Pastoral Ministry

Title: Pastoral Ministry
Authors: John MacArthur and The Master's Seminary Faculty
Publisher: Thomas Nelson, 2005
Pages: 313
Begun: September 13, 2008
Finished: February 3, 2009
Rating: ****

The subtitle of this work is "How to Shepherd Biblically," which is well-fitting to the purpose and content. MacArthur and the men of the Seminary address various issues of ministry ranging from the Lord's Table to staff meetings, from discipleship to pastoral relationships, and from preaching to worship. The book is divided into four sections with an average of 4-5 chapters per section:

I. Biblical Perspectives
II. Preparatory Perspectives
III. Personal Perspectives
IV. Pastoral Perspectives

Each chapter begins with biblical data and a theological framework on the topic being addressed followed by practical application. A sampling of statements from the opening chapter, entitled "Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry," gives a flavor of the thrust of the book:

"The real contrast in competing ministry models is not the traditional versus the contemporary, but rather the scriptural compared to the unscriptural" (4). Mayhue argues that the right approach to ministry is "a redemptively centered, God-focused, biblically defined, and scripturally prioritized ministry" (4).

"The statements of this chapter are not a call for a user-friendly church, a culturally ignorant church, or a seeker insensitive church. We have no desire to 'unchurch the unchurched' or to promote an irrelevant dinosaur of a church. On the other hand, neither do we want to substitute the latest theories in sociology and psychology for the truth of theology. We do not want to confuse the common sense benefit of demographic statistics and analysis of culture with the far more important understanding of God's will for the church, both for Christians and non-Christians. We ardently desire to let the important consideration of God and His revealed will in Scripture be the major focus" (13).

The only drawback of the book is that it is written by eleven men. That becomes clear about a quarter of the way through the book. There lacks a cohesiveness throughout due to the various and differing thoughts/ideas of the authors. Often the men would contradict each other or would repeat an idea in a strinkingly similar phrase as another author. If you can put that weakness aside (which was difficult for me to do), you men will find it a good read overall.