Pastor as Poet of the Soul

Authors

Zachary J. Luben, Pepperdine UniversityFollow

Abstract

The church finds itself in a culture that challenges the idea of divine action in the world—one of the results of living in a secular age. We are more likely to talk about “good luck” or “coincidence” than we are about God acting in history. Charles Taylor calls this the immanent frame—that we have constructed a social view that frames our lives without the supernatural. In addition, Hartmut Rosa describes modernity as social acceleration, which puts us out-of-sync in our relationships to others and the world. For the pastor, these cultural and social forces at work often lead to malaise and alienation, which are also widespread in the church. But the pastor is uniquely called to name God’s action and invite the church to recognize it in their everyday lives. This paper proposes that understanding the role of the pastor as poet is a proactive and creative response to these secular developments.

Author Bio

Zachary J. Luben serves as an Associate Chaplain at Pepperdine University where he is also an adjunct professor in the Religion & Philosophy Division. He was a full-time Youth and Family Minister for thirteen years in the Churches of Christ in California. Zachary completed his Master of Divinity at Pepperdine in 2014. He and his family reside in Los Angeles, CA.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Luben, Zachary J. (2022) "Pastor as Poet of the Soul," Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry: Vol. 8: Iss. 2, Article 1.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/discernment/vol8/iss2/1