The Crucifixion of Ministry: Surrendering Our Ambitions to the Service of Christ

by Andrew Purves

As a pastor, do you ever get the feeling that no matter what you try, nothing much seems to change? That is because the ministries themselves are not redemptive--they are not up to you. Only Jesus' ministry is redemptive. Jesus has to "show up." Theologian Andrew Purves explores at the deepest level the true and essential nature of Christian ministry. He says that the attempt to be an effective minister is a major problem. Ministers are "in the way." He radically claims that ministries need to be crucified. They need to be killed off so that Christ can make them live. Rooting church service in Christ's own continuing ministry, Purves provides a vision for students and practicing clergy to reclaim the vital connection between Christ and participation in his ministry today, even if it means letting Christ put to death the ministries to which pastors cling so closely. A radical appraisal for a critical malady affecting the life of the Christian church written in plain, down-to-earth language.

Genres: Theology, Leadership, Nonfiction, Christianity

152 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2007

Reviews

[Angela Q · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timely reminder for me, as someone whose most challenging stronghold is pride. Ministry is not about me, what I think I SHOULD be doing, or what I want to do. Until and unless HE bumps me aside — perhaps strongly — I may never recognize this deeply enough.

“We refer to our ministries as if we own them and as if they are all about us. We deeply invest in our own success, although we wrap it up in pious language to soften its prideful aspect.”

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Purves delivers a much needed message to ministers in the American church: your ministry is not about you or what you do--it's about Jesus and what HE is doing. His advice is not only relevant, but likely to be a breath of fresh air, even a rescue, to many ministers. Here is one piece of advice:

"To ministers let me say this as strongly as I can. Preach Christ, preach Christ, preach Christ. Get out of your offices and get into your studies. Quit playing office manager and program director, quit staffing committees, and even right now recommit yourselves to what you were ordained to do, namely the ministry of the Word and sacraments. Pick up good theology books again: hard books, classic texts, great theologians. Claim the energy and time to study for days and days at a time. Disappear for long hours because you are reading Athanasius on the person of Jesus Christ or Wesley on sanctification or Augustine on the Trinity or Calvin on the Christian life or Andrew Murray on the priesthood of Christ. Then you will have something to say that's worth hearing" (page 44).

Purves is a student of the excellent and overlooked theologian T. F. Torrance (and his brother James Torrance) and it shows in this book. He builds the core of his argument around their work with Athanasian theology, focusing on the character of God and the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ. This also brings up the only negatives of this book: for people who are already familiar with this theological approach much of the book will feel repetitive and basic. Purves spends a LOT of time reviewing its basic tenants: who Jesus shows God to be, what the Incarnation means for us today, etc. But to people unfamiliar with this approach Purves may not do the best job of explaining it. Despite the book's being easy to read, it didn't seem to me that someone unfamiliar with at least the basics of this theology would be able to grasp it well from this book.

[Alex Strohschein · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the one hand, this book may not be for me. I say this book is not for me because aside from a couple of internships I really have not had to endure the gruelling trenches of church ministry. Andrew Purves wants to encourage pastors who feel burnt-out and burdened by the rigorous demands of ministry by continually reminding them that it is only Jesus' ministry, not their own, which is ultimately redemptive. Purves sees the task of pastors as bearing witness to Christ, interpreting the unique context in which the Trinity is already present in people's lives, and performing symbolic actions (such as the sign of the cross or anointing with oil) that communicates Christ into the lives of their flock. One compelling point Purves makes is that our calling is not to "imitate Christ" but to participate in the ongoing ministry that Christ is already and always doing in our lives. Ministry workers are also to practice self-care, immerse themselves into a deep devotional life, and study solid theology and not get swamped with administrative duties.

I agree with Purves that it IS ultimately Christ whose ministry is redemptive, but I wish he had provided more concrete examples of how this works and looks in ministry. His Reformed theology strongly affects his theology of ministry but I think it can neglect the danger of antinomianism (which receives only slight attention in the book). Overall I think Purves is right to point us to Jesus as the ultimate minister, but I just wish he explained how this works in practice more.

[Aaron Hixson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really timely reminder that my ministry is not redemptive in any meaningful sense of the word. I will never save, only Jesus can and does.

I should be asking, “What is Christ doing in this moment?” Not “what clever strategy should I use?”

It’s definitely esoteric at times. But the heart of full acknowledgement that ministry is ONLY ACCOMPLISHED BY JESUS was important for me right now.

Also the idea that we are united in Jesus communion with the father and his mission from the father was cool.

The incarnation implies the atonement, and the atonement is impossible without the incarnation. This had GREAT stuff about the humanity of Jesus, his incarnation and ASCENSION particularly.

Thanks mike Maloney!

[CJ Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful blend of theology, patristics, exhortation, and practical guidance, with hints of Barth and stronger notes of Calvin and Athanasius. Purves argues that Christ alone ministers Christ, and so pastors must crucify their own ministry and reframe their task as recognizing and bearing witness to Christ's ministry, interpreting Christ's ministry, and performing symbolic actions that signify Christ's ministry. Without this crucifixion, ministers will be overcome by the deadly burden of ministry, but with this crucifixion, ministers may be raised and united to Christ's own life-giving ministry.

[Stevie Ciske · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rarely give only 1 star. And as you can see by the dates, this took me forever to finish. I just kept disagreeing to the point of not wanting to read anymore. But being goal-oriented, I decided to push through. I prayed that I'd get what God wanted me to glean from it.
It is written by a Calvinist, which isn't really known until like page 100 unless you can recognize the Calvinist theology.
I think it'd be beneficial to read along with the writer. haha. I have so many questions.

