Book Review : Dangerous Calling : Paul David Tripp

One of the things I appreciate about having a library card is that I can go online and find repair manuals for cars, look at them for free, and save a chunk of money on a) taking a car to the mechanic and b) showing up at AutoZone and buying one. It's a nice perk of the whole public library system, because while I may be eminently unqualified to open my own repair shop, the fact that others know what they're doing gives me some confidence to not consign all of my car repair needs to a "professional." Because frankly, at the end of the day, some of these repairs just aren't that difficult if you follow the manual. You just have to trust that someone actually knows the vehicle enough to tell you what to do.

Paul Tripp writes repair manuals for people. Solidly grounded in Scripture, the man has written some profoundly helpful materials that combine wisdom gained over the years, a readable style, helpful examples, and well-applied exposition of the Word of God. I have yet to find something of his that is not worth consulting concerning the issue it addresses and would unhesitatingly recommend that any Christian pick up a copy of one of his books to work into a better understanding of their own heart and the precious and sometimes painful process of growing in godliness.

I was excited, then, when I saw that Dr. Tripp was releasing a book geared especially towards the issues that face men called to serve in pastoral ministry. And the title of the book hits the sweet spot for communicating the core reality that serving as a shepherd of God's people is not simply about "showing up." Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry is a book that begins to tackle some otherwise sorely unaddressed issues facing pastors (both vocational and "lay" elders, more on that in a bit). Some of the chapter titles include "Big Theological Brains and Heart Disease," "More than Knowledge and Skill," "The Missing Community," "Mediocrity," and "Self-Glory." Those are just some of the titles that give a hint about what's behind the door, while the other chapters get just as involved in addressing issues that pastors face, but are rarely warned of.

In essence, Dangerous Calling is the literary equivalent of a short-term mentoring relationship with a man who has faced these issues personally and seen them unfold as a counselor to both individual pastors and local churches dealing with them. Thinking back on reading through the book, I can almost picture Dr. Tripp sitting down across from me and talking through some of the most perilous issues pastors face with a good dose of personal care and an equal dose of "don't mess this up."

While addressed to pastors - and it really should be, so far as "contemporary" books are concerned, on the syllabus for any pastoral ministry course offered in seminary - the book is also aimed at elders (who are truly pastors of the local church, even if they're not paid for the service rendered), the wives of pastors, and pastoral search committees. For that matter, it would be decent reading for any Christian to understand the unique challenges facing pastors and, perhaps most importantly, what kind of expectations are fair in their relationship to the men called to serve as soul-shepherds.

My goal here is not to go into all the content found in the book because the vast majority of it is both necessary and well-stated. But I want to highlight a major purpose of the book that, in my eyes, should be held in view as a primary purpose of why reading this book should be on the assignment list for folks in the above-mentioned groups for the coming year. That purpose is to provide a biblical and realistic context for understanding the pressures, temptations, and fragility relating to men serving in the office of elder. Because in the final analysis, we all (pastors and non-pastors alike) bring some pretty strange assumptions to the table regarding what it means to keep watch over the precious entity called the local church. With an increasingly bizarre and counter-biblical character, the "evangelical" sub-culture simply doesn't provide a consistent display of pastoral service. And the very real experience of many professing Christians jumping from one church to another with near-regularity, it's just (with great sadness) not realistic anymore to expect deep relationships to exist between shepherds and sheep. Which makes it horribly difficult to expect that a sound regard for the pastor's role and responsibilities should be found among the majority of the folks pastoring and being pastored. It's sad, it's unfortunate, it's scary, but it's a reality that exists in the 21st century American church. And that makes Dr. Tripp's book a healthy dose of medicine to start treating an illness that is literally robbing the local church of health at the pace of an epidemic.

There is great content to be found here, from treating the pastor in his temptation to seek a small empire to the much neglected need for the pastor to see himself as another part of the body that functions by the same grace and according to the empowerment of the same Spirit that all other Christians do. The book is well-worth the time and money to pick up and read and highlight and share. Elders should discuss it together, wives should nab it off the bookshelf, and pastoral search committees should read it together before coming up with a job description and application. This is certainly one of the best books I've read on the heart of pastoral ministry and I highly recommend it. Thanks to the folks at Crossway for providing me a complimentary review copy, with no expectation of a positive review.