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, WE SHOULD STINK
Thabiti Anyabwile
These days, pastoral ministry has become more glamorous, fabulous, and fashionable than ever. We hear nowadays of pas- tors driving expensive cars, being chauffeured, owning private jets, and living in opulent mansions. Once only “the prosperity preachers” and bona fide hucksters touted such lives; now your neighborhood “orthodox” super-pastor does the same. It’s all so pretty, perfumed with the world’s “best” of everything.
But, brothers, we are not professional models or entertainers hawking the world’s airbrushed version of “the good life” from the lofty heights and flashing lights of public adulation. Brothers, we are shepherds down in the fields of life—and we should stink.
Do We Live Among Them?
Our model of ministry comes from the faithful shepherds and fellow elders of the holy Scriptures. Men like the apostle Paul who defended his ministry, in part, by appealing to his life with the sheep. He writes in 1 Thessalonians 1:5, “You know how we lived among you for your sake.”
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Still Not Professionals Ten Pleas for Today’s Pastors
I’m challenged by the apostle’s confidence here. Here’s a man that could describe himself as formerly a blasphemer, per- secutor, and violent man (1 Timothy 1:15). He was no perfec- tionist. He felt himself to be trapped in a wretched body of sin that warred with the Spirit (Romans 7). Yet, I find it remark- able that without flinching, and without caveat, he can call upon the Thessalonians’ own memories of him to testify to the blamelessness of his life.
Many of us won’t hesitate to swear by our own lives but would tremble in fear if our people were asked, “How does he live among you?” We can talk of ourselves in ways that excuse our failings, justify our sins, and shift the blame we deserve. But some of us would panic if the reputation of the gospel came down to the testimony of our people about our lives.
Paul Didn’t Phone It In
We all know the message we preach is better than the messen- gers who preach it, but that doesn’t mean the messenger should settle beneath the message. There must be a striving to be what we are in Christ, so that the message is adorned and defended by the messenger’s life. If we find this is not the case, we should either repent or leave the ministry.
Notice carefully Paul’s words: “...how we lived among you....” It’s not just “how we lived,” which could be reported from afar, airbrushed and beautified for the pages of Jerusalem Home Journal. Paul says—with confidence—you know...