“I have become all things to all people” is not such a good
thing to be unless it is “all for the sake of the Gospel” but even then it’s a
dangerous thing to do. Of course proclaiming the Gospel is a noble and
worthwhile endeavor but I wonder how many professional proclaimers have
sacrificed health and home by trying to be all things to all people while never
being true to themselves. I’m not confessing. I’m just asking the question. But truth is according to all sorts of
surveys we clergy are a pretty unhealthy lot and it’s not because the devil’s
out to get us. I think it has something to do with the misapplication of this
text by a profession with high expectations (mostly unspoken) and low reward
(at least in the way the world measures it) and, more recently, diminished
respect so that the clerical collar is often an object of ridicule in the wider
culture. But there is a greater truth and that is that the obligation to
proclaim cannot be escaped and “woe to me if I do not proclaim” means the call
is not an option. That being said we can be better on both sides of the pew of
being true to ourselves while being all things to each other for the sake of
Gospel.
No comments:
Post a Comment