And Then We're Shocked

I was talking about Ted Haggard today with a friend of mine, who's a pastor.  He's also one of the most honest people I know.  We talked about how pastors can easily garner attention and respect, by virtue of their teaching position in the spotlight.  Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill in Seattle says he gets treated like a rock star, with women propositioning him -- the whole thing.

My friend said he once interviewed at a mega-church.  The pastoral staff encircled him, and asked him a typical interview question:  "What are your two biggest weaknesses?"

"That's easy:  Pride and lust."

You're not supposed to say that in a job interview.  You're supposed to say, "Dangit, I just work TOO hard sometimes," or "I've been told my standards are too high."  He said there was silence.  No one knew what to do with it.  It just kinda...laid there.  You're going be a pastor, son.  Watch what you say.

Like I say, he's honest, and we can kick around honest stuff.  He mentioned that it's time guys, in particular, faced up to our compulsions to lust, and for many, that would mean chucking their net access.  "You can't toy around with something you struggle with.  It's deadly."

Right on.  As I mentioned below, we need to recognize we're addicts, hooked on ourselves, and to surrender to our addictions?  Death.

I wondered, aloud, if, when it comes to pastors, churches do worse than merely refuse to unplug temptation.  They actually bring it in, and make the pastor toy with it.  If pride is a near-universal struggle, and the pastoral position, as we've constructed it, courts pride -- what are we doing to these guys?

"You can't toy around with something you struggle with.  It's deadly."

What's the moral difference between catering to lust, or catering to pride?  Isn't this very system practically designed to mess pastors up?  Isn't it like bringing in a porn rack and setting it in a guy's office? 

My friend said he'd like to go to a team-teaching approach.  He thinks that would help.  But he can't imagine, given the current way we "do church", that there are any real alternatives.

I agreed.