AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Dangerous Calling by Paul David Tripp

Dangerous Calling by Paul David Tripp is one of those difficult-to-read books.  Not because it contains lofty language or difficult concepts, but because it feels like you’re being read as you read it.  Your motivations called into question.  Your long- and deeply-held wounds exposed.  Your weak justifications for your wrong attitudes and actions smashed by the hammer of God’s truth.

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller have had similar effects on my outlook on life.  However, Dangerous Calling is specifically addressed to pastors and deals directly with the challenges of vocational ministry.  As I read it, I began to realize how easily I begin to believe the insidious lies of the devil, how quickly I begin to believe my own press, and how quickly I can forget my own need for gospel grace.

Every pastor should read this book.  If for no other reason, we would all have a common reason to be honest with one another about our struggles.  We would have permission to let our guard down, and then realize that we’re actually more effective when we minister from a place of grace dependence rather than pretending.  Tripp’s own testimony that opens the book is Exhibit A that you can have a ministry that is outwardly successful while your family suffers and you rot from the inside out.

Every elder or church board member should read this book.  Tripp makes the case that our most of churches are organized in such a way that the pastor(s) are allowed—even encouraged—to lead a double life that inevitably leads to destruction.  This book is a call for change.

At times the book seemed a little repetitive.  Then again, sometimes we need to be hit repeatedly with the same truth before it sinks in.  “Preach the gospel to yourself first,” Tripp warns repeatedly; an unforgettable principle.

The narration is very well done and fits the pastoral tone of the book.

If you are in vocational ministry, this book is a must-read.

Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the Christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.  More information can be found about this and other Christian audiobooks at christianaudio.com.