'...this I have resolved on, to wit, to run when I can, to go when I cannot run, and to creep when I cannot go.'

Tuesday 22 May 2012

A biography of an 'ordinary' pastor?

I am enjoying reading Iain Murray's biography of Archibald Brown - no relation! That Brown was obviously an exceptional man in a number of ways - and I'm not referring to the fact that he had four wives, in succesion of course. It is interesting, and instructive, to note some of the problems that arose in the Metropolitan Tabernacle after Spurgeon's death. These were partly because Spurgeon himself was also an exceptional person. I rather wonder if it would be a good idea to have a biography of a very 'ordinary' pastor - of whom there have been very many, with an honest account of the difficulties and mistakes he faced; a 'warts and all' biography, in fact. In every generation the vast majority of pastors are ordinary and only have ordinary success - if that is the right word to use. It is wonderfully interesting to read about the Browns and Spurgeons but I'm not so sure their biographies are as useful as that of an 'ordinary' pastor might be.