This book probably would not have caught my eye on the store shelf, but it was mentioned to me by the Executive Director of our Conference by way of encouraging the faithfulness of ordinary pastors. I checked on the review by Tim Challies and decided to buy it.
Written by Don Carson about his father’s pastoral ministry in Quebec, it begins with an interesting, short history of Quebec, including its root in Catholicism and the spread of the Gospel. From there it recounts the life and ministry of Tom Carson. Don Carson sets out his reason for writing this book in the Preface. After mentioning that a few pastors are extremely gifted and productive he, writes,
“Most of us, however, serve in more modest patches. Most pastors will not regularly preach to thousands, let alone tens of thousands. They will not write influential books, they will not supervise large staffs, and they will never see more than modest growth…Most of us—let us be frank—are ordinary pastors. Dad was one of them. This little book is a modest attempt to let the voice and ministry of one ordinary pastor be heard, for such servants have much to teach us” (p. 9).
Carson tells the story of his Dad’s life, interspersed with writings from his father’s journals and letters, and mixed with his own comments and applications.
I found the book to be both encouraging and convicting. Some of the encouragement came from seeing much of myself in Tom Carson. He was quite introspective and hard on himself, often journaling about his weaknesses and perceived failures and discouragements. That may not seem like encouragement, but it is good to know one is not alone in feeling some of these things. Even though he struggled with such things he was sure of his calling and continued to serve the Lord in some sort of pastoral ministry right to the end of his life(in his 80s). I appreciated the author’s thoughts and comments in talking about this aspect of his Dad. He says,
“…I think it wise to pause here and reflect a little on the discouraging face of this chapter. The longer I have spent getting to know pastors in many small and medium-size churches (and some larger ones!), the more I have become aware of the chasms of discouragement through which many of them pass.”
He continues on to offer some great insights into dealing with pastoral discouragement. I’ll share some of that another time.
The convicting aspects come in that, though he struggled with his own adequacy, Tom Carson seemed tireless in his ministry. In spite of being “ordinary” he was hard-working and faithful to his calling. At over seventy years of age he was still working anywhere from five to eleven hours a day on top of caring for a sick wife! When I read of his work ethic and compare it to my own, I come out feeling even less than ordinary! There is discouragement in that, but also motivation.
There is much more that could be said and I plan to blog further on various comments in the book, but in closing I’d like to suggest who might benefit from this book:
*Ordinary pastors of small churches; especially those needing encouragement
*Anyone who would like more insight into the life of a small-church pastor
*Anyone interested in a snapshot of Christian ministry in Quebec
*Anyone who doubts that God can use ordinary people
That’s all for now,
Dave
