John Piper pleads with fellow pastors to abandon the secularization of the pastorate and pursue the prophetic call of the Bible for radical ministry. We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and the heart of the Christian ministry.
The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake. For there is no professional childlikeness, there is no professional tenderheartedness, there is no professional panting after God. Brothers, we are not professionals. We are outcasts. We are aliens and exiles in the world. Our citizenship is in Heaven, and we wait with eager expectation for the Lord (Phil. 3:20). You cannot professionalize the love for His appearing without killing it. And it is being killed. The world sets the agenda of the professional man; God sets the agenda of the spiritual man. The strong wine of Jesus Christ explodes the wineskins of professionalism.
Named among the “10 Best Books Every Preacher Should Read” in the January/February issue of Preaching Magazine. “There is much more worthy of comment than there is space to comment. This book deserves wide circulation among our churches—pastors, so they will be challenged to fulfill their calling; laity, so they will see what the calling of their pastors really is.” - Ray Van Neste, The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology.
See more great resources from John Piper in the John Piper Collection.
“So the goal of spiritual leadership is to muster people to join God in living for God’s glory.” (Page 11)
“I defined spiritual leadership as ‘knowing where God wants people to be and taking the initiative to get them there by God’s means in reliance on God’s power.’” (Page 11)
“Why is it important to be stunned by the God-centeredness of God? Because many people are willing to be God-centered as long as they feel that God is man-centered. It is a subtle danger. We may think we are centering our lives on God, when we are really making Him a means to self-esteem. Over against this danger I urge you to ponder the implications, brothers, that God loves His glory more than He loves us and that this is the foundation of His love for us.” (Pages 6–7)
“Gratitude is a species of joy which arises in your heart in response to the goodwill of someone who does or tries to do you a favor.” (Page 36)
“God is not looking for people to work for Him but people who let Him work mightily in and through them:” (Page 40)
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