The Christain Pastor by Wayne Oates - Book Report/Review Example

The Christian Pastor and Number Introduction Born in the year of 1917 on June 24 in a very poor family in South Carolina’s Greenville, Wayne Oates had to live a life without a father after the dad left him just after his birth. Furthermore, Wayne’s mother used to work at the cotton fields, leaving him alone with his grandmother and sister. Destiny seemed to have been drawn as Wayne himself seemed to be having no other option apart from working in the cotton mills too. However, this situation was later to change. Wayne was selected on the basis of poverty and his intelligence to be a page in the senate of the United States of America. According to Wayne, education formed the basis if tackling inferiority and in the eradication of poverty. In his growing up, Wayne struggled to be free a motivation that saw him write a book. This great combination of comparison and information built him up to be vibrant and very versatile young man. Wounded by his father abandoning him, undergoing deprivation, the resentment of his brothers and the pack pains in his latter life, Wayne adapted a capacity to empathize with humans. He went through his studies at the Forest University and the Mars Hill College. Wayne was later to serve as a pastor both in Kentucky and North Carolina. He later received a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. This was as a result of his combination of theological knowledge and the Biblical Sciences. His full time career kicked off in Kentucky at Louisville’s faculty of Southern Seminary. Wayne, being a pioneer in the academic field of literature and areas of pastoral counseling and pastoral care, got many of his works published and translated into various languages of the world. Wayne’s first 57 books never bore his dissertation’s name. He was later to publish ‘The Significance of the Work of Sigmund Freud for the Christian Faith’. This book was later known as The Christ Pastor, a title that came to be recognized globally. Wayne Oates was the first scholar to use the term ‘workaholic’ to refer to someone who was trying to come to terms with alcoholism. This word spread very fast as fire and soon found its way into the English dictionary, accepted and used as an English word. Wayne believed on the fact that Jesus Christ’s incarnation was based on the ‘God’s presence’ theme. Being a Christian pastor to others, according to Wayne, was embodying the presence of God. In his book "The Christian Pastor", Wayne Oates explores various issues that are critical to religion and Christianity at large. Wayne looks at the issues that surround the ministering of the pastors. In the book, there is a critical look at the integrity and the identity of the pastor in the fourth chapter. A method that is correlated is used to explore the daily today dilemmas that face pastors in their quest to deliver in the Christian ministry. Wayne explores the expectation that the people and Christians have on the pastor’s vis-à-vis the reality of the same pastors being humans. That struggle is exhibited and presented in perspective. This struggle, Wayne, acknowledges, occasion the study at the Association of Theological Schools. This book positions itself as being a handbook that helps to address stress that is related to the Christian ministry. Just as Augustine noted that the crow of victory shall be won by those who engage in a fight, Wayne tries to draw a map to help those in the Christianity ministry out of the struggling commotion. This is what the book summarizes as identity and integrity. In interrogating the way pastors are supposed to manage Christianity, Wayne links behavioral science to a successful handling of the responsibility that the pastor bears. He insists that the enthusiasm is ever changing, and in order to sustain this change, there is a need for a firm grip on behavioral sciences by the pastors. From the Christian witness, Wayne observes that the pastors can extract both the new and the old from treasures that are good. The book has much focus on the influences that are conditions by the work of the pastors in the church and the ministry at large. The Church Pastor’s functions are widely explored in the book. The church pastor is coined as one who is responsible for psychotherapy or counseling in the church. After the second publishing of the book in the year 1964, there emerged the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. There were established as serious alternatives to the parish ministries. The centers for Christian family therapy and those of Pastoral counseling have since spread all over the North America. From Wayne’s study and exploration of pastoral work, one can easily conclude that Wayne drew a lot of his inspiration from works of theology and psychology. He tries to form a base on which pastors is to refer to in terms of counseling and offering quality service in their pastoral work. However, this study by Wayne seems to be turning its back on the fundamentals of Christianity. Christianity derives its inspirations from the works and teaching of Jesus Christ. In as much as psychology, theology and behavioral sciences and vital in the ministry, pastors are supposed to base their references on the Holy Bible solely. The pastors, being human, have to be guided. In this respect, Wayne seems to be trying to help in being a bridge to guide the pastors on the normal issues faced by Christians. This is, however, commendable as the Bible to some extent focuses mainly on Christianity, righteousness and spirituality. Furthermore, the fact that Christianity involves Christians and that these Christians are humans, qualifies Wayne’s quest of relating pastoral practice to behavioral sciences. This is because humans are defined by their behavior; hence, behavior cannot be divorced from humans (Oates and Oates 1981, 15-20). Wayne further explores the impact of the assassinations that occurred in the American society and their implications to the ministry. He specifically looks at the assassination of Martin Luther King and the Kennedy brothers. The minorities, which were them the Hispanics and the blacks, are seen as having a greater impact on the ministry and in the society at large. The book tries to connect this power to the impacts of the assassinations. Family revolution is also observed in the work. Sexual revolution is seen to be taking over the family revolution, accustomed by the rise of issues that pertain to the dignity and rights of the women. The work of the Christian pastors is widely discussed in the book. In discussing the duties of the Christian pastor, there is no indication given to the fact that it is the work that belongs to the Jews of the Greek. Neither is it indicated that Christian pastors are supposed to be slaves nor free, male nor female. This is derived from the book of Galatians 3:28. The ministry of the pastor explored The book’s title ‘The Christian Pastor was initially used back in 1980’s. There was a warm reception for the book that was seen by many as a useful handbook that offered direction and guidance to the Christian pastors in matters that dealt with the ministry and the society at large. The book seems to address many issues that cut across many generations and address the different needs of the society. For instance, Wayne explores the issues that he describes as “crisis” that pastors undergo each and every day in their service to the ministry. Wayne presents the real life situation of the life and work of a Christian pastor. In one day, a Christian pastor may have to visit the sick in the hospital, pray for a family gathering, preside over a mass, preside over the burial ceremony, speak to a university student over personal issues, offer guidance to a young couple and the list goes on and on. All these responsibilities lie on the shoulder of a single Christian pastor, and he is expected to fulfill all of them in a single day. That is the expectation of the people in the society, notwithstanding the fact that the pastor is also a human being just like the rest. Throughout the Christian ministry, now over two thousand years, the Christians in the ministry believe that it is the responsibility of the pastor to be there for them in times of all these crises. This aspect is further underscored by a study that was carried out across forty seven denominations. Over twelve thousand pastors were involved in this study. The response by the Christians was the same. The pastor was being seen as a figure that is flawless and one that should be able to handle all the stressful situations, be calm and be affirming even when under much pressure. All people experience the crises in life. These include death, bereavement, illness, marriage, work, redemption, birth among others. Others include anxiety, uneasiness, and stress among other weaknesses. These crises either weaken or strengthen an individual, depending on one’s faith. The Holy Spirit is termed as being the difference maker in crises. Those having the Holy Spirit do come out mentally healthier and stronger in crises Conclusion Looking at Wayne’s "The Christian Pastor", it portrays different features that are characteristic to the normal Christianity and ministry. The strengths of the book lie on the features of a look if at the expectation and reality of the work and duties of the Christian pastor. The daily challenges and crises that the Christian pastor encounters are accurate and are true to the letter. From the book, the pastor is shaped to be an individual who is viewed and perceived to be above the normal. The Christian pastor is supposed to be firm and be able to handle all the stressful situations of life without any problem. Wayne, therefore, succeeds in driving the point home. Bibliography Oates,W. & Oates, W.E. 1981. The Christian Pastor: Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox Press. Read More