More Thoughts About Leaving the Church
Occasionally pastors who are called to move onto broader ministry leave their role within their local congregations (See my previous post). This is no doubt a difficult decision for them, but this does not stop some pastors who have left their congregations from being critical of them. This has cause me confusion.
A good part of the reasoning behind the criticism lies within what one critic called “validity.” The thought is that if a pastor is no longer connected to a local congregation then he or she somehow loses credibility. They no longer speak with the same rootedness and connection they once had to congregational life.
I can understand this kind of reasoning, but I disagree with their sentiment. I am also confused by this reasoning, because I'm not sure the critics agree with their own sentiment either. Many Christians (and thousands of pastors) spend a great deal of time listening and learning from non-pastors.
The two leading Christian Leadership conferences in the world the feature speakers who possess strong insights, invaluable experience, and tremendous depth. However, the majority of them are not, nor have they ever been, a pastor of a local congregation. They are business leaders, authors, entrepreneurs, and even an occasional rock star.
None of these people bear the validity that pastors turned authors or speakers supposedly lose. Nor have they ever had the rootedness of time spent "in the pulpit" as a pastor of a local congregation. Are they less valid? I would think not, and apparently so would many of the critics.
I listen to and learn from all sorts of people in all kinds of contexts from all different ages. Augustine, Peter Rollins, Seth Godin, John Piper, Chuck Palahniuk, Homer (not the one from Springfield - but him too), Dominic Crossan, Socrates, Robert McKee, Abraham Heschel, Jay-Z (he's not a businessman he's a business, man), Leo Tolstoy, and Keith Green have all taught me and challenged my thinking along the way. Many of those who express concern about pastors leaving their congregation would probably say the same thing, which leads to my confusion.
If I may ask just one clarifying question to help me overcome my confusion: “Why criticize a pastor who leaves his or her local congregation to speak to a larger audience, but pay money to attend a conference so that you can sit under the teaching of a person who has never been a pastor?”
The former pastors invite concern and criticism, but the business professional receive our acclaim and applause. From where I stand these two things seem contradictory. What do you think?