…The man is the harpooner, quiet and poised, waiting…To insure the greatest efficiency in the dart, the harpooners of this world must start to their feet out of idleness, and not out of toil.”
Eugene Peterson, The Pastor
Peterson then goes on to share how God uses this to put his heart at ease about keeping up with the busyness of pastoring. The constant spiritual needs of a church, the chaos of finances, and the evil that permeates in the world around us. The temptation as a pastor is to deal with all of these things, address chaos with more chaos, but that isn’t what the Lord has for us.
Pastors are harpooners, they have a task that must be done with precision, and they must come from a place of stillness and not chaos in order to be effective.
Wow. That rocked me.
I realized the Bible reading, the prayer time (not for others first, but for me), the time spent with Jesus was all so I could be ready to shoot the harpoon when the time came.
I love it.
There is so much in this book to be shared and re-shared. If you are in the ministry of any type, this is a must-read. Thank you, Pastor Eric, for putting this in front of me, it is of no surprise to me that you would’ve read this a long time before me, you remind me of Peterson.
Again from Peterson…
“The metaphor is not perfect. No metaphor is. But harpooner continued, and continues, to serve me well for cultivating quietness and attentiveness before God and my congregation on the voyage in which Moby Dick and Captain Ahab seem to be calling all the shots.”
Euguene Peterson, The Pastor
2020 Book Reviews: The Pastor by Eugene Peterson
