I have a secular job
Posted on : 24-10-2008 | By : Dan | In : Uncategorized
Tags: clergy, dichotomy, distinction, laity, sacred, secular, spiritual
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A popular notion today is that there is a clear dichotomy, or distinction, between sacred and secular. Such distinctions are commonly made by Christians in the areas of music and vocations. In music, for example, we have secular, or “worldly” music. And then we have Christian music, which is often regarded as being sacred (even though most “Christian” songs are just as secular as “worldly” songs).
But the area I’d most like to focus on is that of vocation, the employment positions we hold. For some reason we continue to foster this sacred/secular distinction for jobs: some people are called into ministry, and the rest of us hold secular jobs. But that’s not what the Bible teaches. All believers are called into full time ministry! It is not something reserved for a clerical professional – we are all called to be full time ministers in God’s present kingdom! Everyday life is sanctified by God, we have a whole life embracing, fully comprehensive Gospel for the transformation of all things. This affects every aspect of our lives.
Far too many today espouse the idea that ministry is an institution that is reserved only for the few who are “called” and “ordained.” The problem is, this (in practice) denies the priesthood of all believers. Ordination was fashioned in the fourth century after the Roman rituals of the appointment of public officials to office, and the church adopted this when the lines between church and state were blurred under Constantine’s rule. This distinction between clergy and laity still exists to this day.
Don’t believe me? Why do many traditional pastors still dress differently than us “normal lay people”? Point stated. To quote Frank Viola in his book Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices
The contemporary practice of ordination creates a special caste of Christian. Whether it be the priest in Catholicism or the pastor in Protestantism, the result is the same: The most important ministry is restricted to a few “special” believers. . . .
Tremendous psychological factors make laypeople feel that ministry is the responsibility of the pastor. It’s his job. He’s the expert is often their thinking. . . .
The clergy/laity dichotomy perpetuates an awful falsehood-namely, that some Christians are more privileged than others to serve the Lord.
Hmm, I think this is a problem. But don’t take my word for it, think for yourselves. I’m not calling for an abolition of hierarchical leadership in the church like Viola and Barna, but I do think a lot needs to change in the way we do church and recognize leaders.
The pastoral office is really not something God envisioned, not in the way we utilize it today anyways. George Barna did a study on pastors, and some of what he found was eye-opening. Did you know these startling statistics about pastors:
- 94% feel pressured to have an ideal family
- 81% say they have insufficient time with their spouses
- 80% believe that pastoral ministry affects their family negatively
- 70% do not have someone they consider a close friend
- 70% have lower self-esteem than when they entered the ministry
- 50% feel unable to meet the demands of the job
- 80% are discouraged or deal with depression
- 40% of pastoral resignations are due to burnout
- 1,400 ministers in all denominations across the United States are fired or forced to resign each month
- The average length of a pastorate has declined from seven years to just over four years
Do you still think this is of God. I know there are exceptions to all of this, some congregations are very understanding and whatnot, but a majority of pastors are asked to essentially conduct all of the local ministry of the church (or have their hand in it). Many pastors crumble under this pressure — and that’s because it wasn’t designed to work this way!
When we make the pastor a professional clergyman who is distinct from laity we begin to view ministry as something that is only his (or her) responsibility. One person is not meant to sport all of these hats! They just can’t! Only an every-member functioning Body can accomplish the ministry that is required to be done. It shouldn’t be “lonely at the top,” because we aren’t meant to live in a separate caste from one another! Remember what Paul said about the different parts of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). Too many pastors are trying to be the head (which is reserved for Christ), or they are performing all the other parts’ functions since they are not doing it.
Now pastors may say, “we have to do this because the congregation won’t ’step up to the plate’ and do what they demand from us.” May I contend that in order to get them to ’step up to the plate’ you must foundationally change the very way we do church! The current structure clearly doesn’t work. It has failed to produce anything but a passive laity who is utterly dependent on one man, their pastor, for the past 500 hundred years. I think some revolutionary change is in order. That change is Christianity 2.0.
There is no such thing as a “secular job.” I am called into the mission field and minister to my coworkers and those brought into my path. This is no less “sacred” than any pastor’s job. The Gospel is meant to transform our entire lives, not just our Sunday morning experience.
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Just testing to see if my last comment got through…
This is from jWinters, but for some weird reason it wouldn’t allow me to approve it:
Agreed, to an extent…as someone who wears the clothes of a cleric. There is too much of a dichotomy between clergy and laity in today’s functioning Christian world. I feel the effects of burnout even only a year and a few months into my professional ministry. I often wonder why I find myself asking, perhaps presumptuously, why I am the only one who is concerned with the ministry aspects of my church. That is an unfair statement, I tell myself, there are a few people that I know who are laity and are concerned with it as well. However, I wish there were more.
Honestly, that is why lay people like you Dan, impress me. You do not suffer the same feelings of inadequacy and …yes…perhaps laity burn-out that has been foisted upon you and other lay people by us, the clergy.
There is, also, a growing feeling of discontentment from the other side. Perhaps not all of us, but I know many of us clergy feel that if ministry is not done by us, that it will not get done. So we throw ourselves into the fray, headlong, and perhaps rescue too often and too early – leaving the lay person wondering what there is left to be done.
My feeling is this – while we clergy need a wake up call about how much we’re doing, how much we take away from the Body of Christ, the laity also need a wake up call as to how sincerely clergy feels wounded by a laity that leaves the mission of Christ in the gulch.
There is plenty of sin, both of omission and commission, to go around.
in Christ,
jW
I fully agree Jay. Sorry about the problems with your comment getting through, you should automatically be approved from now on
I agree that wounds are being dealt on both sides of the fence, it’s not all on the clergy here. It has more to do with how the way we do church came to be, and how much undue stress and expectation that places upon clergy members. I’d say everyone needs a wake-up call, and we really need to reconsider the entire ecclesiology aspect of our faith. We do a great job espousing a perfect theology, but our practice leaves a lot to be desired. I think major change is in order. Thanks for stopping by!
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