At the end of the day what I thought six years ago when I graduated from seminary was only partially true. I not only get to read what I want to read but I also read and study what I need to read and study

He’s the “Jack of all trades, master of none.” I am referring of course to the role of Senior Pastor. As the ‘leader among leaders’ I am responsible for providing overall oversight to all the ministries that make up the First Baptist Church of Freeport.

That does not mean however that my hand is equally deep in every pot. I certainly embrace the plural leadership model but now I digress.

I am going on year four as the lead pastor/elder at FBC, Freeport. My main task is to “feed Jesus’ sheep” (John 21:17). To “devote myself to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4). To “preach the Word, in season and out of season” (2 Tim 4:2). I am also responsible to shepherd the flock of God (1 Peter 5:1-4) with my fellow undershepherds; and to provide pastoral oversight (1 Thessalonians 5:12, Hebrews 13:17, 1 Timothy 5:17).

When I graduated from seminary I sort of thought that I would finally be able to read what I wanted to read rather than simply digest what my professors asked me/us to take in. That assumption is partially right. For example I am currently reading Rick Holland’s, Uneclipsing the Son, Earl Blackburn’s, Jesus Loves the Church and So Should You, Douglas Bond’s, The Mighty Weakness of John Knox, and Carl Trueman’s, Reformation; Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow for my soul’s sake. Those books or authors peaked my interest and so upon purchasing them I evidentially got around to reading them.

This might surprise you but most ordinary pastors are not seminary professors. Very few of us are subject matter experts on anything. I love to study church history but I am certainly no Iain Murray or Nate Busenitz. I love systematic theology but I am no Ph D. I enjoy studying the original languages but I am most definitely not a Bill Barrick, a Bill Mounce, or an Abner Chou.

Part of this comes back to my opening sentence. We local church pastors are the “Jack of all trades, master of none.” For example, over the past few years I have read Singing and Making Music, Worship Matters, Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns, and parts of Christ-Centered Worship. Why?

If I am going to provide helpful biblical oversight to a local church ministry in need of some TLC then I need to educate myself accordingly.

The same thing is true with my expository pulpit ministry. I am currently preaching through Colossians 3:17-4:1 (the Lordship of Christ in Relationships). When I finished my exegesis of verses 18-19 I then turned my attention to commentaries and to helpful books on marriage. That meant over the past few weeks I’ve read or reread Feminine Appeal, Biblical Womanhood in the Home, and parts of Radical Womanhood and the Exemplary Husband.

I am also involved each year in a leadership training and development ministry at our church. This particular ministry is exclusively geared towards our men (leaders and future leaders, per 2 Timothy 2:2). Guess what? That means that I need to reread the books that Pastor Steve and I are asking our guys to read. So I am enjoying (again) books like When Good Kids Make Bad Choices, The Master’s Plan for the Church, Stop Dating the Church, Blame it on the Brain, He Is Not Silent, The New Testament Deacon, Grudem’s Systematic Theology etc, etc.

As the Senior Pastor I am also involved in various counseling relationships. This means my wife and I may be enjoying for the eighth time the wonderful teaching of The Excellent Wife or the Exemplary Husband . Or I may be reading with a counselee At the Altar of Sexual Idolatry or Shepherding a Child’s Heart.

At the end of the day what I thought six years ago when I graduated from seminary was only partially true. I not only get to read what I want to read but I also read and study what I need to read and study. That is one of the reasons why most of us pastors are indeed “the Jack of all trades, masters of none.”

Caleb Kolstad is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Freeport, Illinois. This article first appear on the Expository Thoughts website and is used with permissison.