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byBill Moore
REVERSING
RELIGIOUS
IRRELEVANCE
Is a minister simply a conductor-of-funerals, blesser-of-babies
and officiator-at-weddings, whose favorite food is chicken?
T:
here are probably more
isconceptions about who a
inister is, and what he does
nd wby, than just about any
other profession. Look at sorne of
the stereotypes we have created in
Western society:
The Father O'Flannígan-type- A
kindly old gentleman, a bit feisty at
times, but his lilting rrish brogue
and concern for orphans endears
him to all.
The Reverend Mr. Good- Forty
years old, he has two teenage sons
who indulge in all manner of mis–
chief behind bis back. His wife is
petite and demure. He drives a
faded blue 1974 four-door sedan
and makes it a policy to visi t each of
his parishioners at least once a
year-for dinner. Although a bland
individual, he is respected by
m
os
t.
The Youthful ldealist-Fresh
out
of seminary, he's full of theory, but
short on experience. Bursting with
enthusiasm over this or tha t new
program, he can't figure out why his
superiors don't share his zeal. The
congregation tolerates him.
Those are sorne of the more posi–
tive images people have of minis–
ters! Other stereotypes are less
complimentary:
The Peddler of Píous Platitudes–
His fifteen-minute message is full of
felicitous phrases plagiarized from
36
the innumerable volumes in his
study.
The Gold-Brícker- His
job con–
sists of giving a twenty-minute ser–
mon once a week. The rest of the
time he's free to play golf or work
on his numerous hobbies.
The Hypocritíca/ Windf?ag- Al–
though his sermons are liberally
laced with numerous moral exhorta–
tions, everyone knows he is guilty of
the very vices he so earnestly de–
nounces.
lrrelevant or lrreplaceable?
W
ithin the past few
years a small but
rowing body of critics
questioned the value
of and need for a professionally
tra ined clergy. They assert that the
professional ministry is an out–
moded institution that no longer ef–
fectively meets the needs of modern
society. After all , goes their reason–
ing, of what relevance are medieval
sacraments and pious phraseology
in an age of computers and cruise
missiles?
They point out that where the
Church was once the focal point of
community life, it now has been
relegated to the periphery.
lt
seems
that Western culture has passed by
traditional Christianity in its hurried
race toward secularism, leaving the
ministry to tend to the elderly and
the psychologically "walking
wounded" who are no Jonger able to
keep pace with the rapid-fire
changes taking place in our culture.
So the question many cburchmen
a re continually asking themselves is.
" How do we make relevant a two–
thousand-year-old religion?"
But fort unately for humanity, the
essence ofthat two-millennia-old re–
ligion is as relevant to today's world
as it ever was. True Christianity is
more than lovely parables or noble
but ancient virtues.
It
is a dynamic,
living way of life. And it contains a
message of good news- a gospel
proclaimed by Jesus Christ-of sal–
vat ion for mankind. Proclaiming
Christ's message to all nations is
what we in tbe Worldwide Ch urch
of God call the
Great Commission.
Tbis commission fired first-century
Christians with zeal and dedication.
Por them, the reality of that prom–
ise- of Christ returning to establish
the much longed-for Kingdom of
God- was enough to drive them on
in the face of all obstacles (Acts
1:3,6- ll).
It is a basic tenet of the World–
wide Church of God that this gospel
of the Kingdom of God must be
proclaimed to the world. Over forty
years ago, in the depths ofthe Great
Depression, the Pastor-Genera l of
the Worldwide Church of God ,
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1978