[Spencer Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for ministers, primarily written for vocational ministers. The premise of the work is that it is not us who does the ministry, but Christ. When we see ministry as our task we get in the way. Christ ministers and our task is to join him in his ministry, declaring that he has been at work and is at work now. High quality read.

[William Stanger · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was another book assigned as mandatory reading for a course I'm taking. It had some helpful moments, but overall I think he belaboured his points and was a bit repetitive. Added to that, his theology jarred me at times too. This book has helped some, but not me, unfortunately.

[Mark Durrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended read for ordained and lay pastors!

I read this recently during a difficult season in ministry. It has helped immensely and now I'm going to re-read it for great clarity. Many thanks Andrew Purves.

[Pastor Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book. I like and respect his conclusions and they should be helpful for pastors. There are certain sections that I got out my pencil and whooped and hollered. And there are certain sections with theological phraseology that made me a bit sleepy. That's okay. Worth the read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for study - lots of good insights

[Stephen Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book on ministry I have read.

[Melissa Hildebrandt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author made a really good point: this is Not my ministry; this is God’s ministry. It was so repetitive though!!

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written for a very specific audience: Pastors who are burned out and tired of ministry, but haven't thrown in the towel yet. I'm not in that audience, so I struggled to connect with a lot of what Purves was going for. I found a lot of value in the content in a pandemic era church, where we do need to turn everything over to Christ, but I'm not sure this needed to be a full book. This would have been just about as valuable as an article of sorts.

[Marcus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Substance: 1/5
Readability: 1/5

I'm a seminary student and this was required for reading for class.

First, I don't consider myself theologically Reformed. It's quick to see that Purves does see himself that way. It's worth drawing attention to our theological differences before the following review, but I will attempt to review the book without allowing theological differences to cloud the way I review it.

I’m a reader who is more sensitive to an author’s organizational decisions. Presentation and organization can dramatically affect the way an argument is received and/or retained. Unfortunately, organization and presentation in Crucifixion of Ministry made my experience a negative one. The information is subtitled to the max: divisions have subdivisions, and even subdivisions have subdivisions. What’s left is a series of dozens of short quips that lack transition and unity. This was distracting, and made the experience an awkward and clunky one.

Underneath the clumsiness, Purves’ content did little to redeem the work for me. First, the overall tone towards pastoral ministry is a negative one. I felt like I had to free myself of Purves’ negativity towards the field (and towards human beings!) in order to get at the heart of what I think he was trying to say. However, his pessimism in phrases and rhetorical questions left me dreading and doubting pastoral ministry more than critically and theologically examining it. Even the title of the work, “Crucifixion of Ministry”, was one that I had to separate from the books content simply because it filled me with so much dread.

There are times that Purves attempts to teach theological point, and even moments where I think he is succeeding. I especially liked the first couple pages to his “What’s in a Name?” chapter. But I think ultimately the good, takeaway content is buried too deep within the negativity, pessimism, and organizational clunk. I found difficult trying to understand what Purves is encouraging me to think about, practice, or frame my ministry. When I felt like I did, he only drowned the simplicity in more theology that either seemed unnecessary or redundant.

I'm left wondering how the book even got past an editor in the first place. It's not a fun read. Readers are better off reading something more positive, less biased, and encouraging.

[John Brackbill · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book to read because of a great quote someone cited from it, but that was the best part of the whole book. The fact that he is of the egalitarian persuasion as well as part of the Presbyterian USA church was not encouraging to me as I got into the book. There were several places where he phrased a doctrine in such a way that was so far removed from biblical terminology but it was difficult to decipher its meaning and intent. At other times (surprisingly given his church affiliation) he seemed to be conservative theologically (at least in the ballpark). I was disappointed in the lack of application to ministry. In addition, he did not seriously deal with scripture. I learned a lesson 1 great quote from above doesn't make a great book.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good and helpful when it comes to seeing ministry as Jesus' ministry. I really enjoyed the application of the vicarious humanity of Christ and our union with him. Good have been better on the crucifixion of "our ministry" and the practical application of our participation in Jesus' ministry.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reality of a high burnout rate among members of the clergy drives this author's effort. His point is that pastors need to quit trying to do all the work themselves and surrender their ministries to Christ--after all, it is his ministry to begin with and he can do it just fine by himself. All he does is invite us to go along and share in it. A must-read for pastors.

[Landon Coleman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing in this book is not always clear. The author makes repeated statements without any argumentation to support the statement until much later in the book. Purves does write with decent insight into the unique struggles of pastoral ministry, and he offers gospel centered counsel. He just doesn’t always do so in a way that’s direct, clear, and easy to follow.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teaches great lesson about losing yourself in order to gain for Christ, that ministry does not guarantee effectiveness unless your plans are put aside in order to allow God's plans to unfold in Church ministry.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The message? Getting out of Jesus' way is the only way to have a redemptive ministry. The minister must learn the functional, pastoral meaning of 'I am crucified with Christ' for his everyday life as a witness to Jesus Christ.

[John Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puts forward vision of ministry that has, at its center, the doctrine of union with Christ. Still not sure I understand all the implications, but there is something here I am drawn towards. Will benefit from further reflection and discussion.

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book to be preachy, especially coming from an academic. The author's Calvinism also got in the way of my reading.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book for ministry.