Do Not Feign Weakness
It isn’t even right for me to say that pastors need to be weak. That implies that there’s some kind of underlying agenda to the weakness.
It would also be wrong for me to say that pastors should let their weakness show. Again, the problem with this is that there’s an agenda behind it.
It is even worse to require pastors to show their weakness so that it will help others. Agenda again.
The fact is pastors are weak. And any honest human being who lives with authenticity, truth, and with integrity, looks weak. I believe that God became a man, that he became weak. Or, rather, that his weakness was embodies. And that this wasn’t some kind of ploy, some kind of tactic in order to accomplish something. It isn’t like he “took on” weakness, cloaked himself with it, covering over his strength and power with the appearance as though he were Clark Kent covering Superman, doing the mundane until his superpower was needed. The weakness of the cross IS the weakness of Jesus and the weakness of God. Truly weak. Not fake pretend. As Paul insists over and over again, it is the cross which is the power. It is the weakness which is the strength.
So pastors, if you are weak, and you are, be honest! Don’t just share a time when you resisted a temptation. Tell about the time you didn’t. Don’t talk about how you struggled with God but got through it. Tell about how you’re not sure what you believe anymore. Cry. Laugh inappropriately. I’m just encouraging you to be yourself and to be yourself openly. Come out of the closet. You are going to offend people guaranteed. But you’ll feel better. And some people will want you to be their pastor. Maybe. Of course, I know plenty of people who can’t admit they’re weak, even to themselves. That’s a whole other problem.
This is one of my paintings. You can buy my paintings HERE and HERE.
art, god, naked pastor, painting, pastor, strategy, weakness Share This
i think that it is really hard to become a pastor yet it is a calling that you can’t escape from.
wherever you go, it will hunt you down.
thanks for the post.
Interesting post David. While I agree with your overall premise that it’s ok to show one’s human fallibility, I’m afraid I have to take issue with some of your points.
Firstly, how to define weakness? It seems to me that the person that can admit their fallibility, their imperfection, their very humanity, is not a weak person. It takes a special kind of strengh, mental toughness, to admit these things and deal with it, live with it. I’d say the person that contructs a false persona to hide such things is mentally or emotionally weak. I wouldn’t say that your “nakedness” on this blog characterises weakness. Quite the reverse.
I’m sorry, but your paragraph about God-as-Man being weak is just nonsensical. There’s no need to justify such thoughts with a biblical background story. This line in particular: “any honest human being who lives with authenticity, truth, and with integrity, looks weak” is questionable at best and quite wrong at worst. Maybe some people don’t respect such people with integrity, but that says more about the observer than anything else.
Hi David and everyone,
We want to help our pastors just like we want to help everyone else. We can only do this if you don’t pretend.
Thanks
Sas
Maybe, just maybe we wouldn’t be ourselves if we followed your suggestions???
Maybe, just maybe some of us aren’t struggling like you think we ought??
“…the weakness of God.” The God you worship may have a weakness, the God I worship has nary a one.
And Jesus, weak! Hardly. There was more strength demonstrated by Jesus in the garden when he said, “Yet not as I will, but as you will,” than all of mankind put together. For he was saying “yes” to taking the sins of mankind upon himself.
fishon
[…] Posted by weirdhippy on October 30th, 2007 Really good post here from the the Naked Pastor who is another recent addition into my reader. […]
hey David,
It seems a long time you mentioned the name of Jesus in your posts… I read your struggle, I can almost feel the pain, the longing to survive. And only I can do is just point to… Jesus: Hebr 2,18 and Gal 2, 19-20. For the moments we are weak, we can rely on his strenght; at the points where we seem to be giving up, he, in his fears and questioning, clung to his only thruth: I am the beloved son of God, on me his favour rests. Till he could say: it is finished.
This love is what it’s all about, and it really is about giving in: surrender to this love and being build up again…
This is for you and for the communion you pastor.
Mx
“You are going to offend people guaranteed. But you’ll feel better.”
Some leaders I’ve known would actually feel worse (naked, maybe) by being truly themselves. They believe at the core of themselves that their livelihoods - and even more, the love of others - depends on their performanace.
Thanks for this post. Very powerful.
This post certainly touches upon the importance of each of us being both ‘weak’ and ‘faithful’ to each other.
It is the ‘mind of Christ’ which really motivates us in real service - the Lord “making Himself nothing” - therein lies the wisdom and power of God, which we naturally view as folly (it still can be pretty alien even to most of us in the church) , but which holds a strength greater than any aspect of the present order, which is perishing. It is a wisdom we most certainly need to encourage.
Because of this Saviour, we can draw near to God and each other (because He is faithful) and find mercy, aid and a deep security in the midst of our present trials.
The ‘bruised reed’ and the ’smouldering wick’ will be maintained in His care.
thanks for the comment on my blog. You will find yourself now appearing on my blogroll.
Weakness and Strength are completely intertwined. What may be viewed as wome by weak, will be viewed by others as strength.
My wife has been on dialysis for 23 years. She is down to 93 pounds and her body is becoming frail. She broke her first bone a couple of months ago. But as weak as her body is, her strength of spirit is stronger than any person’s that I have ever heard of. Even those who underwent torure in prison camps. Why? She at this moment, after 70-80 surgeries and their complications now has cronic pain issues. She takes painkillers that would knock you or me out for a couple of days, just to make it through. She does a whole wife’s trdaitional role, and will not let me help. She gets angry if I help. Through all of her troubles, she has made her dreams come true. They are simple, but still very difficult. Find true love, she has in me, and it is amazing. Have a family. She was not supposed to have kids while on dialysis. She got pregnant anyway and carried to 33 weeks then had our daughter. She is fine. Then after a miscarriage, we adopted. Tough to do while on dialysis, but she accoplished that anyway. Now she wants to live long enough to watch her kids grow up.
With all of the pain that she goes through. She says no complaints. She accomplishes her tasks. She fights her way through each day, because of the strength of her love for us.
Being weak in spirit, but being willing to admit that there is weakness, is strength. Having the strength to defy conventional constructs. This is also Strength.
I am very strong. In faith, in body and mind. Yet weak in denying certain things.
Strength and weakness go hand in hand.
Absolutely Nate.
Well Done.
Thank You.
Sarah
Thank you David,
Despite the negativity of some of the comments in this post, this is exactly what I needed to hear (or read rather). It’s one of those posts that has spoken directly to me and you can take at least a little comfort in knowing you have blessed myself as a church worker (parish evangelist) in the midst of all the crap going on in my life.
Oh,…and for those who think that Jesus was never ‘weak’ I believe you are looking in the wrong context. The weakness David talks about is not whether Jesus has the “ability” to do what he wants or not, but rather echoes what the Son of God proclaimed on the crosss: ‘My God, my God, why have you foresaken me?!’
Consider this: If God is Holy, and Holy means “separate from sin” we would realize God is “absolutely pure.” When the Lord Jesus Christ took our sin on Himself, when the Father laid on the Son “the iniquity of us all,” the Holy Father could not be with Him. The crushing weight of mankind’s sin was borne all alone by Christ, separated from the presence of the Father.
…the crushing weight of mankinds sin.
Jesus WAS in weakness.
BUT his weakness was overcome by the power of God, with the ressurection and assention. Amen. Amen. Amen.