John Piper is a pastor to
several pastors. This book is written for pastors, but the truth of it is for
every Christian. Piper wants everyone, especially the pastors, to recognize
that pastors are not professionals. Because professionals are wise, strong, and
held in honor, but pastors are fools for Christ’s sake, weak, and outcasts (2).
He writes, “Because professionalization carries the connotation of an
education, a set of skills, and a set of guild-defined standards which are
possible without faith in Jesus. Professionalism is not
supernatural. The heart of ministry is” (x).
This is a book against the
pressure to professionalize the pastoral ministry (ix). Piper begins the book
with these words, “We
pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry”
(1). It should be mentioned that this is the second edition published in 2013. He
was about to retire from the pastorate, with only 10 months left (x). He served
the Bethlehem Baptist
Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for 33 years as their
pastor. No wonder this book is rich in theological and practical content.
It has 36 chapters and 288
pages. Each chapter can be read independently. As a matter of fact, I read some
of the chapters of this book in 2014 or 2015, but it is only this time that I
have read through the whole book. The title of every chapter begins with
“Brothers,” appealing to the pastors about what to be mindful of. This book can
be understood as 36 pieces of advice for those who are in pastoral ministry. Or
36 pastoral insights Piper has learned in his 33 years of ministry. There is no
way to summarize the whole book due to the independent nature of each chapter,
however, as Piper has chosen to do so, it is “Brothers, We Are Not
Professionals.”
However, the format of each
chapter is the same and is crafted effectively. I must mention again that the
title of each chapter serves as advice (or reminders), acting as the main point
of the chapter. Each chapter (title page) is introduced with two or more
sections of quotations. The first section is usually a scripture passage that
serves as the theme of the chapter. The next section is usually a quotation from
a well-known person. The other section(s) typically contains a line or sentence
from the chapter that captures its tone or the insights of Piper. Therefore, it
is recommended that one reads the title page of each chapter carefully. In
fact, one can skim through the book if he has paid attention to the title page
of each chapter.
Some chapters are heavily
footnoted, while others have none. Some chapters are more theological, and others
are more practical. Over the years, I have seen many people cite this book in
their sermons, books, blog posts, and journal articles. Each chapter is short,
but the exposition and exegesis that Pipers provides are often profound and
relevant. Some chapters have a list of prescriptions (or principles). I mean,
Piper offers 36 pieces of advice for pastors. One of them is to not confuse uncertainty
with humility (chapter 28), and then he goes on to explain six things about
humility. He also advice to preach about the evil of abortion (chapter 33), and
then he gives 10 arguments to preach against abortion.
Now, I will highlight (and occasionally
comment and interact) the contents of some chapters, while for the other
chapters, I will simply mention the titles.
In the preface, Piper asks, “Is
there professional praying? Professional trusting in God’s promises?
Professional weeping over souls? Professional musing on the depths of
revelation? Professional rejoicing in the truth? … Professional walking by the
Spirit? Professional exercise of spiritual . . . Professional patience with
everyone?” (ix–x). These are central to the life of a pastoral ministry and
must be defined by such a lifestyle. Piper mentions that in his 33 years of
ministry, he has never regretted not being professional but regretted not being
more prayerful and more passionate for souls (x). It seems to be always the
case that all godly people regret not being more prayerful. It is not that they
pray less than the others. It is a fact that the Scripture tells us to be
prayerful at all times and that it reveals we miss the joy and blessings that
come with prayerfulness.
Chapter 1, ‘Brothers, We Are
Not Professionals.’ Piper writes, “The world sets the agenda of the
professional man; God sets the agenda of the spiritual man. The strong wine of
Jesus Christ explodes the wineskins of professionalism” (3). Piper warns
against the danger of wanting to act like professionals in ministry: to be as
good as the professional media folks, the anti-heroes, and the winsome
comedians.
Chapter 2, ‘Brothers, God Loves
His Glory.’ Piper writes, “God loves His glory more than He loves us, and this
is the foundation of His love for us” (6). Piper reminds the readers of the
more important theme of the glory of God. Some people preach, “Jesus would die
for you even if you were the only person on earth; that’s how much love He has
for you.” In reality, God would not save anyone if not for His glory. In fact,
there will be many who will be damned in the lake of fire, for the same reason:
for His glory. While God’s love for us must be cherished and praised, we must
not lose sight of His glory. In other words, to have God-centred theology instead
of man-centered theology (9).
Chapter 3, ‘Brothers, God Is
Love.’
Chapter 4, ‘Brothers, God Does
Make Much of Us.’
