CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
August 8, 2004
LIFT UP THE FOLLOWING:
Our congregation Our nation, military and leaders
Various friends, relatives and co-workers David and Leon in the Navy
Yevette’s parents
EVENTS:
August 9 - SYS at Clear Lake
BIRTHDAYS:
Kerrie Bekker (19th) Mick Aguarlar (23)
THE HIRED HELP
“Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12, NRSV).
I don’t think I have written on the subject of preachers before in a bulletin article. Not that it is not an important subject but there is no need to defend them, or for that matter to brag on them. However, I read an article that I think is important for all of us to consider. I read the “help wanted” ads in a number of church publications and find them interesting. Congregations want a preacher who is ‘a dynamic speaker,” one who can “motivate the church and relate to all age groups,” one who has a successful track record, and recently one who will “stand by the traditions of the churches of Christ.” Then there is my favorite: “We want a preacher like the apostle Paul.” I don’t know if they really thought that through for Paul said that he wasn’t a trained speaker (2 Corinthians 11:6), that he was strong in writing but weak in presence (10:10), and he spent a lot of time in jail (see Acts). The above pretty much eliminates me from consideration. I use to be a “Humble” preacher but now I’m barely a “Spring” chicken. So why this subject?
Walter Kaufmann was a professor of philosophy at Princeton a number of years ago, and an atheist. He wrote a book called The Faith of the Heretic in which he talked about churches and preachers. Jim McGuiggan says this about what he said. “He said when the churches hired a preacher that they made him promise that he would speak nothing but the truth. Then once they had him dependent on them (for his mortgage payment, tuition for the children’s education and many other things) they forbade him to speak anything that wasn’t the party line. It wasn’t simply that they wanted him to say what everyone else said, they wanted it said with regularity. Think and speak only ‘within the box’ and do it consistently and often. If he looked like he might do some thinking on his own or dare say something that those who held the purse strings didn’t believe, committee meetings would become the order of the day. All talk about ‘let the truth take you where it leads’ and ‘we expect you to stand up fearlessly for the truth’ was shelved and the truth became only what the holders of the treasury decided was the truth - - the status quo was lord” (www.jimmcguiggan.com/weekly/grave_rememberings.htm).
Jim goes on to say, “It would be impertinent of me to dismiss as nothing the pressure that churches can put on families who work with them in the ministry of the Word. It’s all too easy to speak of someone’s daily crucifixion as ‘a challenge’. To live daily with the ill will of significant others is no joke and to have debts piling up and no obvious way of getting them paid is a challenge indeed. To uproot your family from their friends and pleasant surroundings and to begin over again in a new setting only to be threatened with expulsion is, to say the least, a series of traumas. I don’t think churches, and especially church leaders, take that sufficiently into account” (ibid.).
Jim can write this because he isn’t depended on others. Some preachers can proclaim the truth without fear of losing their positions. But most of us cannot. I have been at the receiving end of the attitudes and actions expressed above. And at times it is difficult. Congregations and congregational leaders can be deceptive in their dealings with preachers. I once was told, “We’re giving you a bonus but don’t say anything about it to anyone because they will be angry.” Congregations change and what was once the freedom to speak becomes threatening to traditions held by the vocal. So we preachers have to consider our children and wives, and can we find somewhere else to preach. Some just give up considering the whole thing too much of a hassle not worthy pursuing.
So why write this? First, because it needs to be said. Elders and congregations need to come face to face with the damage they have done and are doing because of selfish opinions and power issues. We state that we have nothing to fear from truth, so lets live that way. Of the number of elders that I have dealt with over the years, only two have apologized for how they treated me. Thankfully that congregation’s attitude toward preachers changed as well. Two, I’m thankful that right now I can say what I want without the fear of being fired. We don’t always agree but we are still in fellowship. More importantly, we see ourselves as a family to be encouraged, strengthened, and struggle with together, not an institution to be defended. Finally, what is most encouraging is that the above is changing, however slowly. Congregations are seeing that preachers are not just the hired help; they are an important aspect of the family who specialize in proclaiming the Word. With that comes the challenges that come from the pulpit to live a transformed life in Christ and to take another look at how we say things and just why we do things the way we do it.
May God bless us in these changes and challenges.
George B. Mearns