Letters to a Young Pastor Quotes

“The devil’s three temptations of Jesus all had to do with ways and means. Every one of the devil’s goals was excellent. The devil had an unsurpassed vision statement. But the ways and means were incompatible with the ends. Jesus saw through it at once; why are pastors so intoxicated with visions and goals and so muddled when it comes to ways and means?”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“I’m beginning to think (or maybe it’s what I have thought all along) that this is what pastors are primarily responsible for: the ways and means by which we guide people into obedience and trust. In a technologically obsessed culture, our imaginations are quite naturally dominated by ways and means. Since all technology is by definition good, there is no critical attention or discernment available—anything that looks good and makes people feel good and gets a lot of good people together must be good.”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“When I am in Tyler, Texas, and its many suburbs that fill the pews in evangelical congregations all over the country, I am simply overwhelmed with the seeming impossibility of arousing any interest in caring about ways and means—how we live this life the way Jesus led us to do it. The ways and means adopted by all my erstwhile and admiring friends revolve around instant communication, efficiency, hurry, planning, and counting. Anything small or slow, which includes any person small or slow, is treated with condescension.”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“The difficulty is that concern for ways and means, which is the heart of the contemplative life, is very low on the agenda of the American pastor, especially for the pastor who wants to make an “impact” on the culture. Even the word contemplative itself is consigned to the far margins of interest, something to be indulged occasionally, perhaps on a weekend retreat or on a walk through the woods.”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“At one time in the course of those earlier deletions, I started out by reflecting on what it feels like to be seventy. But that will come later. Actually, it feels pretty good. I can’t remember being as reflective regarding any other decade marker. There is a contemplative feel to this one. But maybe I had to get the “rant” out of my system to get down to what is really going on in me. With much love,”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“Your mother and I have been thinking about this trust—we have named it the Selah Trust—and so have been trying to get a focus on just what it is that we have been about all our lives and how we want our money to be used in a way consistent with that. The word that keeps coming up is contemplation. What we are looking for is not primarily the causes and ends that people/organizations are committed to, but how they go about it—the test for gospel authenticity is the way, not the what. Standard fundraising is all about the what. Any how will do, so long as it brings in the money. So we find ourselves staying very local, very close to the ground, as we make our decisions and plans. I am not sure, Eric, that this is a letter; it qualifies more as a rant.”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“The difficulty is that concern for ways and means, which is the heart of the contemplative life, is very low on the agenda of the American pastor, especially for the pastor who wants to make an “impact” on the culture. Even the word contemplative itself is consigned to the far margins of interest, something to be indulged occasionally, perhaps on a weekend retreat or on a walk through the woods. When I am in Tyler, Texas, and its many suburbs that fill the pews in evangelical congregations all over the country, I am simply overwhelmed with the seeming impossibility of arousing any interest in caring about ways and means—how we live this life the way Jesus led us to do it. The ways and means adopted by all my erstwhile and admiring friends revolve around instant communication, efficiency, hurry, planning, and counting. Anything small or slow, which includes any person small or slow, is treated with condescension.”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“I’m beginning to think (or maybe it’s what I have thought all along) that this is what pastors are primarily responsible for: the ways and means by which we guide people into obedience and trust. In a technologically obsessed culture, our imaginations are quite naturally dominated by ways and means. Since all technology is by definition good, there is no critical attention or discernment available—anything that looks good and makes people feel good and gets a lot of good people together must be good. The devil’s three temptations of Jesus all had to do with ways and means. Every one of the devil’s goals was excellent. The devil had an unsurpassed vision statement. But the ways and means were incompatible with the ends. Jesus saw through it at once; why are pastors so intoxicated with visions and goals and so muddled when it comes to ways and means?”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“The main work of the church in our culture, I am beginning to feel, has to do with “ways and means.” When everybody knows the gospel and is happy to be saved (and that is just the extreme instance of what is pretty common in so many church circles), the thing that stands out negatively is the inappropriateness of their ways and means: All their admiration is for the big and the glamorous, the image and the numbers. The most significant thing about The Message—to judge from their comments—is that it has sold seven million copies. I’m not sure what the Senate Ways and Means Committee does, but my feeling is that it is one of the more influential committees in the Senate. Do we have an equivalent of such a thing among us?”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“the ends. Jesus saw through it at once; why are pastors so intoxicated with visions and goals and so muddled when it comes to ways and means? The difficulty is that concern for ways and means, which is the heart of the contemplative life, is very low on the agenda of the American pastor, especially for the pastor who wants to make an “impact” on the culture. Even the word contemplative itself is consigned to the far margins of interest, something to be indulged occasionally, perhaps on a weekend retreat or on a walk through the woods. When I am in Tyler, Texas, and its many suburbs that fill the pews in evangelical congregations all over the country, I am simply overwhelmed with the seeming impossibility of arousing any interest in caring about ways and means—how we live this life the way Jesus led us to do it. The ways and means adopted by all my erstwhile and admiring friends revolve around instant communication, efficiency, hurry, planning, and counting. Anything small or slow, which includes any person small or slow, is treated with condescension. Your mother and I have been thinking about this trust—we have named it the Selah Trust—and so have been trying to get a focus on just what it is that we have been about all our lives and how we want our money to be used in a way consistent with that. The word that keeps