While reading this book, one cannot but feel that the author has a heart for pastors. A follow-up to the solid "Dangerous Calling" title that he published in 2012, this book overflows with practical, helpful principles for leaders in ministry.
I found myself agreeing over and over again with the truths that Tripp shared in this powerful and poignant book on 12 gospel principles for leadership in the church.
In nearly every chapter Tripp asks questions of the "leadership community" that should be in place in every church. He shows through personal illustrations and anecotes how the leadership community in many churches has failed the church and the pastor who leads. He doesn't necessarily lay the blame at their feet when pastors go awry, but often infers that we could do better in our churches surrounding our pastors and building the type of culture that is healthier for the church AND the pastor. Throughout each chapter, Tripp asks important questions concerning the state of the leadership community in churches.
Although I found myself underlining phrases, circling important points, and making comments all throughout the book, the chapter on Restoration (chapter 10) resonated with me. Why? Perhaps it is because we (the church and church leadership) don't do restoration well. Tripp argues passionately and succinctly that if a leadership community is formed by the gospel, it will always be committed to a lifestyle of fresh starts and new beginnings.
Here are some truths that spoke to me from the chapter on Restoration:
Chapter 10 - Restoration
"Even if sin necessitates a leader's removal from his position and ministry duties, turning toward him with grace is always right. We sinners don't just need forgiving grace; we need reconciling grace. And we don't just need reconciling grace; we need restoring grace. And we don't just need restoring grace; we need delivering grace." p. 179
"Ministry effectiveness is not to be confused with cleanness of heart. What you know about the public persona of a leader does not mean you do not need to be concerned about his private life." p. 181
"If the sin of a leader is revealed to the leadership community that surrounds him, it is because God loves that leader and wants it to be revealed." p. 181
"If all God wanted to do was judge people, he wouldn't warn them first. God's warning is a beautiful aspect of his grace. Remember, the way the gospel works is that we have to hear the bad news before the good news will mean anything to us." p. 184
"Jonah's identity statement (in Jonah 1:9) is interesting. By cultural identity he is a God fearer, but in terms of his response to God's call, he doesn't act like someone who fears the Lord. In this way, his words confront us with the difference that may exist in a leader between his confessional theology and his functional theology." p. 185
"You can see that some kind of turning took place in Jonah, because the man who was so intent on escaping God's presence began praying to the very one he was hoping to escape. In the verses that follow, we can eavesdrop on that deep-sea prayer and get a window into Jonah's heart. Verse 10 clues us in to what God had in mind for Jonah through his appointed instrument, the fish: "The LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land." Yes, it is true: sometimes restorative grace looks like vomit! Restorative grace doesn't always look nice and attractive or feel warm and affirming but, rather, is uncomfortable and hard.
The Jonah narrative preaches to us the heart of restoration. Restoration is much deeper and more foundational than doing what is necessary to quickly get a leader back into his ministry position. Surely Jonah needed much more than that, as the rest of the story makes clear. The heart of God's restorative grace is his zeal to rescue us from us. Jonah needed more than a rescue from the storm, the fish, or the people of Nineveh. Jonah's problem was Jonah, so to be restored to God and his call, Jonah needed to be free from his bondage to himself."
p. 186
"Restoration never minimizes the damaging reality of sin, but while it takes sin seriously, it also believes in the power of restorative grace. It believes in God's power to turn a heart and rebuild a life." p. 189
"May we remember, with honesty and humility of heart, that the grace we extend to others is always the grace we also need ourselves." p. 190
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I highly recommend this book to every single person in ministry including those in the church leadership community (deacons, elders, staff, etc)!