Transcript
Scott Anderson: Paul, the format of this book is interesting. It's pretty simple. There's three, kind of, main parts to it. You sort of examine pastoral culture and then, you talk kind of vertically and you talk kind of horizontally. But it's a book of... it's a diagnostic tool. That's how I felt in reading it and then, you have some wonderful cures and answers. Talk a little bit about why you structured the book the way you did, in that way.
Stepping Back to Look at Pastoral Culture
Paul Tripp: Well, I thought first I wanted to help all of us, all of us who are committed to the church of Jesus Christ, who love the church to step back and look at our culture. You know, it's like family culture or your ethnic culture, you get so used to it, you're just used to it. You're in the middle of it and you don't see it clearly.
We could step back and say, "What about the way we train pastors? What about the way we call pastors? What about the way we live with our pastors?" So I wanted that cultural thing, but I'm persuaded that although the culture pushes us in directions, the danger is really inside of me, not outside of me.
So I wanted to provide a diagnostic for pastors that they could look into and see themselves with accuracy. But what good is diagnosis if it's not attached to cure? And would you ever go to a physician who would tell you how sick you are and just walk out of the office? You'd think he was a horrific person.
Scripture Is Both Diagnostic and Cure
And so, one of the things I love about scripture is it's the world's best, most accurate, penetrating diagnostic, but it also offers you the world's only effective cure because wouldn't you agree that effectiveness of cure is always attached to accuracy of diagnosis? Bad diagnosis, no cure.
And for all of its penetrating honesty, I wanted this to be one of the most hopeful books you've ever read because I think that's the gospel. The gospel doesn't leave me wanting to jump out of a window. It leaves me thankful. It leaves me motivated. It leaves me encouraged, although I've wept my way toward encouragement.
