Karen Spears Zacharias writes about her encounter with a bookstore manager/pastor who does not read.
I couldn’t tell if he was making a confession or if he was bragging.
The man looked up from the computer screen from where he was surfing the net and announced very matter-of-factly, “I manage this bookstore but I don’t read.”
Why would you tell that to an author?
I try my best to be gracious to people. I didn’t cuss out loud.
“Have you never been a reader?” I asked.
“Nope. Never,” he said.
“How is it you came to manage a bookstore if you don’t read?”
“I’m a pastor,” he said as if that explained everything.
I’d like to tell you he’s the first bookstore manager I’ve met this year who doesn’t read. In fact, he’s the third one. All were men. All had backgrounds in retail. And all three of them are running bookstores that cater to the Christian marketplace. I think there’s a message embedded in there somewhere but I haven’t decoded it yet.
This gnawing in my gut is more than indigestion — it’s the disturbing recognition that far too many pastors have abandoned the spiritual discipline of reading. And I’m not just talking about Bible reading, although I’ve heard my share of sermons this year that I suspect were pre-packaged and downloaded online.
I’m talking about reading a book besides the Bible.
I can count on one hand the number of pastors I’ve sat under in my lifetime that I know were avid readers. I remember them because their preaching had a depth and a substance that all others lacked. One of my favorites, Dr. Herb Anderson, would quote poetry from the pulpit. That was always a magical moment. It helped that Dr. Anderson lived in a university town. He had a lot of professors in his audience. They expected their pastor to be well-read. But out here in rural America where hardy people live and vote, pastors are more likely to quote a bumper sticker than they are to recite a poem they’ve memorized.
She concludes:
Can a pastor who doesn’t read really lead a people? Or is he more like a blind friend with a map? Pretty ineffective at giving clear direction.
I commented on her blog that this is one of my pet peeves. I've encountered pastors like this, colleagues in ministry, who have told me that they have not read seriously since seminary. Too sad. What a waste. What do they have to offer others? No depth. Shallow. We do not have to be scholars, but we need to continue to be students.
I certainly agree that a well read pastor is a richer, deeper teacher and shepherd. A pastor informed by bumper stickers and internet sloganeering is wading in the shallow end of life's pool. But as a graduate of a rather intellectual seminary, I am also aware of the aridness of 'ivory tower' preachers. I'm sure you would all agree, but I just thought it needed to be said that a really effective pastor needs to be equally adept at reading books, and at 'reading' people. When a pastor loves literature, but is also patient enough to talk with my hurting brother for a couple hours without looking at his watch, that's a blessed congregation.
Dave,
Reading has the potential to give a pastor depth when he/she is approached by that brother or sister with a need or a burden. Yes we “read” people, but also need to have something to say rather than merely saying something. Of course, the best thing we often do is listen.
” Now the sermon today is taken from a magazine that I found in a hedge. Now lipstick colors this season are in the frosted pink area and nail colors to match… And this reminds me rather of our Lord Jesus! Because surely, when Jesus went into Nazareth on a donkey, he must have got tarted up a bit…”—Eddie Izzard
This is a great discussion. I was recently making small talk with a local pastor and I asked him if he had read so-and-so book. His response was that he only reads the Bible–it is all he really needs.
Needless to say, I was stunned.
As a graduate of the same seminary as Dave, I totally agree with his remarks. But don't books help one “read people.”