Blogotional
John: 'I, for one, long for a pastor that is not perfect, but instead models confession and repentance. A pastor that lives by the trite, but true "Please be patient, God's not finished with me yet."'
Milton: I, for one, long for a church where a preacher can model confession and repentance without it being used against him. I'm naturally a confess-my-faults sort of guy, but when I've tried doing that from a position of lead minister, I've without fail had my faults used against me. It's made me much more cautious about sharing my own struggles.
I know there are some ugly churches out there...
I just remember we worship a suffering Lord.
"Ugly" churches? The body of Christ is ugly?
I'll share something that I didn't see at "Ur". But given the tack you've taken, you may not appreciate the input (since it deals a bit with the psyche).
"The Drama of the Gifted Child", by Alice Miller, is a book intended for those going into the profession of psychotherapy, but it is applicable to other helping professions, including pastors.
It becomes rather clear that many go into helping professions in order to help their family of origin, or to seek healing of something in their own life. For those in ministry, this raises the question as to call - did their family of origin "call" them to the helping profession because of dysfunctionality?
I'm glad I had time to read and reflect on this book. The first day I read 6 pages, and spent the rest of the day thinking about those pages. The next day I read 3 more pages, and spent the day working through the implications - questioning why I was in seminary.
This process made me much stronger. It also led me to apply for funds to assist with the cost of psychotherapy. I was raised on a Kansas farm, where people are supposed to be tough. But I fought through that machoism and sought to better understand who I am.
I could share pages and pages about the demands and expectations of the pastorate. In fact, I started to share it here. Just suffice it to understand that there can be several days in a row where a pastor merely deals with the things which are urgent, and ends up getting 25 hours of sleep for the whole week.
In a "solo" pastorate, the pastor is worship leader, counselor, interpreter of Scripture, preacher, teacher, evangelist, prophet, and disciplined Christian - among the several roles and responsibilities. These are included in William Willimon's wonderful book, "Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry".
Willimon preaches right up the alley of sin: "the practice of ministry requires a healthy appreciation for the ubiquity of sin in the church and its leaders...It is a sure sign of a compromised church--a church that has retired from the battle with the principalities and powers, a church without prophets--when one finds a church that has stopped dealing with sin."
An economist friend told Willimon: "I think clergy, because they tell themselves that they are doing the work of the Lord, are particularly susceptible to self-deceit. If you're feeding hungry children, none of the moral rules apply to you that apply to mere mortals." If you are visiting the sick, preaching the truth, offering up the Body and Blood of Christ, who is there within the congregation or even among your clergy peers to judge you? If pastors are prophets who speak the truth, then there is great possibility for us to lie. If we are called to handle the powerful Word of God, then there is great potential for an abuse of that power.
Willimon is not the only to speak directly to "Sin in Christian Ministry".
It seems that way too many pastors are out there as a "Lone Ranger", instead of deputizing others to form a posse.
SIn is "Ugly" what can I say?
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