The business of pastoral ministry is hard. There’s no getting around it.
Whether it’s counseling couples in the midst of hardship, bedside prayers for the sick, striving for unity in the midst of a difficult season, pastoral ministry is hard. And then there’s the day-to-day: the email, the sermon preparation, the small tasks that constantly beg for the pastor’s time.
That being true, I’d like to recommend something that all pastors should make a priority to do: read the classics.
It might seem a bit quixotic to recommend a regular diet of Christian classics in the midst of a busy pastoral ministry season, but there are three reasons why I think you, pastor, should.
1) Reading the classics helps to remember the big picture.
One of the best things the classics of the Christian tradition do is to help you keep your eye on the big picture. While pastoral ministry often deals with big, weighty things, it can often be the small, particular problems that cause an inordinate amount difficulty. Through reading Augustine’s City of God, the pastor can remember that, just as Augustine had his eyes on the larger purposes of God’s global mission in the sack of Rome by the Goths, so God can even be working in the midst of the difficulties of your building campaign.
The point is this: reading the classics help us to remember that what matters is God and his glory. The small things of this world will pass away; His glory will remain forever.
2) Reading the classics helps to comfort in the midst of trial.
Just as the classics help us to remember the big picture of God’s glory, so they also can be a balm in the midst of trial. Remember that Charles Spurgeon, one of the shining preachers in Christian history, often struggled with depression can bring hope to sorrowful Christian clinging to Christ by faith in the midst of a spell of darkness. Hearing his words about the glory of Christ can shine a light of spiritual glory and heal the heart when it needs it most.
The problems of today aren’t unique to just us. We need the voices of the past to help us behold Christ afresh.
3) Reading the classics helps to deepen the pastor’s imagination.
Finally, reading the classics can help to deepen the pastor’s imagination. In pastoral ministry, there are often scenarios that arise that can be perplexing. Sometimes the latest ministry book doesn’t even broach the topic. Reading the classics can help. Through reading the classics, we catch a glimpse of how past Christians act in the midst of confusing times through sanctified reason. We need examples. The classics supply them.