Published in 2015, The Pastor as Public Theologian sets out to “hasten theology’s return” to the local church pastorate. Strachan and Vanhoozer write together as a plea for pastors to “recover their theological hearts.” They write to churches who need to “reclaim their heritage as a theological community created by God’s Word and sustained by God’s Spirit.” They decry the fact that “the vocation of pastor,” as well as church planter, “has been replaced by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans.” Altogether, the understanding of the ministry of local pastor needs revival, as it is “the world’s boldest profession.”

A few things bear mentioning in order to whet your appetite for this book. But even if this blog post doesn’t convince you, don’t let that stop you. It’s worth the read for every pastor, but especially for those who, like me, always seem to to vacillate between the two worlds of academia and ecclesia. It’s also helpful for pastors who just need encouragement and to be challenged. Here are a few nuggets from the book.

“A theologian is a minister of understanding. Pastors are not called to practice academic theology but to minister theological understanding.”

“At the very heart of the pastor’s work is the need to foster biblical literacy in the church. What is needed is canon sense: the ability to interpret particular passages of Scripture in light of the whole Bible.”

“Pastor-theologians must have cultural literacy: the ability to “read” or makes sense of what is happening in our contemporary situation. The most important task of the pastor-theologian is thus to ensure that the congregation wakes up and stays awake, becoming aware of culture and what it is trying to cultivate in our hearts and minds. When we truly understand our situation, we are able to do something about it. Gaining understanding produces know-how.”

“The seminary’s primary task is to form the mind of Christ in its students.” (I would add that the primary task of the seminary student is to be formed spiritually rather than educated theologically.)

“The sermon is thus a word full of grace and truth that takes sub-evangelical thought captive, exposing the emptiness of other narratives and false gospels that seek to colonize our imaginations.”

“Disciplined expository teaching, either of creeds or confessions, is the best way for a pastor-theologian to foster theological literacy in the local church.”

Canon sense, cultural literacy, and theological literacy are primary tasks of the public pastor-theologian. No one else can or will practice these disciplines in the church or in the public sphere. The pastor is a general practitioner while professors are academic specialists. The pastor must be nimble, much more widely adept than the specialist, and always expanding his knowledge. Pastors must embrace their distinct calling as the highest calling. We must reclaim our place as public pastor-theologians, and “build the house of God one human household at a time.”

There’s much more to be said of Strachan and Vanhoozer’s book. I found it convincing, convicting, and compelling. Now if I can just find a homiletics book to break me of habitual alliteration.

The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision. By Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan. Pp. xi, 221. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2015. $22.00. 978 0 8010 9771 3.