Currently, I am reading through Augustine’s Confessions for the first time. Yes, this should have been done years ago because of Augustine’s monumental influence on Western thought, but I think it is no coincidence that I am reading him now after having a bit of training and time to develop myself theologically and philosophically. If not, and I had read him early on, I think I would have been much like him, swayed by the choice rhetoric of a trained and eloquent rhetorician, of which he is well known as.
In Book V, Augustine takes up his doubts with the Manichean thought and his meeting of Faustus, the great apologist and teacher for the Manes. Augustine, impressed by the rhetorical ability of Faustus, is not, however, impressed in the slightest with the answers he receives from the famed teacher. After reading many books by scientists of his day regarding all things astronomical and mathematical, he took the time to test the truth claims of what he read and of the Manicheans. What he found was both great and lackluster.
What was great about his findings was that the scientists, with what they had to work within their time, were correct in what they taught about the stars and other things that go on in the skies above. The lackluster findings were that of the Manicheans. Faustus, though eloquent in speech, was unable to really answer Augustine’s questions about the discrepancies between the books of science and the books of the Manes. Much of this was not due to Faustus’ intellect but the echo chamber in which he lived his life. He had read little of Cicero and Seneca and other poets[1] (which were translated into Latin by members of the Manichean system). Augustine was not impressed because there was much more out there to be learned and to read only that which comes from his own sect is to be sheltered from the beauty of the world in which we all live.
Much of this same sentiment, sans heretical teaching, can be said of many people who do public ministry. I say many as a qualification that I do not mean to over-generalize to all people in public ministry. I do not even mean most people in public ministry. I only mean that there is more than there ought to be in this category. But what do I mean that there are many “Faustus-es” in public ministry? Simply, that there are too many people who do not read anything outside their own theological and philosophical camps. This is a massive problem that needs to be fixed. My contention is that it needs to start not at the academic level but within the local church with the pastors.
Much like Faustus, pastors have massive influence over the people they shepherd. And if our pastors are like Faustus, they only read and listen to those scholars and people that are within their respective camps. While we need to know what our camps have to offer and the best of it, we also need to know the best of the other camps. I’d even say that we need to be aware of the worst the other camps have to offer. This was Faustus’ downfall and is easily a downfall of the many in the pastorates of local churches.[2]
Not only is this wide reading and consumption good for the pastors’ personal spiritual and intellectual life, but it is also good for his flock as well. This is because as he preaches and counsels he will be better equipped and qualified to address the specific needs of those he is charged with pastoring. The more a pastor reads outside his own theological and philosophical camp, the more he is able to adjust his own theological and philosophical positions in accordance with truth. Relying on those scholars and authors within the camp is, for lack of a better way of saying it, a lazy way to do theology and philosophy and arguably does not do God justice. Though there may be lazy ways to do certain things that do not cause any real disruption, beliefs and thoughts about God are not one of them. I am a firm believer that though scholars do the hard nitty-gritty work of things like higher criticism, metaphysics, and other such ivory tower disciplines, this does not alleviate any of the duty for the pastor person to do the hard work of wading through the findings and results of the ivory tower.
How does a pastor expand his range of what is consumed and worked through? This is an “easier said than done” situation and I do not ask this without knowledge of the ever-increasing workload a pastor takes on. They are pulled in 8 different directions and expected to be in 10 places at once to minister to the church’s needs all while prepping for Sunday and being present in their marriages and family. It seems that the answer is not as vague and mysterious as you might think and comes in two parts: boundaries on your time and planning for reading the opposition.
A suggestion I have learned from Cal Newport, a computer science professor, and productivity guru, and have begun implementing is planning your day out. When we plan our day out, we can get a good snapshot of what to expect. Life tends to toss us curveballs at random times, but if we are prepared for the curveball because of a 30,000-foot view on a sheet of paper or computer screen then we can sit back in the box and let it come to us. The driving home point here is that when we do plan our day out allow a bit of flexibility. If a meeting does not end exactly when expected and the next thing can be re-arranged, it is okay to do that re-arranging to make sure you are doing quality ministry. When flexibility is built in, we can then slide right into the second part.[3]
Second, is that once your day is planned out that you block out time for continuing education that is not related to this next sermon. This is where flexibility comes in. Sermon preparation is a crucial part of the office of a pastor and should be planned into the day/week. However, if you find yourself with an hour of flexible time, this is where you can insert a block of continuing education by reading the opposition. This type of thing does not have to happen regularly but when it does, consider it a nice little reprieve from the day-to-day of ministry and allow yourself to step into student and scholar mode for a while. You may even find a link that you did not know was there for your sermon this Sunday!
Another haunting question about being widely read and well-rounded as a pastor is where to start? Again, this answer is one that only seems difficult and lies within the very books that you are currently reading. I have come to love the Chicago style of writing because it frees up the flow of the page so that you are not bogged down with parenthetical citations. Rather, footnotes and/or endnotes are used, and these are where the gold vein is for the pastor who wishes to be well-read and well-rounded. If there is a point you like or just really disagree with and the author is citing someone else, get ahold of that book, article, podcast, blog post, or whatever it may be. You may be surprised at how easy this really is. Easy does not mean it is not time-consuming, though, which is why the two-part answer from above is crucial. When you block out time for consuming this material, you automatically can say no to something so you can work on continuing education.
Pastor, do not be afraid to read outside your own camp. In fact, it seems like a quality of a good pastor is that he does so. It shows that he cares enough about what someone in his church may be working through to learn about it himself so as to be the best shepherd he can be. Be the best pastor you can be and lead your church in such a way as to be widely read and well-rounded without compromising the gospel.
[1] Augustine uses the word poets in the ancient sense of the word meaning philosophers. Cicero and Seneca are two very well-known Greek philosophers.
[2] I say “we” because as a person in college ministry, I essentially act as a pastor with the students I work with on campus. These same principles apply to me as well.
[3] For more on this concept, I recommend Cal’s podcast Deep Questions. It is one of my personal favorites to listen to. He is no stranger to answering pastor’s productivity questions and does so on his podcast.
Brewed Up Apologetics 