Abstract
Pastor Paul offers a series of reflections on the apostle Paul’s ‘pastoral ways’ (p. xi) and what Paul would want to teach ministry leaders today. Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized public theologian and a New Testament scholar with expertise in Jesus studies as well as in Pauline theology and Pauline texts like Romans, Colossians, Galatians, and Philemon. It is helpful to know that this book comes out of an endowed lecture series at Nazarene Theological Seminary where the focus of the series is on theological explorations for the church. While McKnight offers a thoughtful set of academic studies on the ethos and virtues of faithful shepherding, the book is meant to be a comfortable reading experience with smooth prose, a more conversational tone, and endnotes.
McKnight’s wider argument in the book is that pastors need to foster a particular culture in their community, primarily one of ‘Christoformity,’ shaping that social body into the image of Christ. Specifically, McKnight sees Christoformity as formation into Christ’s ‘life, his death, and. . .his resurrection and ascension’ (p. 4). Within the church community, this happens ‘through baptism, through faith, through indwelling and being indwelled by Christ, through the Spirit, through being clothed with Christ, through fellowship, through transformation, and through sharing all the events in Christ’s life’ (p. 4).
The main chapters of the book following the programmatic initial essay (chs. 2-8) fill out what kinds of values, perspectives, and practices help to cultivate this Christoformity: cultures of friendship, familial commitment, generosity, storytelling, witness, ‘world subversion,’ and wisdom. One will not find in this book a systematic outline of the hows and whats of the role and office of a pastor. (Paul never called himself a ‘pastor’ in his letters.) Rather, McKnight presents Paul’s way of being in the world towards fostering a healthy and whole community of faith, hope, and love. McKnight moves seamlessly between biblical texts, social-scientific concepts and insights, quotes from modern theologians, and poignant anecdotes. For pastors and Christian leaders that are in a rut, or would benefit from expert wisdom on moving their faith community in the right direction (of Christoformity), Pastor Paul is an excellent guide and source of inspiration.