Restoring Honor to an Honorable Vocation

            There is no doubt in my mind that the vocation of pastoral ministry has lost some of its luster.  After countless stories of impropriety by priests and ministers, society at large has lost confidence in religious organizations and church leaders.  The fact that we continue hearing accounts of sexual abuse, financial irregularities, and power struggles by unethical and ungodly religious leaders only exacerbates an already frustrating and shameful situation for priests and pastors who try to live by the Word and in the Word of God.

            No religious leader is immune to criticism – it is part of our vocation as transforming agents of a secular world gone mad. But we need not give our critics more justification to say our message is a religious myth, the Church is irrelevant and unscrupulous, and the priestly office is part of a religious conspiracy to control the masses.  Nor can we afford to lose the trust and confidence invested in us by virtue of our callings as representatives of God.  Instead we should focus on ridding our vocation of the imposters, false teachers, witch doctors, Satan’s agenturs and spiritual perpetrators who are destroying the lives of innocent children, abusing women, and fleecing the believers in the name of “The All Mighty God”.

            Ours is an honorable vocation instituted by God for the purpose of tending to the needs of His people. Indeed, this unique calling requires the heart of a servant, the disposition of a slave, the energy of a Roman Gladiator, the Wisdom of Solomon, the commitment of Paul, and the sanctification of Christ.  This vocation cannot be worked out; it must be lived out.  It cannot be taught; it must be a calling. While many are called to it, few are chosen (Matt. 22:14).  The chosen must undergo rigorous spiritual training under the tutelage of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father has sent in the name of the Son.  These are the ones God spoke of in Jeremiah 3:15 when He said, “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”