Leader's Insight: The Pedestal Problem

We are those who, by our occupation, are expected to speak easily and naturally of spiritual realities. We are called to practice our faith in public. Under the never-ending demands of ministry, our holy calling to worship, love, and serve God can gradually become corroded until our ministry becomes a career like any other profession, except that public religious performance is part of the job requirements.

It is possible to lead a worship service but neglect to worship; to sing hymns and songs of praise vigorously without directing our thoughts to God; to pray and speak of holy things without engaging our inmost being; to seek human approval rather than the approval of God

I know. I’ve done it

About a year into my ministry in a new congregation, I realized that I was in real danger of becoming trapped by the desire to impress people rather than depend on God. I began worrying more about “success” than about glorifying God.

The underlying tension has to do with not only what we do but with why we do it; it involves the inner springs of motivation and desire, the condition of our heart before God. The psalmist cries out: “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” God does and God knows. But do we know our own hearts?

Again and again, in straightforward teaching and in parables that prick the conscience, Jesus calls us to be careful about play-acting our public spirituality or showing off acts of visible piety for the wrong reasons. God wants to bless us and to reward us for faithful service. Yet we cheat ourselves out of God’s reward when we seek human applause or personal gratification rather than the approval of God.

I have struggled in four major areas:1. Handling the pedestal, or unrealistic expectations;2. Using sacred speech honestly;3. Avoiding cynicism or despair in relationships with difficult people;4. Relying on power or control in order to “succeed.”

On the pedestal it is easy to pretend to be what we are not, more spiritual on the outside than on the inside. In our speaking, even the holiest of words become empty when used carelessly or too glibly. In our relationships, disappointment or failure can lead us to lose hope in God’s power to change people and situations. Even as we speak of “servanthood,” we may be seeking ways to control the actions of others.

The problem of the pedestal occurs when the leader is treated as someone “above” or “more spiritual” than others by virtue of office or position. For several years I had a woman who asked me to pray because she said my prayers got closer to the ear of God than hers did. This becomes pernicious if the leader is seduced into believing or pretending this.

Like the disciples of old, we have very little with which to feed the multitudes of hungry people or even our own hungry souls. Only God can take what little we have and multiply it to his glory. True Christian community is not nourished by pretense but is rooted in reality—the reality of acknowledging our human weakness and the reality of the power of God to restore, strengthen, and transform us into His glorious image, one stage at a time. I’ve seen God prove his grace and power again and again. He can be trusted.

I have found three simple “habits of the heart” that help strengthen my desire and ability to maintain inner integrity while engaged in public ministry.

The first is to commit myself to a small covenant group that practices prayer and accountability. I have been in one such group with fellow pastors for more than 20 years. It has made an enormous difference in my Christian life. We all need a place to rejoice and weep, to confess and experience God’s forgiveness, to share the stories of the hard and joyous journey of discipleship, to pray and be prayed for.

A small covenant group can provide this. To be truly known and loved in one circle can help us be transparent, holy, and loving in other places. Telling the truth with those who love you can help you live the truth with others.

Second is to practice a discipline of secret service and secret giving. So much of what we do inside our congregations is visible to someone. I believe God honors quiet service, performed invisibly, unnoticed and unremarked, where we give ourselves to someone in need, especially to the poor and lost. It is very important not to talk about it. If everything we give shows up on our income tax return, every good deed as a sermon illustration, then perhaps, as Jesus suggests, we already have all the reward we are ever going to get!

A third habit of the heart is to memorize 1 Corinthians 13 and pray it into mind, heart, and life regularly, along with the Lord’s Prayer, as part of a regular prayer discipline. I have found it especially helpful to pray this love chapter, verse by verse, or phrase by phrase, in my marriage and family, in prayer for my enemies and those whom I have trouble loving or who may have trouble loving me. It is a long journey to truly learn how to love others as God loves us. God is faithful and sustains us on the journey.

It is no accident, I believe, that the temptation stories of Jesus follow his baptism and entrance into public ministry. Led by the Spirit into the wilderness, he struggled with issues of identity, kingdoms, power, and glory. So do we. He met these temptations through Scripture and reliance on the power of God. So must we.

I find these spiritual disciplines to be helpful antidotes to the poisons that can seep into professional Christian service. Jesus summed it up very simply: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Then everything else will fall into its rightful place.

A Presbyterian minister, Roberta Hestenes has also served as minister-at-large for World Vision.

To respond to this newsletter, write to Newsletter@LeadershipJournal.net.