coming up is contemplation. What we are looking for is not primarily the causes and ends that people/organizations are committed to, but how they go about it—the test for gospel authenticity is the way, not the what. Standard fundraising is all about the what. Any how will do, so long as it brings in the money. So we find ourselves staying very local, very close to the ground, as we make our decisions and plans. I am not sure, Eric, that this is a letter; it qualifies more as a rant. At one time in the course of those earlier deletions, I started out by reflecting on what it feels like to be seventy. But that will come later. Actually, it feels pretty good. I can’t remember being as reflective regarding any other decade marker. There is a contemplative feel to this one. But maybe I had to get the “rant” out of my system to get down to what is really going on in me. With much love,”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“the ends. Jesus saw through it at once; why are pastors so intoxicated with visions and goals and so muddled when it comes to ways and means? The difficulty is that concern for ways and means, which is the heart of the contemplative life, is very low on the agenda of the American pastor, especially for the pastor who wants to make an “impact” on the culture. Even the word contemplative itself is consigned to the far margins of interest, something to be indulged occasionally, perhaps on a weekend retreat or on a walk through the woods. When I am in Tyler, Texas, and its many suburbs that fill the pews in evangelical congregations all over the country, I am simply overwhelmed with the seeming impossibility of arousing any interest in caring about ways and means—how we live this life the way Jesus led us to do it. The ways and means adopted by all my erstwhile and admiring friends revolve around instant communication, efficiency, hurry, planning, and counting. Anything small or slow, which includes any person small or slow, is treated with condescension.”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“big and the glamorous, the image and the numbers. The most significant thing about The Message—to judge from their comments—is that it has sold seven million copies. I’m not sure what the Senate Ways and Means Committee does, but my feeling is that it is one of the more influential committees in the Senate. Do we have an equivalent of such a thing among us? I’m beginning to think (or maybe it’s what I have thought all along) that this is what pastors are primarily responsible for: the ways and means by which we guide people into obedience and trust. In a technologically obsessed culture, our imaginations are quite naturally dominated by ways and means. Since all technology is by definition good, there is no critical attention or discernment available—anything that looks good and makes people feel good and gets a lot of good people together must be good. The devil’s three temptations of Jesus all had to do with ways and means. Every one of the devil’s goals was excellent. The devil had an unsurpassed vision statement. But the ways and means were incompatible with”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“suffering, without ambiguity. Everything smoothed out and ironed, and with a lot of starch in the collar. Why don’t I ever fit? And now that I write this, I think maybe this is why I have had trouble getting into the stride of this letter. For several months now, since the NavPress celebration party, I have spent more time with “evangelicals” than I am used to, and the effects are beginning to accumulate. I am used to a wider range of emotion and more forthrightness in matters of doubt and despair. It feels as if the people who are saying Amen to what I have been doing are doing it more as a celebrity thing than out of their own lives—the applause seems a little canned. I’m feeling a little better already, just noticing all this. And here is a reflection that has been growing in the process. The main work of the church in our culture, I am beginning to feel, has to do with “ways and means.” When everybody knows the gospel and is happy to be saved (and that is just the extreme instance of what is pretty common in so many church circles), the thing that stands out negatively is the inappropriateness of their ways and means: All their admiration is for the”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“occasion was a breakfast for pastors that a chain of bookstores does every year. They had two hundred-plus pastors, and they had me talk about The Message. Which I did. They were all very appreciative and gracious, so I should be grateful. But they were also full of clichés and self-satisfaction at being in such a Christian town and state, with such a Christian president presiding over the world just now. After all these years, I realize that I have never been immersed in such a total Bible Belt world. All the glossy women looked the same; all the pastors sounded the same. The bookstore that the manager was so proud of was very large, with extensive holdings of every kind of CD, tape, and music publication, vast displays of Christian-romance fiction, a huge gallery of Thomas Kinkade. I had mentioned Wendell Berry in my address to the pastors. They had never heard of him. There was not a single book in the store that was not certified Southern evangelical. Why am I so uncomfortable in this world? They are all on my side; they are all courteous and affirmative, but it seems to be a gospel without depth, without”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“Dear Eric, I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time getting focused on this letter to you. I started nearly three weeks ago, and I keep pressing the delete button. So here I go again. Let me start with what happened earlier this week, the trip I mentioned on the telephone. I went to Tyler, Texas, on Tuesday and came back on Wednesday. This is the first time I have done anything in the way of promotion of The Message. The publicist at NavPress prevailed on me several months ago, said she thought this was really important. She was wrong. I was in the wrong country with the wrong people. The”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son

“Ray, who led our Israel group last year, made a big thing of “following the rabbi.” He said it was an old, old tradition—he was sure going back into pre-Christian Galilee. The subject came up because people in our group were always saying, “Ray, what are we going to do today? Where are we going? When are we going to have lunch? Why are we going up this trail?” And Ray wouldn’t answer—he just ignored the questions. And then, once in a while, he would say something like, “Listen, I know where I’m going. Trust me. If I tell you ahead of time what we’re doing, where we’re going, you start forming ideas in your mind that will be wrong—walking by faith involves an openness to seeing, hearing what you don’t know, can’t anticipate. Follow the rabbi, let the rabbi do it his way, with his sense of timing. Trust him to make the right decisions along the way and get you where he wants you to go.” And I remembered how often Jesus didn’t answer questions.”
― Eric E. Peterson, Letters to a Young Pastor: Timothy Conversations between Father and Son