Pastor's Pastor

Clergy commitment/2

It's a given that Christian clergy are to be committed persons. But precisely what should they be committed to?

Floyd Bresee, Ph.D., is a former secretary of the General Conference Ministerial Association, and continues to pastor and preach in Oregon, where he and his wife, Ellen, live in retirement.

It's a given that Christian clergy are to be committed persons. But precisely what should they be committed to? Revelation 14:1-5 portrays God's special people—which should surely include the ministry—as committed to three things.

Committed to principle

These redeemed whom God honors are shown standing with the Lamb, "having His Father's name written on their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1).*The name on their foreheads, like the team name on a ballplayer's cap, identifies to whom they belong. It's obvious to everyone who sees them. Our congregations want to know that their ministers are God's. And they want it to show.

God's honorees are further described: "And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God" (verse 5). We Christian ministers live in a community not only for the purpose of preaching Christ, but to show, at least to a small extent, what Christ was like. We are Christianity with skin on. We are not perfect people, but we ought, like Christ, to be persons of principle.

Committed to family

Revelation further describes God's own: "These are the ones who were not defiled with women" (verse 4). Since our passage is metaphorical, this qualifier certainly refers to more than sexual relationships, but it surely includes those. Christ's redeemed should be a sexually pure people.

Unfortunately for us ministers, our commitment to our families and our moral purity are becoming more and more suspect—and with good reason. A 1986 survey of 2,400 United Methodist clergy discovered that their divorce rate was twice as high as that of their laity.

The reasons are abundant. Ministers represent right and goodness, and, for most women, goodness makes a man attractive. Ministers work mostly with female church volunteers. They counsel alone, often in empty churches. They are the only white-collar professionals who still make house calls.

But most insidious and tragic of all, many ministers take upon themselves what might be called a god image. Glenn Gabbard is director of the Menninger Hospital in Topeka, Kansas a major referral center for troubled clergy. He insists, "The more the minister sees his own person as central to delivering the message of God, the more he is likely to become sexually involved with members of his congregation."

We now know enough so that we can draw a fairly accurate picture of the clergyman most likely to be involved in sexual misconduct. Typically he (1) is middle-aged, (2) is disillusioned with his ministerial calling, (3) is isolated from his fellow ministers, (4) is neglecting his own marriage, and (5) has met some other woman who needs him.

Do any of the above five touch you? Let's commit ourselves to taking time for our families. If love isn't working at home, it's awfully hard living it else where.

Committed to Christ

Christ is central in our passage. He is the "lamb standing on Mount Zion" (verse 1). He is the one who "redeemed" His own (verses 3, 4). He is the leader of His people "who follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (verse 4). We become truly successful ministers to the extent that we allow Christ to be central in our ministry; in other words, when we gladly follow the Lamb no matter where He leads us.

Nothing revitalizes our ministry quite like declaring with Paul, "For I deter mined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).

John Robertson was a mighty preacher in Glasgow. But he confessed that for some of his 40 years in ministry he was a backslider. There came a time when the glow of his first years in ministry was gone. He felt himself a failure and finally decided to quit. In absolute frustration he prayed, "O God, Thou didst commission me 20 years ago, but I have blundered and failed and now I want to resign."

He broke down as he prayed, but be tween sobs he seemed to hear God answer, "John Robertson, it is true that I commissioned you 20 years ago. It is true that you have blundered and failed, but, John Robertson, I am not here for you to resign your commission, but for you to re-sign your commission." Robertson did his greatest work after that recommitment.

Fellow minister, won't you recommit yourself today to Christian principles, to your family, and to Christ? Won't you re-sign your commission?

*Bible texts quoted in this article are from the New King James Version.


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Floyd Bresee, Ph.D., is a former secretary of the General Conference Ministerial Association, and continues to pastor and preach in Oregon, where he and his wife, Ellen, live in retirement.

November 1990

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