I love God, and I love the church, and I feel that God is leading me towards fulltime Christian ministry within the church. Maybe even in a congregation's lead role someday.
This might sound like being a pastor, but in my mind there is a difference.
My view of Pastoring, and the church, is that it is often of a top down, hierarchical approach, The Pastor is in charge, leading a congregation like a shephard leading a bunch of sheep. Or more of a chaplain role, ministering to the emotional and spiritual needs of the congregation they are working in, maybe doing some outreach (or sheep stealing) in order to maintain the numbers of the congregation, but not really.
I don't think that's an unfair representation. For many centuries, the "western" world was part of Christendom, everyone was assumed to be a Christian, so there wasn't much point in ministry, unless it was mission work to people who had't been reached yet. This concept started when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, Augustine put it into theological terms, and it remained that way for a thousand years, surviving even the crash of the Roman Empire.
In the 1500s this began to change, with the beginning of the Reformation, you could no longer assume that everyone was the same denomination, let alone the same religion of you. However, Christianity in some form remained the norm. Even 50 years ago everyone went to church every week. While this is no longer the case, it's still within my memory when the local mall was closed on Sundays, and today's reduced Sunday shopping hours are a holdover of the belief that people should be at church and not shopping on a Sunday.
Within the concept of Christendom, where everyone was a member of the/a church, it made sense that a Pastor's role was one of caring just for their congregation. However we are now recognizing the fact that not everyone is a Christian, that the world is a much more broken place than it once was. The role of the church, and therefore the role of the pastor is different.
My program at school is "Biblical and Theological Studies" As I read the biblical narrative, and the various philosophizing about who God is I get excited. I see a God who loves us, who's vision for the world is far greater than any of us can possibly imagine, and who invites us to join in working towards that vision.
The Church is the body of people who are working towards this future. We work towards right relationship with ourselves, our neighbours, and our God. I believe that this is the responsibility of every Christian.
Since in this context everyone is in ministry, the role of the Pastor then becomes one of encouraging the church to minister to the best of it's abilities. Since each member has different strengths and abilities, the Pastor encourages the congregation to plug in to what they are passionate about that maximizes congregation's witness to the good news of Jesus Christ.
The Pastor's role is therefore to enable others to minister. both via the traditional tasks of a pastor: providing pastoral care (ensuring the emotional and spiritual well-being of the congregation), theological insight, or leading a committee as necessary, but also in less hierarchical ways. Allowing others to take the lead, and being a support.
Churches are starting to recognize this. Today I noticed that the bulletin of my church, immediately above where pastor's have our contact information, it says "Ministers: Every Member of the Congregation". If this is the vision of the church, then maybe yes, I am called to be a pastor.
[Note: On July 11, 2013 I finally got my hands on a copy of A Mennonite Polity for Ministerial Leadership and I was pleasantly surprised to see that in it's theology section, it too had the same critiques of the Christendom, arguing that to some extent Mennonites have always seen the congregation as the primary ministers. I don't think we've even mostly succeeded at maintaining the viewpoint. but it's nice to know that I am in a denomination with the same thoughts]
My program at school is "Biblical and Theological Studies" As I read the biblical narrative, and the various philosophizing about who God is I get excited. I see a God who loves us, who's vision for the world is far greater than any of us can possibly imagine, and who invites us to join in working towards that vision.
The Church is the body of people who are working towards this future. We work towards right relationship with ourselves, our neighbours, and our God. I believe that this is the responsibility of every Christian.
Since in this context everyone is in ministry, the role of the Pastor then becomes one of encouraging the church to minister to the best of it's abilities. Since each member has different strengths and abilities, the Pastor encourages the congregation to plug in to what they are passionate about that maximizes congregation's witness to the good news of Jesus Christ.
The Pastor's role is therefore to enable others to minister. both via the traditional tasks of a pastor: providing pastoral care (ensuring the emotional and spiritual well-being of the congregation), theological insight, or leading a committee as necessary, but also in less hierarchical ways. Allowing others to take the lead, and being a support.
Churches are starting to recognize this. Today I noticed that the bulletin of my church, immediately above where pastor's have our contact information, it says "Ministers: Every Member of the Congregation". If this is the vision of the church, then maybe yes, I am called to be a pastor.
[Note: On July 11, 2013 I finally got my hands on a copy of A Mennonite Polity for Ministerial Leadership and I was pleasantly surprised to see that in it's theology section, it too had the same critiques of the Christendom, arguing that to some extent Mennonites have always seen the congregation as the primary ministers. I don't think we've even mostly succeeded at maintaining the viewpoint. but it's nice to know that I am in a denomination with the same thoughts]
Great perspective Tim! I too recognize the role of being a pastor as one that struggles to invite others into a life that seeks God’s kingdom. However, in my role as pastor I am continually faced with the reality that invitation alone can often undermine the work that God is already doing in both the church and the world. I often ask myself if invitation needs to be fortified by confrontation. Not a confrontation of the people (what they are or are not doing) rather a confrontation that as the church we are called to be a part of God’s ongoing transformation of this world. In light of our post-christendom world, I feel it might be time for us to return to a position where we are once again confronted with what I believe to be one of Jesus greatest challenges, the call to “ come and follow me”. This call to discipleship is surely one that includes invitation but also demands something of the follower. Paul talks about emulating the attitude of Christ as embodying servanthood, humility and obedience (Phil. 2:5-8). For me, this begins to point towards a perspective I can only describe with the german word gelassenheit. The surrendering of self, a complete willingness to seek out God’s will in the place of ones own, a yielding to those around us and to the suffering that may accompany this kind of perspective only begin to expose the meaning behind this word. After this kind of unmasking, it feels like invitation simply isn’t enough in a day and age that you have clearly identified as broken. I pose this as a question to pastors, to leaders, to the ministry of all believers that is the church. Who among us will rise up, and while continuing to invite in love, also find the courage to confront our churches with the reality that is submitting to Christ.
ReplyDeleteHi Lee,
DeleteI really like what you are saying. I totally agree. When I say that Jesus invites us to join him in "working towards that vision" I see gelassenheit as part of that work.Being yielded to Christ is part of the vision God has for us.
I hope to examine the role of, gelassenheit, Discipleship, and it's cost in a later post (there may or may not be a Bonhoeffer reference there)