Prophetic role of pastors
by Ron Hunsicker, Lititz, Pa.
The silence on the part of Mennonite Church USA and The Mennonite around the irrational and, to a large extent, racially-biased response to Rev. Jeremiah Wright has been perplexing, disheartening and confusing. Ron Adams broke that silence in the June 17 issue (“When Pastors are Prophets”) with well chosen words of insight.
We continue to languish in a culture that has blurred the boundaries between church and state. Therefore, we have difficulty understanding, as Adams points out, the prophetic role of pastors. Not only does the media have difficulty understanding the role of pastors, but society in general suffers from this confusion. Pastors, as well as others speak the healing, challenging, comforting and angry Word of the Lord as they hold their Bibles in one hand and the newspaper in the other.
In an age of instant-everything, sound clips from sermons have suddenly become the way to identify the complete picture of a pastor and her or his relationship to their congregation. My growing concern is whether there exists enough “sound bits” from Mennonite pastors to even gain the attention of the media. Or would our sound bits be so conciliatory they would never make the evening news? Do we as Mennonites understand and appreciate the role of pastor/prophet any better than the media? While I hope so, our lack of attention to this issue leads me to wonder.
Associated Issue: Rest for the soul - June 17, 2008
Associated Article: When pastors are prophets
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