As I began the book, I found myself thinking that it wouldn't apply to me. Tripp often addresses his reader as "pastor" which made me believe that I, as a lowly middle school ministry summer intern, was not who he was talking to. After all, I'm not even a full time staff member! I'm only here for the summer, and I have one of the lowest jobs on the totem pole. When it comes to pride in a certain status in a job, I have no right to have any at all! Well, I was completely wrong. Tripp is addressing every member of the church from the head pastor to the Sunday morning volunteer.
Tripp talks about the pride involved in being involved in a church ministry. He talks about a disconnect in the public and private lives of people in the church. He gives story after story of other people in the church who he's had council who have gone through these situations. These stories make it real. This book also helped me to realize that my pastors aren't perfect. Yes, that's cliche, but it's true! I have put David McNeely, Randy Pope, Steve Brown, and more on a pedestal for so long that I forgot that they're real people. They have families, and they sin. They go through hardships, maybe even more than normal people do. (Side note: I've always said that I could see myself marrying a pastor, but after reading some of the stories, that thought was terrifying to me! Not super relevant, but hey, that was my thought.)
As always with books, the author can say things better than I can, so here are some of my favorite quotes.
Tripp talks about the pride involved in being involved in a church ministry. He talks about a disconnect in the public and private lives of people in the church. He gives story after story of other people in the church who he's had council who have gone through these situations. These stories make it real. This book also helped me to realize that my pastors aren't perfect. Yes, that's cliche, but it's true! I have put David McNeely, Randy Pope, Steve Brown, and more on a pedestal for so long that I forgot that they're real people. They have families, and they sin. They go through hardships, maybe even more than normal people do. (Side note: I've always said that I could see myself marrying a pastor, but after reading some of the stories, that thought was terrifying to me! Not super relevant, but hey, that was my thought.)
As always with books, the author can say things better than I can, so here are some of my favorite quotes.
“If you aren’t daily admitting t yourself that you are a mess and in daily and rather desperate need for forgiving and transforming grace and if the evidence around has not caused you to abandon your confidence in your own righteousness, then you are going to give yourself to the work of convincing yourself that you are okay.”
“No one is more influential in your life than you are, because no one talks to you more than you do.”
"One of the things that makes a sermon compelling is that the preacher is worshiping his way through his own sermon.”
“If you are not feeding your soul on the realities of the presence, promises, and provisions of Christ, you will ask the people, situations, and things around you to be the messiah they can never be.”
“He had his identity too attached to his opinions and ideas and felt that rejection of them was rejection of him.”
“Autonomous Christianity never works, because our spiritual life was designed by God to be a community project.”
Are you convicted yet? I encourage you to read this book. You know that verse that talks about how The Word never comes away void? Well, I know it's talking about the Bible, but I think that it can apply to many books too, and this is one of them. I don't think you can read this book and come away the same. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing this to the Bible! The Bible is the infallible word of God and this is a book written by a flawed person.)
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