November 23, 2005
pas�tor (păs’ter) n. 1. Undefined
What is a pastor? That question has plagued me ever since seminary. Webster tells us a pastor is a "shepherd." But, in a culture where pastors are expected to be everything from therapists to CEOs, how am I to understand my calling? Last February, after three years of papers, examinations, and in-the-trenches ministry, I was asked to state my calling and commitment before my church at my ordination service.
To prepare, I set aside time to pray and reflect upon what I was truly committing myself to. At the service the district superintendent, the elders, and the senior pastor each gave me a charge before I was invited to respond. What I shared with the church that evening turned out to be more about our calling than mine.
From my ordination response:
I am convinced that all who belong to Christ are called to the same life...
Paul charged the young Timothy to watch his life closely because it was to be an example—not an example to other pastors or church leaders—but to all of God’s people. As a leader in the church, Timothy was simply to live the life all Christians are called to live. We are all instructed to walk in a manner worthy of the calling we have received. We are all walking the same road of faith.
But I recognize that as a leader I do have a unique role. We are called to the same life, but as a leader I am additionally called to let you see how I live mine. Like Timothy, I hope to be an example to you of what a life with Christ looks like. I do not commit myself to live perfectly, but I commit to live openly. As I journey the road of faith—whether that means walking, running, or limping—I will not hide my tracks from you. I hope you can learn to live from me, as I learn to live from Christ.
I am also convinced that Christ is not revealed to the world through any one man, but through his people—the church. We live in a culture that promotes autonomy and individualism. As a result we foolishly take the mission given to the church, and we make it the mission of the pastor. We elevate individuals on a pedestal, and become disillusioned when they fail to meet our expectations. No single man embodies the fullness of Christ, and we should not expect one to.
The Scriptures testify that we, the followers of Christ, are a single body of interdependent members with a united purpose. It is this body, together, that reveals the presence of Christ to the world. Only when we finally learn to put our collective mission ahead of our individual pursuits, will we understand the calling of the Christian life.
Because Christ is not revealed in any one man, but through the church, my commitment is to maintain unity with God’s people, and to fulfill my part in the body. My gifts include teaching and leading. Your gifts are different, but no less important or honorable. I recognize that I have been given these gifts not for my benefit, but for yours—just as the church does not exist for its own sake, but to serve the world that Christ loves.
Finally, I am convinced that the church will only fulfill its calling when we embrace the reality of Christ in us, the hope of glory. For too long our hope has been in programs, strategies, politics, or leaders. We have confused the wisdom of the world for the wisdom of God. Our hope is not in these things, but in the mystery that Christ dwells in us; ever ready to reveal his glorious wisdom that is foolishness to the world.
But to hear this wisdom, to truly know Christ, we must learn to turn off the noise that bombards us and listen to the eternal voice that has spoken all things into being. We, like the Apostle John, need to become a people who quietly lay our heads upon the chest of our master and listen to his heartbeat. Knowing that heartbeat, receiving his wisdom, we will be able to take up our calling to be a light in the darkness, to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the captives, sight to the blind, and hope for the oppressed.
Because our mission will only be fulfilled through embracing the reality of Christ in us, I commit to pursue a life of prayer. I will quiet my world and kneel before my master with my head upon his chest, and I will learn to listen to the heartbeat of God. As a Christian I believe I have no higher calling.
But as a teacher I recognize that I am called to do something more. I will learn to listen to the heartbeat of Christ, and then I will tell you what I hear. I will share with you, through the Scriptures and the Spirit, what his heart reveals. I do not promise to carry the messages you want to hear, I do not promise that the messages will be relevant, or entertaining, or popular. I only promise to rely upon God’s grace to speak with clarity and courage.
I have come to see that ordination is not about one man; it’s about community. My calling as a pastor cannot be separated from our calling as the church. Therefore, my ordination is also about your ordination. We are called to the same life. We are called, as the church, to reveal Christ in this world. And we are called to do this work through the mystery of prayer.
As a pastor, I will let you see my life; I will not hide my tracks. I will use my gifts, and remain united with the body. And I will listen to the heartbeat of Christ, and tell you what I hear. May I fulfill these promises by the grace of God.
Posted by Skye Jethani on November 23, 2005
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As I read the second italicized point of this post I was reminded of the following meditation by Jonne Donne --
"Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me and see my state may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that. The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingrafted into the body whereof I am a member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another…No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Jonne Donne, Meditation 17, 1624
Posted by: dthaase at November 26, 2005
Skye, thank you for your honesty before an ordination board. Sometimes, the most difficult people to present this perspective to are those who are already in ministry.
For about two years now, I have been working through my calling, and how it is, rather, if it is, different from the call anyone else receives when they come to know Christ. More and more, I am convinced that it is Scripturally distinct only in this respect: I am a unique individual in Christ. The exciting news is that each and every person that comes to faith in Christ is a unique individual in Christ! My calling as a teacher and pastor is simply to assist in equipping each and every unique person of God for the work of the ministry. It is not mine to "do the work of the ministry" as much as it is to cooperate with the Spirit of God as He is ministering to the world through His Body, the Church.
I'd enjoy dialoguing with you more on this topic.
mÃcheál
Posted by: MÃcheál at November 27, 2005
Great thoughts. I'm excited to hear you're committed to prayer. I've often pictured and wondered on what it would have been like, walking and talking with Jesus on the road like his disciples did, until I realize that I can do that now, in my car, in my chair.
Posted by: Brian at November 29, 2005
I really appreciate your commitement to God's work
Posted by: Pastor Peter E. Utin at December 2, 2005
With all of the confusion about the role(s) of the Pastor, perhaps a re-grounding in the past can be of assistance.
Like many other Pastors, I have tried to be all things to all of those who try to define what I should be. Over the years, this lead to some fun, a lot of confusion, some really good and faithful service and some laughable episodes that make me thankful for the forgiveness of sins!
I have settled to something that I was taught long ago: my job is to equip the saints by proclaiming the Law and Gospel of the Word and administering the God-ordained means of grace in the Sacraments. When I finally focused on that, and only that, my parishioners were challenged and fed, my joy of ministry was sustained and my focus was where it is supposed to be: on the Cross of Christ!
It really IS that simple!
Posted by: Dave Poedel at December 22, 2005