What should pastors write in their church websites?
Scot McKnight of the Jesus Creed posted an interesting comment on his blog concerning what pastors are writing on their church website.
What annoyed me about these sites was the utter absence of a sense of the sacredread more
in pastoring, of the overwhelming sense of God's call upon a life that reaches
so deep that everything becomes holy, of the profound respect and privilege of
the call to lead God's people, and of the total lack of order. The sense we hear
today of being real and authentic doesn't mean we devalue the pastoral calling
of its sanctity. I couldn't and wouldn't call any of these folks "Reverend." If
I were a visitor, I'd go somewhere else.
Does a pastor only share about pastoring in their church website?
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Labels: Church, Pastoral care
posted by Alex Tang at 3:22 PM
8 Comments:
The knowledge of good and evil in each of us means we may view different things differently on whats sacred. If we were in the 19th-20th century, many would still be adamant that anything read and sung in the church other than the bible would be less than sacred and respectful, if not disturbingly sinful. Its safe to follow rules and laws rather than choose the path of reason and freedom. Yet, if we are confident to accompany our actions with lots of prayer and be guided by love, and faith in love with recognition that God is the reference point of love, we need not fear what man has to say. There is no 1 rule how God works through different individuals, lest we judge that we know better.
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Hi Philip,
In this I agree with you completely.
Would there be a difference between a pastor's personal website and that of his church's website?
My church leadership feels that I am their church pastor 24-7 ... and with this there are certain expectations ....
Hi Paul,
This is exactly the issue I am trying to raise here. Should a pastor or a Christian leader writes and behaves the way according to certain people's expectation (including 'sacredness of their calling') or should they be themselves?
Alex, Tough call. I have explained to my church leadership that I felt that there should be no difference how I act in church and outside church in terms of being a Christian - attitudes, actions etc which have to reflect godliness. I need to work on being a Christian 24-7.
However I question the rationale that in my "personal capacity and life" and "off times" (i.e. I do have an off day each week and annual leave etc)I cannot do certain things that are "neutral" in terms of morality because it is not part of the image of what a pastor should be.
But bottom line - I have applied the "strong versus weak brother" principle. Sometimes there are more important battles to fight :-)
Hi Paul,
Yes, it is a tough call, isn't it? I agree with you. We need to choose our battles carefully.
I have always seek to live counterculturally. I try to be a pastor rather that seem to act like one. As you will know from my blog, I read the 'wrong' books, play computer games, watch the 'wrong' movies, write about things that are not politically correct in a church. I make sure that all I do is within the biblical guidelines.
I guess it is easier for me. I am regarded by many Christians as 'successful.' (successful means being blessed by God, right? Who can argue with success?)
Also I am not an employee of any church.
I believe that makes a lot of difference.
The church is very blessed if the senior pastor is not on the payroll. There should not be different in tone or form only subject matter will different.
Christians should be a 24x7x52 profession, not a sunday morning or saturday evening affair.
I believe the blog allows you to float many ballons, some leaden. More important the modern pastor should be of the real world with experiences of secular life because all the sheep are from this world.
Multi faceted, cultural approaches enriches - we learn tolerance and celebrate diversity.
Blessing on your journey and divergent and uplifting views. It is good to know the man behind the pulpit.Hooray, it is real and authentic. Struggles are the same though perseption and outcomes many be very different.
Thanks, Journeyman for your comments
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