Chapter 5, ‘Brothers, Live and
Preach Justification by Faith.’ This chapter is longer than most chapters, and
it is about imputation. Piper explains that ‘faith is counted as righteousness’
in the sense that ‘faith connects us with Christ who is our righteousness’
(34). Thus, faith is not righteousness, but Christ is. And “God credits righteousness,”
not “God credits faith as righteousness” (34). Piper has defended Justification
and Imputation in many of his writings and books; however, I am not aware of
his extensive writings on the imputation of the active obedience of Christ.
Chapter 6, ‘Brothers, God Is
the Gospel.’ Piper wants the readers to embrace God-centered theology over
man-centered theology. In this chapter, he explains six essential truths about
the gospel: it is a plan, event, achievement, free offer, application of
Christ's achievement, and brings us to God. He cites 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6, and
1 Peter 3:18 to explain God is the Gospel (48).
Chapter 7, ‘Brothers, Beware of
the Debtor’s Ethic.’ I love this chapter because Piper addresses the concern I
have with Heidelberg Catechism and some ‘Reformed’ people who use the language
of ‘gratitude’ as the motivation for obedience. Somewhere, I have written, “The language ‘out of gratitude’ seems
to make the law optional or unnecessary. Actually, the righteous can't be
lawless. More than just the language of ‘gratitude,’ it must be said that
keeping the law (at least the moral law) is the only way for the righteous; it
is not optional, nor a burden, but the delight of the righteous.”
Piper calls it ‘debtor’s ethic,’ as expressed in this question: “God has done
so much for you; now what will you do for Him?” “He gave you His life; now how
much will you give to Him?” (49). He writes, “Any attempt to express a gratitude
by paying God back would contradict the nature of His gift as free and gracious”
(53). Should we stop preaching gratitude as a motivation? Piper responds, “I
leave that for you to answer” (50).
Chapter 8, ‘Brothers, Tell
Them Not to Serve God.’ He writes, “The difference between Uncle Sam and Jesus
Christ is that Uncle Sam won’t enlist you in his service unless you are healthy
and Jesus won’t enlist you unless you are sick” (57). In other words, “God is
not looking for people to work for Him but people who let Him work mightily in
and through them” (56). On the Sermon on the Mount, Piper commented that it “is
our doctor’s medical advice, not our employer’s job description” (57). Piper cites
Psalm 123:2 on how to serve God as “the maid who looks to the hand of her
mistress for mercy” (58). He also cites Matthew 6:24 on how Jesus refers to serving
money and God (58). Just as we serve money, we must serve God. Piper observes that
we do not assist money, but rather “money exerts a certain control over us
because it seems to hold out so much promise of happiness . . . Money promises
happiness, and we serve it by believing the promise and living by that faith .
. . We serve money by doing what is necessary so that money’s power will be at
our disposal for our good” (59). Thus, we are to serve God not “by trying to
put our power at His disposal for His good but by doing what is necessary so
that His power will be ever at our disposal for our good” (59).
Chapter 9, ‘Brothers, Consider
Christian Hedonism.’ Piper critiques Kantian morality, which states that “Acts are
good if the doer is “disinterested” (62) He argues that it is good to be
interested in doing good things and in pursuing happiness. That “God is most
glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him” is the essence of Christian
Hedonism (61).
Chapter 10, ‘Brothers, Let Us
Pray.’
Chapter 11, ‘Brothers, Beware
of Sacred Substitutes’
Chapter 12, ‘Brothers, Fight
for Your Life.’ That is, read theological books. Piper has an interesting
calculation, a very practical one, for lazy readers. He suggests reading 20
minutes a day, 6 times a week. A slow reader (and he includes himself) reads
250 words per minute (80). The average book has 400 words on a page; 20 minutes
will yield about 12.5 pages. In a year (365-53 Sundays = 312 days), one will
read over (312 x 12.5 = 3900 pages), which is about 15 books, assuming an
average book has 250 pages. Wow! There is no excuse for pastors or any Christian
not to read fewer than 15 books a year. People spend hours on needless activities
on social media, phones, etc.
Chapter 13, ‘Brothers, Be
Bible-Oriented—Not Entertainment-Oriented—Preachers.’
Chapter 14, ‘Brothers, Query
the Text.’
Chapter 15, ‘Brothers, Bitzer
Was a Banker.’ Piper desires the D. Min. program to be in Hebrew or Greek
exegesis (102). That would be interesting.
Chapter 16, ‘Brothers, Read
Christian Biography.’ Piper considers Hebrews 11 to be a divine mandate to read
Christian biographies (106).
