Proclaimer Blog
What do you do all day?
In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Joanna asks Huck what it is that ministers actually do.
"Oh, nothing much. Loll around, pass the plate – and one thing or another. But mainly they don't do nothing."
"Well then, what are they for?" asks the curious Joanna.
Huck has the answer. "Why, they're for style. Don' you know nothing?"
This great Mark Twain quote is remembered by Derek Prime and Alistair Begg in their excellent book, On being a pastor (p149). This week I've been teaching the Cornhillers about a pastor's private ministry (as opposed to his public ministry) and realised it's a much neglected topic. There's an excellent chapter by Johnny Prime in PT's own The Practical Preacher – here are some other resources on private ministry:
- Reforming Pastoral MInistry edited by John Armstrong – some good stuff here
- The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter
- The classic text, The Christian Ministry by Charles Bridges
- There's also a good article in the Sepember 2009 Briefing "One sheep at a time, the power of one-to-one ministry."
- If you can make it through, Gregory the Great has some winsome advice in his Pastoral Rule (you can google it or it is in the second series of the Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers volume 12)
At the very least, make sure you're not just for style!