John Piper’s Foreword to THE PASTOR’S KID by Barnabas Piper
Next Tuesday, I will post my review of The Pastor’s Kid by Barnabas Piper (the son of famous pastor and bestselling author, John Piper). Normally, my book reviews are short – less than one word for every page. But because this book touched a nerve – or better, because this book grabbed a nerve with tweezers and yanked – it’s quite a bit longer than one word per page, more like ten words per page.
The ministry of John Piper to me (and many others) has been father-like, so a book about what it was like to grow up as his son, had me at hello.
However, that’s not mainly what the book is about: growing up in the Piper home.
It’s about challenges of all Pastor’s Kids (PKs), and really, all pastors and all churches. And in the process of exploring these challenges, the book has sturdy advice about finding your identity in Christ that every Christian will benefit from – not just pastors and PKs.
Below, I copied the first paragraph from John Piper’s foreword to the book (i.e., the father of the author).
Until next Tuesday, enjoy.
You will ask, “Was it painful for me to read this book?” The answer is yes. For at least three reasons. First, it exposes sins and weaknesses and imperfections in me. Second, it is not always clear which of its criticisms attach to me and the church I love. Third, this is my son, and he is writing out of his own sorrows. (John Piper in the foreword to The Pastor’s Kids, 11)
* If you’d like to read the foreword in its entirety, before the book was released, Justin Taylor (a blogger at The Gospel Coalition), received permission to post it. You can find it here. If you’d like to read straight from Barnabas about why he wrote the book, you can read it here.
** Full review.