Thursday, March 08, 2007
Two Masters?!?!?! - PLEASE!
Kruse Kronicle links and quotes extensively from a Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal Gazeete article on part-time pastors. It is written by a Methodist pastor. I find the article near offensive, it is certainly elitist and belies a complete misunderstanding of how the Body of Christ is to function.
This thing is written as if Christianity is some sort of two-tiered society, with the real, genuine Christians taking money from the also-rans in the pew. I'm not sure what ticks me off more, the elitism or the whininess.
And we wonder why the church cannot raise up people that are genuinely transformed. Is it possible its because the leadership thinks genuine transformation is possible only if you go into vocational ministry? Lord, I hope not. I am sure none would say so, and yet we are confronted with this nonsense. The "bivocational" pastor should rejoice that he is living out the life the the rest of us do on a daily basis. Welcome to the trenches people - maybe now you can figure out how to be a genuine Christian in the world instead of how to organize an institution merely to extract my tithe.
Related Tags: rant, bivocational pastor, whining, elitist, two masters, nonsense
But what happens to the those who truly seek to serve God, enter into a ministry, and are forced by circumstances to work secular jobs to sustain themselves and their families?[emphasis added]Are we to assume from this sentence that vocational ministry is the only way to truly serve God? What utter nonsense is that? Service to God is not based on the presence or lack of compensation.
Because bivocational pastors have two jobs, they often feel the demands of both – often at the same time. The pastor might be scheduled to work at his secular job when someone from the congregation is scheduled for an operation and wishes the pastor to be by her side during that time.Hey, you don't think that applies to the rest of us with "real" jobs? We run into it every day, we have sick kids and friends and extended family. Some of us are even, you know, DEACONS!, that do the same pastoral calling, often with far higher job demands than a part-time employed pastor. Finally, consider
But what happens to the those who truly seek to serve God, enter into a ministry, and are forced by circumstances to work secular jobs to sustain themselves and their families? Are they serving two masters?What kind of navel-gazing nonsense is that. Such a pastor is no more serving two masters than any of the rest of us that have a job. If anything, the full-time pastor is the one that has a "two masters" problem. They often find themselves in circumstances where they may have to compromise the ministry for the sake of the collections plate. Most pastors I know have a story or two of "major-giver blackmail," and a lot of them end up succumbing. But even more insidious is the unspoken knowledge that a watered down gospel often increases attendance and hence church income.
This thing is written as if Christianity is some sort of two-tiered society, with the real, genuine Christians taking money from the also-rans in the pew. I'm not sure what ticks me off more, the elitism or the whininess.
And we wonder why the church cannot raise up people that are genuinely transformed. Is it possible its because the leadership thinks genuine transformation is possible only if you go into vocational ministry? Lord, I hope not. I am sure none would say so, and yet we are confronted with this nonsense. The "bivocational" pastor should rejoice that he is living out the life the the rest of us do on a daily basis. Welcome to the trenches people - maybe now you can figure out how to be a genuine Christian in the world instead of how to organize an institution merely to extract my tithe.
Related Tags: rant, bivocational pastor, whining, elitist, two masters, nonsense
