I know that you have heard the saying that a dog is a man’s best friend.
I saw a news item the other day about a dog that being abused.
Most people would raise the question of how someone could do that to man’s best friend?
It got me to thinking whether sometimes congregations confuse dogs and pastors.
You know, someone you can vent your frustrations to, even kick around, and then you just assume that they will come back around and lick your hand.
In fact I wonder if it was preachers they were thinking about when they came up with that phrase that you shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you.
I can understand why people get confused between dogs and preachers.
They often want their preacher to perform tricks on command and then they toss them a bone as a treat.
It’s hard to live on nibbles and bits, but it is really done out of compassion for the pastor. Many wealthy humans agree that for clergy to eat real human food, it would probably be bad for their digestion.
A clergy person feels a call from God and goes to seminary to prepare themselves.
Then they get a call from a church and want to be a real spiritual leader.
The problem is that when they get to the church, many in the congregation want them to heel at their command.
Of course the Bible speaks of religious leaders being able to heal and cast out the demons.
Congregations can sometimes get that backward. They are the ones that say heel, and expect us to go wherever the devil they tell us.
People are learning that it is not good for a dog to be kept on too short a leash. Maybe they need to learn that about clergy as well.
(to be continued)
