Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry (original 2002; edition 2002)

I received this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers. This version I received is an update of the book which was released 10 years ago; featuring some reworkings of chapters and some new chapters. This is a collection of Spiritual exhortations from John Piper to Christian pastors. I particularly liked the chapters, "Brothers, Beware the debtor's ethic," "Brothers, Let the rivers run deep," and "Brothers, tell them copper will do." Piper's theses on different areas of concern for pastors is classic and a good bit of wake up for pastors in the United States. Overall, I enjoyed the book. ( )

Brothers, We Are Not Professionals is a distillation of what pastor and author John Piper believes are the most crucial doctrines and practices for effective, Christ-exalting ministry. Piper is an excellent communicator with a gift for inspiring his hearers to pursue the joy he himself has found in cherishing Christ. As he says many times, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." So what does that mean for those in pastoral ministry?

The core idea driving the book is that pastoral ministry is not something to be pursued with all the performance and cold impersonality that professionalism implies. In the preface, Piper asks, "Is there professional praying? Professional trusting in God's promises? Professional weeping over souls? Professional musing on the depths of revelation? Professional rejoicing in the truth? Professional praising God's name? Professional treasuring the riches of Christ?... These are not marginal activities in the pastoral life. They are central. They are the essence... Professionalism is not supernatural. The heart of ministry is" (ix–x). Pastors should resist the pressure to professionalize their work and instead chase hard after the kind of ministry modeled in the New Testament.

I am not a pastor, but I requested this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program because I was curious what Piper would say to his peers about what is absolutely non-negotiable in ministry. I found that although this message is written to his pastoral brothers, the truths he teaches are applicable to me and every other believer in Christ. I was deeply challenged by many of the chapters, most notably "Beware of the Debtor's Ethic" (about how we can so easily fall into the trap of trying to pay God back) and "Tell Them Copper Will Do" (about sacrificial giving and living with a joyful, wartime simplicity to escape materialism and be copper, not gold, conduits of provision and grace to others — ouch). His message is both profoundly theological and insistently practical; in addition to arguing against the joyless philosophy of Immanuel Kant, Piper challenges us to blow the trumpet for the unborn and to sever racism at the root. He strives for a definition of worship to help churches survive the "worship wars" over style and form, while also urging pastors to know and teach how God loves His glory. It is all interconnected.

Piper delights in saying old things in fresh new ways, with arresting chapter titles as "Tell Them Not to Serve God," "Fight for Your Life," "Bitzer Was a Banker," "Lead Them to Repentance through Their Pleasure," and more. He writes with passion and clarity, and is not afraid to dissect hard passages to drill down to their rich depths.

What else stood out to me? Piper's challenge to pastors to study Greek and Hebrew is stirring and right ("when we fail to stress the use of Greek and Hebrew as valuable in the pastoral office, we create an eldership of professional academicians" [101]). I loved his discussion of why God inspired hard texts (they create desperation: a sense of utter dependence on God's enablement; supplication: prayer to God for help; cogitation: thinking hard about biblical texts; and education: training young people and adults to pray earnestly, read well, and think hard). And of course Piper's signature emphasis on joy permeates everything, how it is the best and only motive for pursuing God ("As Christian hedonists we know that every listener longs for happiness. And we will never tell them to deny or repress that desire. Their problem is not that they want to be satisfied but that they are far too easily satisfied. We will instruct them how to glut their soul-hunger on the grace of God" [66]).

The chapters are short and easy to read, but left me meditating on their truths and often rereading some of the more eye-opening passages several times to really understand the implications for my life. I heartily recommend this to all Christians (since we are all ministers, really) and especially pastors, as a quick compendium of the biblical teachings that have formed the basis of Piper's 30-year ministry. There is a lot of wisdom here and I certainly see myself rereading. How many ministries and churches have been exhorted and encouraged by this book? Thank You, Lord, for John Piper! ( )

In true Piper tradition, "Brothers, We Are Not Professionals" brings to light many intriguing and thought-provoking concepts, explained with passion and simplicity. Piper's main goal in this not-just-for-pastors writing is to point us toward God and away from the typical, even expected view of the pastorate- a professional position. As the subtitle conveys, this is a plea to pastors for a shift from focusing on ourselves and the minutia of our individual christian journeys to big-picture, all-encompassing concepts toward the heart of God and His desire for His people. Piper encourages us to break out of ourselves by doing such simple things as reading another's biography and paying attention to our physical bodies through rest, nutrition and exercise. This book has many practical insights for the believer (if you can read past the Reformation tradition of women not being allowed to be in leadership). An inspirational read. ( )

I found this book to be amazing. I'm not a pastor, but was interested in this book, because feel that non-pastors play a role in helping others around them see God's love. While that obviously wasn't the point of this book, which is definitely geared toward people who are active pastors -- teaching, leading and counselling flocks -- it was still very helpful. Instead of a 'how to speak well' book, it emphasized the import of a good Christian walk, of how to set aside contemporary 'wisdom' and pursue God wholeheartedly both personally in a one-on-one relationship with Christ through prayer, humility, study, etc. etc. and outwardly, sharing with others the love and learning that the personal relationship provides. I really enjoyed his affirmation of things I'd considered before and encountered, but never really thought too much about or tried to find coherence in, such as reading Christian biography and studying the original languages. His chapter on defending the unborn against abortion was mind boggling to me. I had never heard or considered a lot of his points and it is definitely something I'll being praying about. Even before finishing this awesome book, I asked my husband if we could reread it again together, because it was obviously that great. At first I was a little bored or perhaps extremely confused and thought maybe this would be an 'I and Thou' sort of experience, but decided to step back and stick to one chapter at a time and that helped immensely, mulling over concepts for a day or more and praying for understanding. Not saying I understood everything, because I definitely didn't, but the book was well-written and the scriptural references made it easier to see truths, even when I don't quite understand. I'm very interested in whether pastor at our church has read this book since there are factors that make him stand out compared to our previous pastor, a depth, which I never noticed was missing perhaps. Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this!! ( )

Brother's We Are Not Professionals.....meaning, pastors should not look at themselves as paid professionals who work hard to make a name for themselves and please those who can further their career. They are Prophets. Not in the foretelling the future sense, but in the forth telling of undiluted truth sense. They are to be about this weighty ministry in an intentional, systematic and thorough way.

I am not a brother or pastor, but I think the point would be well taken by true shepherds of the sheep. He then spends 36 chapters expounding on what he feels are some of these most important truths to be shared. God loves his glory, God does make much of us, Let us pray, Show your people why God inspired hard texts, Feel the truth of hell, Let the river run deep to name a few. Some good stuff here. ( )