Superman is dead:
No more "hero-for-hire" clergy
by David Hopkins
My roommate owns the Death of Superman. The comic
book made for a good read during finals week when I should have studied. Postmodern
America kills the icon of the everyman, an icon the enlightenment project sought to
create -- Clark Kent a.k.a. the man of steel. Nietzsche coined the term
"superman," but we have tried to create superman ever since. We’ve now come
to a realization: Superman is dead. He never got off the ground.
The pastor stands as the Church’s superman. We require
him to jump tall buildings, to be stronger than a locomotive, and deflect bullets. We
expect pastors to help the poor, cloth the naked, visit the imprisoned, and pray for the
sick on our behalf. After all, our parent’s generation was a busy one-- there
wasn’t enough time to do religion. We needed a hero-for-hire. Every Sunday, we
sat in the plush pew to hear of our pastor’s adventures as defender of truth, justice
and the American way.
The division between clergy* and
laity has not always been a healthy one. The clergy sometimes took the form of oppressive
authoritarians. The bad reputation did not start with TV evangelists.
Different languages
Often the laity, without a seminary suit, are left behind
from a lack of pastoral lingo to engage in thoughtful spiritual dialogue. Just as
journalists write at a comprehension level much lower than their own education, our
God-speak needs to communicate at basic level. The Church in order to communicate the Good
News to the world must first be in communication with itself. Clergy and laity speak
different languages. From this miscommunication, clergy and laity take defensive
adversarial positions. John refers to the terrible practices of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6). What does "Nicolaitan" mean? Death to
the laity.
 Killing the role of the laity reached a summit in
the architecture of St. Mark’s in Venice during the ancient Byzantine period. The
church had a structure know as a "rood screen." The rood screen was a physical
wall, dividing the laity from the clergy during mass. Clergy were the activators of
worship. The laity were merely spectators. The most educated people of the first
millennium, clergy took a crucial power position-- a position fearfully descending into
personality cults. Byzantine art sometimes posed royalty and clergy holding the vulnerable
Christ-child. This trend implied God Himself was under the control of men. We blush at the
shameful acts of the earlier church. We reassure ourselves: "We’re not like that
anymore."
Reformation
When the Reformation took place, the one doctrine never
fully implemented was the "priesthood of all believers." Can we blame the Church
for following influential clergy like Martin Luther and John Calvin? Certainly not. But
the choice has been too easy, too convenient, too deceptive to simply train our finest
soldiers and allow them fight all our battles.
God never intended the Church to function this way. The
Church functions when all believers take hold of their call and purpose. We should not be
content with limiting the laity to temporary volunteer tasks. Futurist and Methodist
pastor Leonard Sweet reminds believers that, "The Church of
Jesus does not have volunteers. It has ministers."
 I believe we have come to a cross roads,
a transition in the Church’s life. Will we finally claim the "Priesthood of All
Believers?" Laity mobilization has been one of many terms to surface recently,
reflecting a desire for a balance between laity and clergy. This interest in an EPIC (Leonard Sweet’s term: Experiential Participatory Interactive
Communal) Church will save and refocus the vision of the 21st century
Church. I think any reasonable disciple of Christ would not deny the need for pastors,
shepherds, and overseers of God’s flock. The foundation is biblical and correctly
historical. (II Peter 5:1-4) We need to search for
new meaning in the role of a postmodern pastor, since we have accepted Clark Kent as Clark
Kent.
My hope is that the postmodern pastor will assume these
four roles:
A networker of opportunity.
Within the Church, the Spirit moves in ways to allow space
for great opportunities. The Church first recognizes the moment, then seizes it. These
opportunities may come about by certain giftings in the community or by the dynamics of
their setting. (Romans 12:4-8) The pastor should
function with sensitivity to these possibilities. He puts one and one together to make
three. His divine calling allows him to network different people for a higher call of
God’s glory.
A synthesizer of creativity.
The defining word for the 21st century Church should be
"creativity." The Church itself established as a living art form. A creative God
made us in His image, who calls us to be creative. (Genesis 1:27)
By His Spirit, we possess the ability to bring good and beautiful things into existence. (Ephesians 2:10) Like the networker role, the pastor brings
together the individual colors of character before an ugly gray world to reveal the true
beauty of God through His people. Pastors should not be a paint-by-number artists; but
instead, cut and paste the beauty of community into a mosaic honoring God.
A motivator of potentiality.
If the term were available to the ancient Greek
language, I do not doubt the New Testament writers would gladly compare a pastor’s
role to that of a coach. Coaches challenge their athletes. They cheer them on. (Hebrews 12:1) They know their athletes better than anyone. I fear
the "man of steel" image seduces many pastors into wanting to play all the field
positions. They would rather have the laity stay seated in the pew, warming the bench.
Pastors should challenge and motivate people in such a way that each individual takes
ownership of the Church. Wouldn’t it be great if a person visiting a church service
walks away wondering how many are on actually staff?
A protector of authenticity.
Our generation suffers from the virtual-reality flu.
Everything feels plastic, prepackaged, and consumer-friendly. Partially this feeling is
valid because non-Christians created a world in tension with the world-as-it-is, being the
world God actually created. Above all, the Church should present the world-as-it-is. As
defenders of Truth, the Church needs to be authentic. (John 8:32,
John 18:38, John 14:6, I John 3:18,19) Are we seeking to recreate Disney
World or establish the Kingdom of God? (Mark 1:15) A
community touching upon real authenticity, real vulnerability, and real experience may
make some uneasy. Remember many have grown up believing Church to be an alternate reality
existing on Sunday, apart from the real world. The pastor should savor real experiences as
health food for the Church and a strong witness to their world.
Obviously this list is not exhaustive, but representative
of a simple theme: The pastor should view his call not as a superman, but a coordinator
of possibility in God’s plan for the Church. God places power in His people. (II Corinthians 4:7) The pastor’s call, faithfully executed,
assures the power source is tapped. By God’s leading, the laity is the fountain of
all opportunity, all creativity, all potentially and all authenticity to impact the ends
of the earth.
FOOTNOTES:
* "Clergy." In all honesty, I really don’t believe
this term to be a biblical distinction, but instead a historical one. All the same, a
historical term that deserves consideration. Throughout this essay, I try to only use the
word "clergy" in contrast to "laity"-- which is a biblical
concept. (note Rev.2:6) Otherwise, I use the term "pastor" which I place in the
same category as "shepherd" or "overseer" of God’s people. I try
to handle these titles carefully-- for any ignorance I may bring to the term
"clergy."
* Fuller Seminary Resources: Pastor’s Update #76
 Written by
David Hopkins
Click here
to respond to this article or here: FEEDBACK.
[^ Back to top]
[Back to Current Issue] |
