You know, there are a lot of pastors out there who have been so long in the cloistered ivory tower of religiosity that, despite their best efforts, they lose touch of what it means to be part of life in these United States. They forget the real life struggles and hassles and stress levels of working in the secular work place. In short, they lose touch of the Common Man. They don’t mean to, they don’t even realize it at the time but they lose touch of the realities involved in the business of making a living, of worrying about the bills, of watching your company shrink and wondering at what point will this economic calamity overtake you, and pondering the imponderable, which is if and when this happens, then what?
It was Thoreau who concluded in his essay “Economy,” that men are enslaved by their work, and are, in essence, slaves to the men for whom they work. He writes, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
I think sometimes pastors forget this. They reach a higher plain, they aspire to a more noble mind set, and reach such a higher plateau of Christian nirvana that questions of theology start over riding questions of life. Not that there is anything wrong with pondering questions of theology, you understand. In fact, scripture makes it clear that we are to mature in the faith as we go along. But we pastors need to be more understanding and sympathetic toward our flock, as they navigate the turbulent waters of these scary economic times.
Well, you can rest assured that your pastor has no problem sympathizing with the working folk. It all came crashing home lately, as I watched the company I work for drifting in a direction that I vehemently disagreed with on moral and ethical grounds. Not to mention the fact that I was (and am!) sure that would set us up for litigation. I argued my position firmly. Thankfully things were resolved, not due to my eloquent arguments but because I believe serious prayers were being lifted up. But it was a bad ride, and it put me in a quandry. What should I do?
I could resign and be all noble and everything, but then economic reality set in. If I do that I’d better have something else to go to, unless I like the thought of not eating!! What to do, what to do? And so the lesson is driven home, and I see so very graphically and I understand how so many folks feel they are over a barrel. I understand why folks are exhausted all the time. I feel their stress levels!
Here is the conclusion to the matter. Now more than ever we need our church family. Now more than ever we need to pay close attention to our relationship with the Lord, and to draw ever nearer to our gracious Heavenly Father and to cling tight to the Lord Jesus. Now more than ever we need to earnestly seek the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Yet there is a tremendous temptation to yield to the exhaustions we all feel and when we get home to crack open a cold one and just veg out. Church becomes just one more item on an already overbooked agenda.
I feel your pain! And since I feel your pain I think that puts me in a position of wondering how can I help you reshuffle that overbooked agenda to put the Lord back where He belongs, which is on top? I’m not interested in guilting you into it. I remember hearing from pulpits (and, ok maybe I said this a time or two...) the phrase “If you’re too busy for the Lord’s work, you’re too busy!” Well, that phrase is true. But I happen to realize that chucking stuff off the overbooked agenda is sometimes a lot easier said than done. You have to put food on the table, you have to pay the rent/mortgage, the bills, the car payment, the list goes on and on. And the kids want some attention, and then there’s the spouse deserving of our time.
So again I ask, how can I help you reshuffle that overbooked agenda? How can I help you put the Lord back on top, so that maybe some sanity can return to all our lives? Sad to say, I’m not sure I have those answers yet. But maybe if you will help me, perhaps we can find some of those answers together. And it is together that we shall successfully negotiate the straight and narrow path through this dark world and into the light of lights; into Heaven itself where all will be made right and we shall reach out and touch the face of God.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
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