Chapter 17, ‘Brothers, Show
Your People Why God Inspired Hard Texts.’ Piper distinguishes the statements
between ‘God is love’ and ‘God is good’ (117–119).
Chapter 18, ‘Brothers, Pursue
the Tone of the Text.’
Chapter 19, ‘Brothers, Save
the Saints.’ He writes, “The goal of a pastor is not merely to edify the saints
but to save the saints” (126).
Chapter 20, ‘Brothers, Feel
the Truth of Hell.’
Chapter 21, ‘Brothers, Lead
Them to Repentance through Their Pleasure.’ This chapter is interesting. Piper presents
repentance as not only a state of hating the sin but also remorse (which arises
not just from sinning but also) from the lack of joy in God (such as obedience,
delight, perseverance, etc.). He writes,
“True remorse
over not having holiness is remorse over not enjoying God and living by the
impulses of that joy. To cry over the punishment one is about to receive for wrongdoing
is no sign of hating wrong but only hating pain. For crying and contrition to
be real and evangelical, it must come from the brokenhearted feelings you have
for lacking a life of joy in God, not just from the fearful feelings of being
threatened with pain . . . If crying
over something you don’t have is going to show the preciousness of that ‘something’
in itself, then you must really have some delight in it” (142).
Chapter 22, ‘Brothers, Help
Them Act the Miracle.’ Piper has a good exposition on ‘selfishness.’ He observes
that selfishness is a reflex to expect to be served; is a reflex to feel that I
am owed; is a reflex to want praise; is a reflex to expect that things will go
my way; is a reflex to feel that I have the right to react negatively to being
crossed. (145). He suggests a way to attack this reflex with A.N.T.H.E.M (150).
Chapter 23, ‘Brothers, Magnify
the Meaning of Baptism.’ Piper recounts how he developed his conviction on
baptism in three “stages—not unlike childhood, adolescence, and (I hope)
maturity” (156).
Chapter 24, ‘Brothers, Our
Affliction Is for Their Comfort.’ He writes, “Therefore, in our struggle with
suffering, it will never be a sufficient comfort to say, ‘It is of Satan and
not of God.’ The only genuine comfort will come from acknowledging that the all-powerful
God has done it and that He is infinitely wise and infinitely loving to those
who trust Him” (165).
Chapter 25, ‘Brothers, Let the
River Run Deep.’
Chapter 26, ‘Brothers, Don’t
Fight Flesh Tanks with Peashooter Regulations.’ He addresses issues such as
drinking. He writes, “Schools and clubs and societies can set up any human
regulations they wish in order to keep certain people out and preserve, by
rule, a particular atmosphere. But the church is not man’s institution. It belongs
to Christ. He is the head of the body, and He alone should set the entrance
requirements” (177).
Chapter 27, ‘Brothers, Bodily
Training Is of Some Value.’
Chapter 28, ‘Brothers, Don’t
Confuse Uncertainty with Humility.’
Chapter 29, ‘Brothers, Tell
Them Copper Will Do.’
Chapter 30, ‘Brothers, Help
Your People Hold On and Minister in Calamity.’
Chapter 31, ‘Brothers, Give
Them God’s Passion for Missions.’
Chapter 32, ‘Brothers, Sever
the Root of Racism.’ This chapter is informative and intriguing. Piper acknowledges that Martin
Luther King is a flawed man, but so is George Washington, John Adams, Thomas
Jefferson, and James Madison (230). They all have serious issues regarding
theology. However, they have also done and spoken some good deeds. If one
celebrates others for their good works, why not celebrate Martin Luther King as
well? (230).
Chapter 33, ‘Brothers, Blow
the Trumpet for the Unborn.’ Piper’s exposition of Job 31:13–15 is insightful. “Mothers
are not the main nurturers and fashioners during the time of gestation, God is,
the same God for both slave and free” (247).
Chapter 34, ‘Brothers, Focus
on the Essence of Worship, Not the Form.’
Chapter 35, ‘Brothers, Love
Your Wives.’ Piper includes a poem he wrote for his son’s wedding, “Love Her
More and Love Her Less” (279–282).
And the last chapter, 36, ‘Brothers,
Pray for the Seminaries.’ Piper believes that a seminary is known by its
faculty, not even by denomination, library, or location (283). And
The most rewarding chapters
for me are the Preface, 1, 8, and 21. As I have mentioned before, each chapter
can be read independently; therefore, I intend to read specific chapters again in
the future as a reference.
A PDF version of this book can
be downloaded from desiringgod.org. You can click here for the download webpage.
