Bless Me Father

“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.” Winston Churchill

I heard this quote on a television program last night on PBS and I have thought about it quite a bit over the last several hours. I wonder how true this statement is of our nation and of the church in America.

I tend to pay attention to what church's are advertising or the little sayings they put up on their marquees. Lately I have seen some interesting ones that have gotten me to thinking. A couple of weeks ago I saw this marquee that read: "Give your best to your church." Nothing about caring for the world or even Jesus, just give all that you can to the church. Maybe I am reading too much into this one, but it bothered me. "God has blessed us" read another. That's nice to know. Now, how are we being a blessing to others? As I was driving to work I saw an interesting marquee that read: "A caring listener is a rare treasure." This one has me baffled, since the denomination that this church represents is not known for its compassion. I enjoy being a confidant (as my personality profile suggests) and it is much easier to be one since I learned not to gossip. I think it is more that God has given me the power to be an empathetic listener and then to almost immediately forget what secret thing was just confided in me when the person leaves. I think this is a gift, maybe the spiritual gift of forgetting. Anyway.

I got to thinking about a time when I was in a real crisis of faith a few years back and wondering what direction I should take, or where the Lord would lead. I went and visited a Catholic priest because I thought that I would take a stab at the mother Church. That did not work out, clearly, but it got me to thinking about the struggles of being in full-time ministry. A full-time pastor or church staff member really has no one to confide in in most cases. He or she cannot confide to church members (who they probably see often in social situations) for fear that their secrets will be spread throughout the church. And all too often, a pastor cannot confide in colleagues or other ministers of the same denomination for fear of repercussions. If a church staff member is struggling with an issue of sin or a weight, he or she must keep up the appearance that all is well. Christians are victorious, after all and if our leaders struggle, then what does that mean for us regular folks.

When I was considering the Roman Catholic Church, one of the greatest positives about it was the rite of penance or confession. I really liked the idea of being able to go to a priest, tell him my troubles and struggles, and receive guidance and absolution. I understand that I can do this with the Lord, but it is so much easier when someone else is there to help you along. Some would tell me to confess to those I have wronged, and while it is true that I could do this, often it would open up wounds in the other person's life that never needed to be opened. I have often wondered if part of our penance for wrongdoing should in fact be having to live with the knowledge that we wronged someone, even though they do not know anything about it. In other words, I cannot confess and make myself feel better when I know it will hurt another person in the process.

I think my fear is that we all too often miss the humanity of a person in ministry because we are too focused on the spiritual side of the equation. I am reminded of stories of Bob Dylan and others who found the Lord during the Jesus Movement, but were driven away from the Church by people who expected more of them than they were able to handle. Evangelicals saw the star power of a Bob Dylan and wanted him to immediately take on the mantle of super evangelist to the world. And when he did not change his hair style and did not stop singing his hit songs, he was rebuked. And now where is he spiritually? Nobody really knows. How sad that the church often kills our wounded and eats our young. We can learn from our mistakes with people, but we do not get those opportunities back very often.

So my question is: How can we keep our standards of righteous living, without becoming so heavenly minded to be any earthly good? Maybe we can find a way to do this without trying everything else first.

Peace.