I do a lot of hanging out with clergy and laity in all sorts of settings. And all of that hanging out is life-giving to me, I am blessed beyond measure to have the opportunity to interact on a daily basis with so many people who love the Lord and want to serve God.
One thing that I am learning is that many of our pastors feel a great deal of fear about preaching in the prophetic way that God puts on their hearts. When people in the pews don’t like what they hear from the pulpit, we often like to make that very clear. When we come to church on Sunday mornings, we want to leave feeling all warm and fuzzy and uplifted. When we gather for worship, we are there to praise and thank God, and to give generously and to get bread and wine for the journey. But sometimes, the text makes us feel a little bit uncomfortable. Sometimes it steps on our toes and challenges us, and we don’t like that. Friends, it’s time to get over it.
First of all, the people who are called to pastoral ministry don’t take it lightly. Most of the pastors that I know have many gifts and could be doing all sorts of other things, and in many instances, they would be making more money with a lot less grief. For the most part, our pastors didn’t start out in ministry because of the guaranteed appointment (for Elders who don’t do anything significant to screw that guarantee up), or for the pension plan, or because they only have to work 1 hour a week (ha!). Most of them do it because God called them and they can’t help it. They have to be faithful in this way because God won’t turn them lose to do anything else.
I was recently introducing a young layperson that is discerning her call (potentially to pastoral ministry) to an Elder who told her something like… ”Don’t do it unless you just can NOT do it. It has to be something that God puts on your heart that you can’t resist.”
So we affirm and license and ordain people who God has called and then we put a muzzle on them. And that ain’t cool. People, if our pastor offends us, that’s one thing. But if the Gospel offends us, that’s our problem, not theirs. We need to cut them some slack and give them room to preach what God puts on their heart, whether it’s what we want to hear or not.
Peace Y’all,
Claire
If you would like to print or share this edition of Claire…ification,
you are encouraged to use this pdf:
Claire – We’ve Gotta Take the Muzzles Off of Our Clergy
To read past editions – you are encouraged to follow this link:
http://capitaldistrictnc.org/clarie-ificaton/
