Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Pastoral Care
Backwoods Presbyterian looks at the overwhelming desire of seminary students to study pastoral care, and the underwhelming desire to study The Word.
That said, I have been a part of too many churches that were void of any sort of concern for the mental health and well-being of its congregants.
Now, what is really at issue in this post is something that strikes at the very heart of why people go into ministry. I was such a person, so I am not speaking out of turn here. Too many people go into ministry, or at least study for ministry not out of a sense of calling, but out of a sense of trying to find/complete/or otherwise fix themselves. Thus, I think the huge interest in pastoral counseling in seminaries. The same thing is true for the psychological profession in general, people get into it for themselves instead of for their patients.
Two things matter a lot in this circumstance. One is the need to build disciples, that is to say people who understand that ministry is other-focused.
The second thing is we need to work harder at weeding such people out in the ministry qualification process. The PC(USA) has very elaborate systems for this kind of thing, but they are used only as a formality anymore. Sessions have abdicated their responsibilities to lead and train those that think they are called to ministry. Rubber stamps are the order of the day.
I wonder if we will ever be serious about being the church again?
Technorati Tags:minsstry preparation, psychology, gospel, church
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
Now this should be no surprise to those with any interaction with the American church whose movement into seeker-friendly and ego-smoothing churches over the past 30 years has provided us a generation of people looking to God not for salvation from eternal death but salvation from eternal unhappiness. Christ no longer is sought for his life changing death on the cross but for his ability to bring us out of the valleys and onto the mountain top in our emotional and mental health. This not only brings to us a false definition of who Christ is but also presents an untrue concept of what the Christian life looks like. [emphasis added]In the end, I am a both/and kind of guy when it comes to this sort of thing, but I am convinced that my friend here is onto something when it comes to giving a false impression of what the Christian life is supposed to look like. The church is not a dispensary for for happiness.
That said, I have been a part of too many churches that were void of any sort of concern for the mental health and well-being of its congregants.
Now, what is really at issue in this post is something that strikes at the very heart of why people go into ministry. I was such a person, so I am not speaking out of turn here. Too many people go into ministry, or at least study for ministry not out of a sense of calling, but out of a sense of trying to find/complete/or otherwise fix themselves. Thus, I think the huge interest in pastoral counseling in seminaries. The same thing is true for the psychological profession in general, people get into it for themselves instead of for their patients.
Two things matter a lot in this circumstance. One is the need to build disciples, that is to say people who understand that ministry is other-focused.
The second thing is we need to work harder at weeding such people out in the ministry qualification process. The PC(USA) has very elaborate systems for this kind of thing, but they are used only as a formality anymore. Sessions have abdicated their responsibilities to lead and train those that think they are called to ministry. Rubber stamps are the order of the day.
I wonder if we will ever be serious about being the church again?
Technorati Tags:minsstry preparation, psychology, gospel, church
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
