Review taken from the web
Christopher Ash is the author in residence with Tyndale House. In his book, “The Book Your Pastor Wishes You Would Read, But is Too Embarrassed to Ask,” he present seven virtues he believes church members should aspire to. I’m not promoting them as THE seven virtues, but they make an interesting starting place to consider as virtues SIL staff might aspire to in the SIL community of grace. Comments?
The 7 Virtues
1. Daily repentance and eager faith
Learning to repent daily of sin and walk in the truth will give pastors joy: it is the reason they went into pastoral ministry in the first place.
2. Committed belonging
THere are two types of people in churches; those who appear sporadically and those who are there week in, week out, and who also care for others.
3. Open honesty
One of the most common diseases to infect a church is lack of openness and honesty with the pastor.
4. Thoughtful watchfulness
Find ways to partner with them, and help facilitate their growth.
5. Loving kindness
Churches that show kindness will have better pastors as a result. Find practical ways to show them, and their families, kindness.
6. High expectations
While we shouldn’t put pastors on a pedestal, we can still hold them to the highest standard in love.
7. Zealous submission
Submission is countercultural because we have an innate sinfulness that makes us reluctant to submit to anyone. But we need to let the leader lead and follow them zealously, as long as they are leading in a gospel direction.
Reflection:
Whilst any list based approach is limited in how it can address complex issues they can be useful as a kick start to thinking and praying about an issue. What of these 7 ideas catches your interest, what might be your next step to doing something about belonging in the SIL community?
Find it here on amazon