Christ the [emerging] Cure
After I was done presenting at the Seminary Scholarship Symposium at Andrews University I got to hear someone pose the question: What ever happened to pastoral counselors? While I couldn’t agree with all of his conclusions about modern psychology, I did agree with him that the role of the pastor has diminished considerably in this area. For most of Christian history, the bishop/priest/pastor was the one you went to for most of your advice when you feel depressed, unwanted, etc. And as the Emerging conversation gets more interesting, I can’t help but wonder that we might see the social importance of the pastor restored someday.
It couldn’t come at a more needed time, either. I’m convinced that Christ is cure for so many of our mental/spiritual maladies. The message that Jesus sent at the cross has astounding implications of our own self-worth. C.S. Lewis puts it this way: “Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it.” But sin has cheapened us. When I choose something over God I am defining myself by that sin. If I pass someone by on the road who needs help, I am claiming first that I am too important to stop and that they aren’t worth my time. I’ve then told God what I think I am worth and what I think the other person is worth too.
The farther we travel in Satan’s realm the more the message of Christ will heal hurting people. Christians have the message that all people are worth eternity. It’s true, Christians have always believed this, but our diminished social effectiveness mitigated our message. At some point down the line we were perhaps more worried about being right than being love. A recent Barna (9-27-07) poll shows that 87% of people think Christianity is a judgmental religion, 85% call it hypocritical, and 78% say it is old-fashioned.
We’ve got to do something about it. The religion of infinite love is perceived as the religion of intolerance, condemnation, and hypocrisy. Now is the time to join the growing conversation and start sharing each day what God thinks they’re worth: eternity.
~ by doclucio on February 9, 2008.
Posted in emerging church, psychology
Tags: Barna, C.S. Lewis, church history, psychology, Seminary
sweet new layout…
A pastor, as separate from a group of elders, is not a Biblical role. It is a priesthood, a replacement for the intercession of Christ. This idea of the pastor as counselor came from the fact that early Greek Christians couldn’t deal with the concept of an intercessor in heaven, so they created the priesthood.
When I consider the idea of people going to some modern pastors (priests really) for help, I shudder, because they are more likely to be destroyed than restored.