Proclaimer Blog
Creating false tensions
One of the things I hear younger Christian ministers do is to think carefully about setting priorities. That can be a really good thing (and I've met other ministers who need to do this more). The priority list goes something like this: God, wife, family, church.
In theory, fine.
But life is more complicated than this, and in fact, this over-simplification of the Christian ministry can create tensions that should not exist. The reality is that there are times in ministry where this kind of priority listing is wrong. Take a stupid example: if I go and see a grieving mother I am not going to cut off the pastoral visitation so I can go and pick up my daughter from school. That may have been higher up my list, but right at the moment, the list is wrong. It is, in fact, reversed and I will find other arrangements for my daughter. Mrs Jones comes – right now – before my family.
More than this – we are setting up a false antithesis by placing God in the list as though serving and nurturing wife, family and church are not also about giving ourselves to Christ.
Please hear me right. I am not advocating abrogation of family responsibilities or nurturing a good and godly marriage. Please God, no. But expressing priorities in the way some people do and then rigidly sticking to them helps no one. Most people in the real world understand this. Why shouldn't ministers?