In rural parts of America parishes are seeing a decline in pastors by fifty percent. The reason is that pastors do not want to pastor a small church, receive a low salary, and most of all they do not want to be anonymous. Parish pastors have steady income, but they have no notoriety, no one outside their small congregation knows their name. Most graduates of seminary want to earn the trifecta of ministry: mega church, mega profits, and mega prestige. They want something akin to Joel Osteen's name recognition, salary, and following. So the farmers and rural settler must deal with a deficiet, with no pastor at all or a temporary minister. Why is this? How did serving God go from "let the weakest among you have the greatest honor," become a ego trip to be remembered by the nation and even the world with a six and even ten figure salary? What happened to wanting to be a good and simple preacher, who helps a flock through daily life, whose interests are not those of their ownWhere is the Parson who living by meager funds invests in the souls of the people, and lives humbly, and simply, never seeking accolades, applause, and the acclaim of the world? Where are those who answered The Call to be Meek, Humble, and lowly as Christ Jesus was also Meek, Humble, and Lowly?
The sad truth is that the parish priest or pastor is all but exstinct. The cancer of inflated self and egotism has lead many seminarians to seek glory and riches, rather than God and the rural masses. All over the world there are rural villages, from China to Connticut, there are people who forgo the city and its comforts, and who till soil to feed themselves, and lets be honest, us. Only two percent of the American population is farming, while the rest are in employed in tech jobs, medical professions, and business. While we type on our Apple Air computer or iPhone, there are men and women, who are picking real apples to feed us. Not only farmers, there are many who live in rural parts of the world and are poor (sometimes literally, other times only poor of spirit), humble folk. These people need Jesus and a minister, but the "the deceitfulness of riches" is carrying parish pastors off into the pride pit (Mark 4:19). There was Count named Nickolaus Von Zinzendorf who said something very telling, "Preach the Gospel, die, and be forgotten." This upon first glance seems a very severe and very harsh statement. Are we to be forgotten? To leave no legacy? No, What I believe The Count is trying to say is that a true zealot and servant of God doesn't want to be remembered (have the attention on them), they want Jesus and His Gospel to be remembered and be received, such a person fades into Christ's identity (Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:3, and John 17:20-23), not seeking a name for themselves, but wanting God's Name to be glorified, just as Jesus glorified the Father not Himself, "Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again," (John 12:28) and "I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." (John 17:4-5). The only person in recent memory who had this attitude was Billy Graham, and yet despite his wishes, people remember him.
There is a joy in anonymity, in being unknown. So often we are seduced into thinking that being known, being famous, and having our own name on Wikipedia along side the greats of history, and leaving and indelible mark will somehow make us happy. In truth is breeds misery. Matthew Mcnahaey, a famous actor known for his roles in Failure to Launch, and many others, said to a group of college student, "I have to flee to nature to purge, to vomit up all the fame. People think they know me, and I carry this weight of noteririty. I remember when it first happened, when I saw my face on billboards and my name was suddenly spoken in millions of households, in that moment I became sick, I knew I had lost my anonymity, and that I would never be able to go back, never be able to live a normal life, that is a life without a camera and comments pointed at me." Matthew's revelation is telling, he has felt the weight of fame, and so many ministers are rushing out into the gauntlet, wanting to make a name for themselves, to be called the next Martin Luther, Billy Graham, and Martin Luther.
To an extend we cannot avoid attention, even in the negative. Jesus tells us, "All nations will hate you on account of me." (Matthew 10:22). But even the righteous are famous to the righteous. We all know Abraham, Moses, Peter, and Paul, Luther and Calvin, Billy Graham and Pat Robertson; and their lives inspire us to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and so knowing of them, not forgetting them, can bolster our faith, to see others who have "fought the good fight, run the good race, and kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7). I believe Zinzendorf's statement, "preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten," applies to the world, let the world forget you, but anyone who stands and does not yield in their devotion to the Lord, will be famous in eyes of God and his chosen ones (Saints). The Count isn't cutting down the admiration and inspiration we derive from reading of Abraham, Moses, Peter, and Paul or even the Reformers and our contemporary preachers; no Zinzendorf is addressing the cancer of our time, this desire to have "everyone know your name," to be "written down in the history books," and to have the world love thee at the expense of your own soul (Mark 8:36, 1 John 2:15). We have not fame on this earth, but infamy. Our Lord Jesus Christ told us that the Kingdom of Heaven is not about being remembered like Julius Cesar or as an important rabbi everyone quotes, but to serve others and be the least in this world, "But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all," (Mark 10:43-44), "Call no man your master, for you have one Master. Call no one Rabbi, for you have one Teacher. Call no one father, for you have One Father in Heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant," (Matthew 23:7-11), and "But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves." (Luke 22:26), . We are taught by our Lord not to be limelight of this earth, to seek the fame and acclaim of this world, but instead to seek to be least of all, and focus not on puffing ourselves up, but on helping others through teaching and exhortation (2 Timothy 3:16), through preaching, and making disciples, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).
The point is we should be anonymous here and now, and then in heaven, and God's Kingdom we shall be great. There is nothing wrong with admiration of fellow saints, but the truth is we are One Body with many parts (1 Corinthians 12:12-27), and while it is fine for us to serve as an inspiration to one another, let us not seek the feeble and futile fame the world offers. Let us open are hearts to the prospect that few of us are going to be known like the Apostle Peter, and the Apostle Paul, or the Reformers Martin Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, or even contemporaries like Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Beth Moore, and Joseph Prince. If we seek glory now, we shall have little in the hereafter, "Then you are invited to a wedding banquet, do not sit in the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this person your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (Luke 14:8-11). And many of us need to accept the fact, the call to ministry is one of obscurity, and most of us will never in this life have our name touted on banners and on the New York Time's Bestsellers list. Instead, like those parish pastors of old and the apostles who did not want notoriety, but to serve, let us adopt that attitude, the attitude Christ encouraged, "be the servant of all."
Comments
Post a Comment