Book Review: Portraits of a Pastor, Jason Allen

What is a pastor? What does he do? Is his job merely to get up in the pulpit and preach a sermon one to three times a week? In this book, Portraits of a Pastor, editor Jason Allen, along with eight other men, attempt to give the nine roles that a church leader should fill.

Jared Wilson writes of the role of shepherd. He believes that the role of the shepherd is the bare minimum role that a pastor should perform, as the word "pastor" is the equivalent of the word "shepherd."

Daniel Akin writes of the role of husband and father. He begins his chapter by saying, "I believe two of God's greatest gifts this side of heaven are marriage and family (33)." He encourages the pastor, and any man really, to love his wife and raise up his children.

Jason Allen writes of the role of preacher. He writes in his introduction, "I believe preaching is the pastor's preeminent responsibility (57)." He encourages the pastor to put out strong preaching straight from the Word of God

Owen Strachan writes of the role of theologian. Here, he focuses on the pastor's study of the Word. He encourages this study by saying, "The good news for us is that the good news works in us and through us (73)." The good news working in us is our personal study. It working through us is the teaching of that study.

Christian George writes of the role of church historian. He encourages the pastor to remember the past and take it with him into the future. Why does he encourage this? Because he believes that church history "encompasses the rest of [the disciplines of study]. Biblical studies, homiletics, philosophy, systematics, apologetics, counseling, and all other fields find their proper place beneath history's overarching reach (95)." No matter what, we cannot get away from the study of church history.

John Mark Yeats writes of the role of evangelist. The pastor must be reaching out to the local community. If he does not do this, the church will cease to grow. He must be telling all people about the good news of Jesus Christ.

Jason Duesing writes of the role of missionary. He encourages pastors to be "world Christians" and to push their congregations to be the same. Pastors must keep a global view of the ministry of God and stay involved with missions around the world.

Ronnie Floyd writes of the role of leader. He advocates that the pastor be part of a "brand;" something that gives him distinction in this world-- the brand of Jesus Christ.

Daniel Whitney writes of the role of man of God. He begins with a simple, yet profound statement: "Not every man of God is a pastor, but every pastor must be a man of God (161)." He also uses a very good illustration just a few sentences later: "Godliness is to the pastor what flight is to the eagle. Without personal godliness, the wings of pastoral ministry are broken (161)." Godliness is essential to every pastor's ministry.

Each of these writers, while having a different item to study, has the same purpose: to encourage pastors and to help them press on as better servants with a clearer vision of their role. Each role mentioned here is vitally important. Not one was explained in a weak manner. Having a different author for every chapter helped keep the roles strong. This is a very good book and helps pastors, especially new pastors, realize what role they need to fulfill. I give this book a rating of 5 stars out of 5.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THIS BOOK:

Allen, Jason K, General Editor. Portraits of a Pastor: The 9 Essential Roles of a Church Leader. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2017.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL: I received a complimentary copy of this book through the MP Newsroom book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.