Dangerous Calling (Paul Tripp)

In Dangerous Calling, seasoned pastor Paul Tripp discusses and confronts problems in pastoral culture.  He starts by examining the culture and argues that he sees several problems in this vein:
1) pastors let their ministry define their identity
"Human beings are always assigning to themselves some kind of identity.  There are only two places to look.  Either you will be getting your identity vertically from who are you in Christ, or you will be shopping for it horizontally in the situations, experiences, and relationships of your daily life."
2) pastors let biblical literacy and theological knowledge define their maturity
Too often we "buy into the belief that biblical maturity is about the precision of theological knowledge and the completeness of their biblical literacy."  And yet "it is possible to be theologically astute and be very immature.  It is possible to be biblically literate and be in need of significant spiritual growth."
3) pastors confuse ministry success with God's endorsement of their lifestyle
"The success of a ministry is always more a picture of who God is than a statement about who the people are that he is using for his purpose."

He spends the rest of the book being "unflinchingly honest while being unshakingly hopeful" as he discusses other common problems, typical fears, signs of trouble, and steps to help.  He reminds the reader that ministry "is never just shaped by your gifts, knowledge, skill, and experience.  It is always also shaped by the true condition of your heart."  Everything we do serves either ourselves or God, and Tripp argues that "the biggest protection against the kingdom of self is not a set of self-reformative defensive strategies.  It's a heart that's so blown away by the right-here, right-now glories of the grace of Jesus Christ that we're not easily seduced by the lesser temporary glories . . ." for "no one celebrates the presence and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ more than the person who has embraced his desperate and daily need of it."

The message of the book was outstanding, deeply humbling and convicting (while also encouraging and inspiring).  I know it's geared towards pastors, but it's appropriate for all Christians, as we can (and do) fall into the same traps all the time.  I ding it only because it gets really repetitive as the book goes on, and could be delivered much more succinctly.  But it's highly recommended.

Rating: A-