Friday, April 24, 2009

Carson: Twelve Lessons for the Scholar as (Frustrated) Pastor

From Andy Naselli's live-blog of the Piper-Carson forum last night on the pastor as scholar / scholar as pastor:
  1. Take steps to avoid becoming a mere quartermaster.
  2. Beware of the seduction of applause.
  3. Fight with every fiber of your being the common dichotomy between objective study of Scripture and devotional reading of Scripture.
  4. Never forget that there are people out there—people for whom Christ died.
  5. Happily recognize that God distributes different gifts among scholar-pastors as he distributes different gifts among various groups.
  6. Recognize that students don’t learn everything you teach them.
  7. Make the main thing the main thing, not only by not merely assuming the gospel, but in every domain of life.
  8. Pray and work.
  9. Love the church.
  10. Avoid lone-ranger scholarship.
  11. Be at least as interested in the work of others as you are in your own.
  12. Take the work seriously but not yourself.
Read Andy's notes for fuller explanation and illustration.
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