More from Eugene Peterson in The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call:
- A necessary pastor seeks to control Scripture, wielding it for his or her own ends. An unnecessary pastor finds a home and country within the Scriptures and is shaped by them.
- Necessary pastors operate within the known and the controlled, majoring in explanations and problem solving. Unnecessary pastors need not figure everything out but live in the awe of the God of mystery, glad to know that there is more going on than they see or can get their minds around.
- Necessary pastors used language to define and dispense parcels of truth. Unnecessary pastors evoke and engage what must not be pinned down.
- Necessary pastors manage people, putting them in boxes and groups by age, gender, ethnicity, and so on. Unnecessary pastors engender communities in which they themselves participate.
