pastoral clerks

"The storytelling pastor differs from the moralizing pastor in the same way that a responsible physician differs from a clerk in a drugstore. When an ill person goes to a physician, the physician 'takes a history' before offering a diagnosis and writing a prescription. The presumption is that everything that a person has experienced is relevant to the illness and must be taken into account if there is to be a healing. The clerk in the drugstore simply sells a patient medicine off the shelf--one thing for headaches, another for heartburn, another for indigestion--without regard for the particular details of a person' s pain. Biblical pastoral work 'takes a history' and with that raw material creates a story of salvation... The storyteller assembles the local, personal, and seemingly disparate details along with the numerous individual items that were never mentioned in the histories developed out of Sinai, and makes a history that is significant, meaningful, and redemptive."

--Eugene Peterson, from Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work

I just love Peterson. Love his heart and the way that he describes/lives the life of a pastor. In a time of mega-churches and mega-pastors, church growth models, and a plethora of "entrepreneurial" pastors...this voice is refreshing and real.

Our churches are unfortunately filled with "clerk-type" pastors. Passing along quick medicines and prescriptions to soothe the behavior "ache". Take this...try this. Quick fixes offered over the pastoral desk...AKA the drugstore counter. Unhealed or half-healed pastors who are not in touch with their own history and brokenness attempting to lead people through illnesses and darkness.

I join the band of pastors desiring to get back to the heart of pastoral work. Choosing to "take a history" and invite Jesus to bring healing and restoration. Choosing to shepherd, care, and comfort.
Pastoral clerks may bring a lot of money across the counter.
They may increase the profit of the local company.
They may keep the shareholders happy.
And people may experience the short-term results of behavior modifiers.

But I deeply desire to shepherd differently. I want to be shepherded differently.
And my prayer is that Encounter...this movement we are called to...will raise up an army of shepherd-pastors. Men and women who will fight for the healing of hearts.