Naked Pastor Strikes Again « To Be A Fool…

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Naked Pastor Strikes Again

September 11, 2008 at 2:51 pm | In fun, humor, pastors | 5 Comments
Tags: Christian, david hayward, fun, humor, Jesus, naked pastor, pastors

Seminary for Porcupine Pastors

I enjoy David Hayward’s website, Naked Pastor. Often he makes me think. Sometimes he makes me laugh. And as much as I hate to admit it, occassionally I don’t have a clue what he is trying to say.

Today he posted this cartoon, entitled Seminary for Porcupine Pastors. This one made me think, laugh, and sadly recall the pastors I’ve heard say “being a pastor is lonely, because we cannot be friends with our sheep.”

I don’t think I agree. It seems to me that they aren’t “your sheep” and it also seems that Jesus was very close with his disciples. But I’m not a pastor, so I don’t know from personal experience how easy or difficult this might be.

Do you have any input?

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I’ve met pastors and laypeople who love this philosophy and stand by it at all costs.

It’s the most disheartening aspect of the “Church Growth” Movement I’ve run across.

Comment by Michelle — September 11, 2008 #

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So that means I’m probably in trouble for this one, huh?

Comment by HW — September 11, 2008 #

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I hope not. It’s caused us to learn to keep our distance. It’s hard to continue to choose vulnerability when you’ve been pushed aside again and again. Honestly, I’ve become much more guarded than I ever wanted to be. It’s not easy to continue to put yourself out there.

But then, I think we need to find healthy well-balanced churches. They’ve got to be out there…somewhere.

“There’s a place for us…somewhere a place for us…” Guess that tune.

Comment by Michelle — September 11, 2008 #

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I think that when you see “pastor” as a position (like CEO) rather than a gift, it causes a divide between leader and congregation. I think it’s very difficult to structure a traditional-type church in such a way that pastor is seen as just one of the giftings in the body, rather than a leadership position. A church like that would certainly run counter to the “church growth” models.

Maybe someone who is smarter than I am can figure what a church like that would look like.

Michelle–Just remember one thing: When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way; from your first cigarette, to your last dying day…

Comment by Richard J. — September 12, 2008 #

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Maria…. I’ve just met a girl named Maria…

Hey, I’ve never done a blog group sing before.

I was thinking this morning (dangerous, I know) and I wonder if a pastor who is accountable to a board in their church finds it difficult to be friends, because if they are perceived as not being perfect, they lose their job. It sort of makes sense in the traditional model… we’ve set pastors up into these positions, and we don’t want their humanity… we want their perfection 24/7.

Richard… we have done that in a huge way in the USA. We set the pastor up to be the CEO (why the pastor out of all the gifts?). I know that at least one church network (I’m thinking about a DCFI church we went to) called their leaders elders, rather than pastors, recognizing that just because someone is managing the church doesn’t mean they have the gift of pastor. I found that very interesting, but I also saw that we have a hard time moving away from the pastor model.

I’ll be interested to hear more from you.

Michelle, I have a very difficult time not being a cynic. I too have become very guarded and I’m not sure what to do about it. I think I’m going to move to the Island of Misfit Toys.

Comment by HW — September 12, 2008 #

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