Comments on: Eugene Peterson On What It Means To Be A Pastor

By: Louise

Louise — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 04:45:21 +0000

Thanks for sharing the interview link. I am especially fond of Eugene Peterson because his writing is so accessible and down to earth. Years ago I read Run with the Horses. Just looked and I still have it on the bookshelf. Great points about the congregational attention span. I’ve started turning off my phone in church so that I can 1) get a short mental break, 2) try and make a meaningful connection with God, and 3) actually receive and think about the messages you and your pastoral team labor over.

PS: I kind of liked Heaven is for Real. Not an award winner, but no horrific violence, gore, abuse, speeding vehicles or blatantly stupid characters. Just real people making mistakes and some not-so-great special effects. Imagine … maybe angels hover over our church altar every once in a while. :O)

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:49:13 +0000

Excellent. I read The Pastor a couple years ago and loved it.

By: Brian Dolleman

Brian Dolleman — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 17:22:17 +0000

Dan – what I hear E.P. saying about a religious crowd being the easiest to gather in the world is in reference to our blatant consumerism. Christians flood to movies like Heaven Is For Real and God’s Not Dead. Why? They’re not good (not according to Rotten Tomatoes anyway – God’s Not Dead got a 17% rating and Heaven Is For Real got 46% – both rotten). And yet Heaven Is For Real earned $91.4M at the box office, God’s Not Dead took in $60.8M.

Compare that to Calvary – a rated R film about a priest being threatened by a mysterious parishioner – which received a fresh rating of 89% from Rotten Tomatoes and only took in $3.5M at the box office (this film does not have the “Christian” label even though it is clearly about Christian issues).

Offer the “right” thing and Christians come running / attending / spending.

By: Dan Neary

Dan Neary — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 16:59:08 +0000

“A religious crowd is the easiest crowd to gather in the world.” It would be interesting to have a discussion about what qualifies as a religious crowd. I suspect it would generally be a list of characteristics that describes some other pastor’s church.

I really appreciate Peterson’s example and contributions to our work as pastors.

By: Jerry Beebe

Jerry Beebe — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 16:32:44 +0000

Love this perspective! So rooted in the reality of the daily grind of ministry. Thanks for sharing Pastor Brian.

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 16:30:26 +0000

“God has different ways of being with people, and you don’t always know what they are.” – I love that. I have had to learn that I can’t fix people, I can’t solve every problem. I can however, love people, walk alongside of them through their trials and pray they’ll do the same for me.

By: Jon Oletzke

Jon Oletzke — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 16:30:22 +0000

Eugene gently rubs the off idealism to reveal the realism of pastoring. The tension of consumer culture will remain. May God help us as pastors navigate the pull of pleasing with the tug to teach the truth. Love and serve God, love and serve others.

By: Don Detrick

Don Detrick — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 16:08:08 +0000

I love Eugene Peterson’s concept of what it means to be a pastor – as it includes not only the idea of being a leader, but of being a shepherd and doing very ordinary and non-glamorous assignments that are often filled with ambiguity and messes to clean up or sort through.