Hypocritial Oath for Pastors

HYPOCRITES IN THE MINISTRY

I once saw a sign outside of a church that read: “The church is full of hypocrites; You too are welcome.” It was an amusing response to a common excuse among many who choose not to go to church. While I have enjoyed sharing that wisdom over the years, I assumed that it was referring to the members of the church. Lately, I’ve realized that it is a helpful saying for pastors as well. Maybe we could amend it slightly to say, “The church is full of hypocrites and pastors know that it takes one to know one.” In fact, I think that one of the healthy qualities that a pastor needs to develop is how to accept his or her own hypocrisy.

If doctors can be guided by a Hippocratic Oath, maybe pastors can be guided by a Hypocritic Oath. The oath would entail coming to terms with the fact that just because we are hypocrites at times, we cannot stop proclaiming a truth that transcends all of us. Week after week, a pastor is asked to rise and proclaim a word from God and at times s/he is preaching to the self as well as to the congregation.

CLERGY TEMPTATIONS TO HYPOCRISY

There are moments when we are filled with anger, but we are asked to proclaim peace. There are times when we anxious about our finances or greedy in our behavior, but we are asked to proclaim generosity. There are times when we feel paranoid and see enemies under every pew but we are asked to proclaim forgiveness and love of neighbor. We proclaim that the body is the temple of God, but we continue to abuse it by overeating, too little sleep, and at times some form of alcohol or drugs.

The point is that most humans feel a distance between their ideals and their behavior, but a pastor can’t call time out while s/he wrestles with such beliefs, but must continue to be the spiritual leader of the congregation. How do we respond?

FIRST STEP

The first step in following the Hypocritic Oath for Pastors, is to name some of the times when we are haunted by our own hypocrisies. As a beginning, try to identify 10 situations or attitudes in which you personally sense some hypocrisies in your life and ministry. Here are some for me to get you started. This is your private list, not to be shown to others.

Here is my attempt to make my list:
1. I entered seminary having served in the Peace Corps in Peru. I thought I would become a pastor in the inner-city and continue my work with the poor. All three of my churches have been upper middle-class churches.
2. If we are to love God with our heart, soul, and mind, why did I pay more attention to being a success in ministry than in listening to God?
3. I believe in prayer and urge others to pray regularly. Yet far too often I let other demands in my life take precedence over prayer time.
4. I know that you cannot love God and money, but far too often I was seduced by what would make me financially secure.
5. I know that we are to forgive 7 times 70 times, but I often let irritating parishioners trigger my anger more than my forgiveness.
6. I believe that God has provided the Scriptures as a gift through which God can speak to us, yet I rarely read the Scriptures simply as a means of listening to God. Most of my work with Scripture was for the sake of preaching or teaching, and sometimes as a weapon to quote.
7. If perfect love casts out fear, why did I allow fear to so often shape my response?
8. If my colleagues in ministry are God’s servants, why did I find it so easy to judge some of them?
9. If the whole church is the Body of Christ, why did I find it so easy to act like an arm saying to the foot, I have no need of you?
10 If I believe God to be sovereign, and that God knew what God was doing at creation, why do I fear for the future of the world?
OK, that is my set. (admittedly looking back from my retirement.)