This discussion is based on the second story in volume 2, Clergy Tales–Tails: Wagging, Friendly but Exhausting. amzn.to/1a1uCI6 Enjoy the story first before gathering to reflect on it with your colleagues.
EXHAUSTED BY TEDIUM
Charles, the pastor in the story, Did God Say, contrasts the thrill of being called by God and the exhausting tedium of the daily tasks in ministry. “What a thrilling thought to be working for God. However, when your call results in being a pastor of a modest-size church in a small Midwestern city, the work can become rather tedious.
“I know the old joke about only having to work one hour a week, but the congregation seems more than willing to fill in the rest of the hours as well. Two or three nights a week, there is some committee meeting. During the day, there are hospital visits to make, Bible studies to conduct, youth groups to plan for, community work with other pastors, and responding to the inevitable family crisis or personal counseling.”
How does a pastor keep touch with that source of call and satisfaction and resist being worn down by the daily tedium of ministry?
FINANCIAL PRESSURE
As Charles reflects on the tensions of not being able to provide adequately for his family, he thinks: “It made me feel like less of a man when I could not provide for my family. Marie would agree that neither of us dreamed of being rich. We just wanted not to have migraines each month as we tried to stretch my small paycheck to meet our many bills. Occasionally we wanted to afford some little extras.”
To what degree do you think inadequate financial resources distract pastors from their satisfaction in ministry?
BEING ADDICTED TO THE THRILL
Charles reflects on the addictive quality of his own unethical behavior. “I must admit there was also a little thrill to the clandestine nature of my efforts. …I have read news articles about politicians, financial wizards, lawyers, and CEOs of large corporations getting caught accepting bribes or engaging in creative and profitable money making schemes. These were not people who were living in poverty. I often wondered what made them risk everything to get a little bit more when they already had enough.
“I think I understand now. It was not about the money. It was the thrill of living on the edge. It was sort of like an addiction. It began with some small rationalization that justified my actions. Then there was a thrill of getting away with it. It made me feel smarter than others. Then, like dope, the old thrill was not enough. You had to raise the stakes, take more risks, and prove to yourself how brilliant you really were.”
Do you think it is possible that sometimes clergy also take risky behavior, even unethical behavior, because it adds some thrill to what has become a boring, even if exhausting, life?
How do you respond to his analysis of such behavior becoming addictive?
YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD
Charles reflects on how the isolation caused by his secret behavior is similar to what happened to Adam and Eve in the garden. “While you yearned to tell someone else so that they could admire how clever you were, you could not really do that. So you became a god, creating your own little universe, and setting your own standards of right and wrong. (You have eaten the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.)”
Are there other ways that ministry tempts one to “become a god unto oneself? How do you avoid such a pitfall?
