Steve Stanley’s Reviews > Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry > Status Update

So if . . . a separation exists between what we teach others and how we live, what can we do to close the gap? . . . 1) Require Yourself to Sit Under Your Own Teaching and Preaching . . . 2) Confess Publicly to Your Own Struggle . . . 3) Place Yourself Under Wise and Biblical Counsel . . . 4) Be Approachable to Your Friends and Family . . . 5) Build a Humbly Candid Leadership Community.

It is the belief . . . that my private and ministry lives are not intimately and causally connected. . . . But the New Testament has no place for a pastor's ever beginning to believe that he is two separate people: the private man at home and the public man in the pulpit. . . . So when Paul lays out the qualifications for eldership, one of the places he tells you to go and look is the pastor's home.

It's hard to trust someone who speaks much but doesn't listen well. It's hard to trust someone who is quick to critique but does not receive criticism very well. It's hard to trust someone who is confrontational and unapproachable at the same time. . . . It's hard to trust someone who preaches what he appears to think that he doesn't need.

You simply cannot do this without proper preparation, meditation, confession, and worship. There is simply no way that you can begin to think about a passage for the first time on Saturday. . . and give it the attention that it needs so that you understand and have been personally impacted by it and are prepared to give it to others in a way that . . . contributes to their ongoing transformation.

It is bringing the transforming truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ from a passage that has been properly understood, cogently and practically applied, and delivered with the engaging tenderness and passion of a person who has been broken and restored by the very truths he stands up to communicate.

Preaching is more than the regurgitation of your favorite exegetical commentary, or a rather transparent recast of the sermons of your favorite preachers, or a reshaping of notes from one of your favorite seminary classes.

Biblical literacy is not to be confused with Christian maturity. Homiletic accuracy is not the same as godliness. Theological dexterity is very different from practical holiness. Successful leadership is not the same as a heart for Christ. Growth in influence​ must not be confused with growth in grace.