us ‘pastorly people’

while chatting on facebook the other night, a young lady, whom I have known for quite some time, expressed some concern about us pastor types.  she said that we do a good job explaining the ideal for the human condition, but don’t do a good enough job explaining the steps to get there.

i can appreciate that.  perhaps i have prided myself in being one who asks the really big questions, or who gets fascinated with the big story of the bible, but stands in awe of the little ones that are in there.

if i can be true to my vocation in tackling the big questions while exploring the biblical narrative, then i trust the spirit of God to be able to shape and form the inner person.  every once in a while, the prophetic voice must come out boldly to deal with injustice.

so, how do i respond to my young friend.  i suppose that it is fair to expect some good direction out of your pastor…but i can’t walk the walk for you.  there is a danger in becoming so practical, that we begin to make the text do what we want it to do.  how many purpose driven churches out there are still biblically illiterate when it comes to a basic understanding to the story that God is trying to tell?

i love my friend.  she is hungry for spirituality…and yet something is wrong.

perhaps this has something to do with it:  the fundamentalist mentality within the church culture demands black and white, either/or.  we are saturated with it.  it causes division over the littlest things, and creates an environment where people are afraid to ask questions, because the thought is, ‘we can’t admit mistakes or weakness, because then the enemy might hear it.’  even though, everybody knows something is wrong.

but here is what the church has going for it (if we’ll get out of the way):  we are to be a community of grace.  if we are offending each other or dropping the ball for each other (and we will…we do), then our witness to the world in those moments is to deal with each other with grace.

if my pastor language isn’t hitting the mark, and that person has the courage to come talke to me about…then how about walking those words that are so popularly used in church ‘it’s not about me’ and actually do something with them.

it’s not me versus you…one of us must be right and the other must be wrong.  we need to be able to entertain the idea that maybe we are both wrong…and then deal with our own end of it…trust the Spirit to provide the grace that our Communities need to shine.

truth is… us pastors…we are far from being superwomen and supermen. we can’t do everything.  we can’t change you.  but we do have a high call and high responsibility to be engaged.  so…let’s meet at the cross, and go from there.

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