The Imperfect Pastor by Zack Eswine

Author:Zack Eswine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crossway

Forgotten Deliverers

In Ecclesiastes 9 we are told the story of a poor wise man who once delivered a small place with a small population from violent siege by an arrogant king. The king and his besieging army saw the man’s poverty, considered him irrelevant, and mistakenly paid no more attention to him. But this powerful king underestimated wisdom. He was outwitted by the poor wise man and left in defeat. The small group of people and their little place in the world were rescued!

What do you suppose happened next? I envision a rags-to-riches story in which the poor wise man who delivered the city becomes celebrated. But in this biblical story, what many of us fear most actually happened. The city forgot all about him. This was no platform for greater relevance. Needless to say, this was not a pastoral theology text for me early on. Can you blame me? Notice the obituary.

All his life, he lived with very little in a small place among a small number of people doing a good that no one remembered.

But notice what God says about this poor wise man and his overlooked life of victories: “The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools” (Eccles. 9:17). Read that again, won’t you?

The ruler, like folly, was loud. He made much of his fame (great), position (king), visible resources (building great siegeworks), power (might), and followers (he besieged the city) (Eccles. 9:14).

In contrast, the man who heard in quiet, the man of God, was poor. A man who is poor has only his humbled self to offer. There is no noise to his appearance. In this case his poverty was physical, not emotional or mental. His lack had to do with materials and appearances, not substance or grace.

Pastoral work requires presence. But whether we are introverted or extroverted, rural or urban, in large churches or small, our temptation to resist humbled presence remains the same. We are mistakenly prone to follow the great ruler in this wisdom story rather than the poor wise man. We present ourselves as the fixer, the knower, the one who is everywhere and quick to heal. But the sage of Ecclesiastes redirects us. The poor wise man’s poverty means that we cannot use him for his money, his status, his political position, his power, his accomplishments, or who he might know in order to help us make connections and network with others. There is nothing this man can offer us in the world but his testimony of God, the integrity of his way, and the grace in his life. These two differing ways of being represent two contrasting powers for our trust—the power of folly versus the power of wisdom. Wisdom is found in the humbled presence of the poor man. So, then, is the power of God.

I now find myself asking God on Sunday mornings, “Lord, please deliver me from praying and preaching in some kind of preacher voice today.

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