Still Not Professionals
Ten Pleas for Today’s Pastors

Still Not Professionals: Ten Pleas for Today’s Pastors is a celebration and extension of John Piper’s Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. With two brief exhortations from Piper and eight others from veteran pastors, this short ebook aims to strengthen and challenge Christians in general, and pastors in particular, for the labor of everyday life and ministry. The contributors were asked to express their “heart of hearts” for fellow leaders. You’ll find these chapters tap into profound human themes, in both the pastor and his flock, and will be of use, we hope, beyond the North American context of the contributors.

by John Piper Modal , Daniel L. Akin Modal , Thabiti Anyabwile Modal , Mike Bullmore Modal , Sam Crabtree Modal , Ray Ortlund Modal , Jeff Vanderstelt Modal , and Douglas Wilson
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Full Text:
BROTHERS, LIVE A VISIBLE, EXEMPLARY, EVERYDAY LIFE
Jeff Vanderstelt
As I mentor and coach leaders in North American churches, I find a common theme among many pastors: They live and lead in such a way so as to disqualify themselves as elders in their own churches.
Living “Among” the Flock
First of all, they are not living and leading “among.” First Peter 5:2–4 exhorts the elders to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you... being an example to the flock.”
When meeting with a leader, I will often ask, “Are you liv- ing in such a way that people can see your life and follow your example?” In other words, is your daily life visible, accessible, and reproducible? Not visible and accessible to everyone, of course—your life and home are just not that big, and hopefully you are not the only leader. But is your life visible and acces- sible to everyday people? Can people see your marriage, your parenting, your interaction with neighbors and others? From
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Still Not Professionals Ten Pleas for Today’s Pastors
watching your life, can they see what their life would look like if they loved Jesus and lived for him daily?
Jesus lived among his disciples, and they could say that they saw, touched, and heard the Word in flesh. Paul reminded the church in Ephesus that they knew how he lived because he lived among them in the everyday stuff of life. It’s a beautiful thing when those who have open access to your life and see who you really are in everyday life, regularly say to you, “We don’t under- stand what’s the big deal about you. Why would anyone ask you to come speak? You’re just a regular guy like everyone else!”
Living Visibly and Accessibly
Do they see you struggle as a parent, work through tension with your wife, repent from your idolatry, and regularly share how in need of grace you are?
This visibility and accessibility helps to keep us grounded— less prone to become overly impressed with ourselves. It also keeps us in the know of what people, including ourselves, need from our teaching. We know the struggles. We see the challeng- es. We fail. So, when we teach, we are able to speak from both a real awareness of what we all are going through and a credibility that we are struggling in community with the same things.
Unfortunately, many pastors find that the majority of their life includes working in an office, seeing people at church gath- erings, meeting with their staff, and primarily just hanging out with their own family. How will people know what it looks like to live...