(This deserved additional comment:)
“THE American clergy is suffering from burnout, several new studies show. And part of the problem, as researchers have observed, is that pastors work too much. Many of them need vacations, it’s true. But there’s a more fundamental problem that no amount of rest and relaxation can help solve: congregational pressure to forsake one’s highest calling.
The pastoral vocation is to help people grow spiritually, resist their lowest impulses and adopt higher, more compassionate ways. But churchgoers increasingly want pastors to soothe and entertain them. It’s apparent in the theater-style seating and giant projection screens in churches and in mission trips that involve more sightseeing than listening to the local people.”
via Op-Ed Contributor – Congregations Gone Wild – NYTimes.com.
The whole article is a stirring indictment of this situation in the church. You won’t get any such fluff on this website, though. And if you’re getting it in your church, perhaps it’s time to take action. Christianity requires us to pick up our cross and follow Christ. If you aren’t paying any sort of price, you gotta wonder if you’re really following Christ at all.
