Review: Fight for Your Pastor by Peter Orr - The Gospel Coalition | Australia (2024)

It’s a bit awkward, isn’t it? For me—a pastor—to recommend a book titled, Fight for Your Pastor. It sounds just a little self-serving to say: “fight for me.” And why should you? When you look at the last decade of ministry failures, the call to “fight for your pastor” might sound culturally tone-deaf.

And yet, it’s precisely because of that culture that Peter Orr has written this book. Orr teaches New Testament at Moore Theological College, where he has trained hundreds of men and women for Christian ministry. As a theological educator, he occupies a mediating position from which he can speak to the church on behalf of the many pastors he has trained, knows and loves.

Instead of succumbing to the temptations of disappointment and distrust, Peter Orr urges us to support our shepherds all the more.

This brief book is a call for all of us to “more actively love and support our pastors.” (19) Orr recognises that the perfect storm of apostasy, secularism and unbelief—not to mention the pressures of leading through COVID—have made the pastor’s job much more difficult. And instead of succumbing to the temptations of disappointment and distrust, he urges us to support our shepherds all the more.

Across the book’s seven chapters, Orr invites us to fight for our pastors—especially our Senior Ministers—by praying, encouraging, listening, giving, forgiving, submitting and checking. Each chapter is full of biblical wisdom with practical advice about how to pray for your pastor, different ways to encourage him, and even guidance on what it looks like to submit to his leadership. The book concludes with two appendices: “What if I differ with my pastor on politics?” (this may speak more to an American audience) and “When and how should I leave a church?”

Pulling Back the Pastoral Curtain

Over the few short years I’ve been in Christian ministry, it’s dawned on me that many church members simply have no idea what it’s like to be a pastor. This lack of understanding and empathy can very easily lead to pastoral isolation, distrust and burnout.

This book is a powerful diagnostic tool that pulls back the curtain and lays bare the unique challenges of shepherding a flock. Orr includes no less than 24 raw and honest accounts from pastors on the frontline, and some of the stories he tells will no doubt surprise the average church member. Here are just three:

• “Once one leader mentioned that he intentionally doesn’t provide positive feedback or encouragement about my preaching ministry so that I don’t get proud or sin. He also mentioned that as a leader, he saw his role as being the check and balance against the pastor.” (31)
• “A family was threatening to leave church. The members of the family felt unloved. After a conversation, it became clear that what they meant was ‘The pastor isn’t our best friend.’” (65)
• “A person suddenly announced a decision to leave the church. I was shocked and said, ‘Let’s talk about this as mature Christians.’ The person’s response was to this effect, ‘I pay you to serve me. Your role is not to question me.’” (73)

Many people don’t realise how common it is for shepherds to suffer ‘sheep bite.’

None of these anecdotes will be surprising to most pastors but I’m guessing they might shock the everyday Christian. Many people don’t realise how common it is for shepherds to suffer “sheep bite,” partly because most pastors are too embarrassed to show their wounds. This book exposes these harsh realities. It paints an accurate picture of a shepherd’s struggle to care for his flock, along with properly sober warnings, such as: “The person under more satanic attack than anyone else you know is your pastor.” (21)

Pastoral ministry is a spiritually dangerous job; Orr helps us see that shepherds need the love of their sheep.

What to Do When Your Pastor Fails

This book, though, is not blind to the weaknesses or failings of pastors. It doesn’t excuse their sins or cover up their failures, and it doesn’t demand unquestioning obedience to their authority. In fact, it’s because pastors are weak and sinful that they need our prayers and support. Orr is unflinchingly honest: “Your pastor is a sinful human being. He will fail. He will let you down.” The question is, “What will you do when he does?” (62)

Orr’s chapter “Forgive” is uniquely helpful in helping us to calibrate our response.

Some sins cannot be overlooked. Criminal offences or disqualifying conduct warrant a clear and firm response. But the most common sins of pastors are not in this category; they are everyday failings borne out of human weakness. So when we see these sins in our pastors, we ought to heed the wisdom of Proverbs:

Good sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offence. (Prov 19:11)

Or, as Orr puts it:

… we do not always have to confront others and call them to repentance for every wrong they do to us. There are times when we should not even mention a wrong done to us but simply overlook it. (64)

He then lays out the three possible ways in which we might respond to our pastor’s sins:

1. Gossip or complain (both ruled out by Scripture);
2. Lovingly speak with him (which can help in certain circ*mstances); or
3. Lovingly overlook the offence (which is often the best course of action) (67).

By clearly setting out these three possible actions, Orr gently warns against gossip that so easily tears churches apart and encourages us to respond wisely to the everyday sins of our pastor.

To be sure, there are serious sins for which a pastor must be rebuked or even removed (see the chapter “Check!”), but Orr deftly describes our cultural moment:

If the tendency in the past was to automatically believe the pastor and sideline the victim (often with devastating consequences), the danger now is that we overcorrect and believe the pastor is guilty by default. (87)

Orr isn’t silencing the voice of victims or ignoring their hurt; he is simply cautioning us to not too quickly presume guilt or condemn honest failings. He invites us to adopt an attitude and posture that is slow to anger and quick to forgive.

The Unavoidable Weakness

The greatest weakness of this book is one that it cannot avoid. Just like The Book Your Pastor Wishes You Would Read (but is too embarrassed to ask) by Christopher Ash, it’s simply too awkward for a pastor to give this book to his lay leaders. What pastor would be so brazen to recommend a book whose title says, “fight for me”?

Please don’t buy this book and give it to your pastor … give to other leaders and members in your church.

But Orr has not written this book to be read primarily by pastors; this is a book written on behalf of pastors to be read by the church. So if you’re an elder, churchwarden or lay leader, please don’t buy this book and give it to your pastor. It might seem like a lovely gesture but he’s not the person who needs to read it!

Instead, why not buy this book and give it to other leaders and members in your church? For the author of Hebrews reminds us that by loving our shepherds, we are not only working for their joy—we are also working for our own good (13:17).