From June 7, 2017:
( Pentecost Sunday 2022 our church heard the witness of a young family called to missions, living among orphans in a facility in Ecuador. They have been foster parents already with 30+ kids in recent years. They leave in August from their years of living among us and leave a lasting g mark of living life on mission!)
“Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” 1 Thessalonians 2:8 This verse expresses the philosophy that I see lived out by Jesus, his disciples, in missional endeavors, and among Jesus-followers in the community of faith. When an ordained minister is told by his supervisors in ministry to keep a distance from his congregation and not be friends with them, to operate with professional aloofness, it seems to me a violation of the very spirit of ministry that Jesus modeled and that disciples like Paul practiced. It seems to me that it does not serve the church, the kingdom, or those called to ministry very well to have them pursue friendship with God and “covenant” with one another as ministers and such insulation or isolation from those they are called to serve. Just one of several philosophical quandaries I found myself up against (I’ve also seen a number of pastors, ordained and licensed, ignore that instruction!) It appears to be a means of offering emotional protection to pastors from being hurt by people, of avoiding jealousies in the church, of maintaining sufficient distance to be able to keep one’s loyalty to the institution above loyalty to the people who are the reason for the institution, etc. What it does, it appears, is teach people to hold one another at a distance, untrusting and unwilling to work through differences that arise, unable to learn how to respond to one another authentically and intimately in close community, and confuses people. If one can’t look to a pastor to model it and teach it to the congregation, how will it be taught as a way of living in the church? How can one preach hospitality and friendship with God and others and not live it? Laity driven churches that embrace such a way of life and model hospitality and friendship with and for one another, even their pastors, as well as new people coming in seem to be able to weather difficulty, differences, and change better.