For Pastors: On Asking the Right Questions
A few days ago, a new couple in our church community sent me a few questions on where we landed on some of the more controversial social issues of our day. Because they are brand new to our community, they’ve not had a chance to hear me weigh in much on a few of these. In the course of responding to their email, I articulated a few things that I’ve not expressly stated before, which turn out to be quite important in understanding how I think a pastor ought to approach such topics. Here’s my conversation-starting response to them:
Hi ________,
Thanks for your questions. I think it's great for you to ask these early on!
Because each of these are big, weighty topics, I want to share some of the long-form ways I've addressed them publicly. At the end of my email, I'll include a link for you to pick a time for the three of us to get together in person and process (if desired or needed). No pressure on my end-- just an offer.
One point worth clarifying as you begin to work through some of what I’ve sent below—regarding how I relate to big topics like this. It’s helpful to understand that how I attempt to relate to these issues is not merely “What does Jon Odom think about this stuff?” and therefore “How does Cornerstone think about this stuff?” The question I’m asking in approaching these topics is “How do the scriptures and the most faithful witness of the church in the last two thousand years inform how we are to think about this?” In that sense, I see myself as inheriting and receiving our thinking on these things, not shouldering the burden (or taking undue authority) to make up my own views and lead the church accordingly. And this is the heart of our mission—to cultivate a community shaped by the gospel for the renewal of all things. The good news of Jesus Christ—what he did for us on the cross and his invitation to living a cross-shaped, Sermon on the Mount kind of life—is the primary shaping/forming force in our life together as a church (God help us!). It’s also worth recognizing that we belong to C4SO, a diocese of the Anglican Church of North America. This affiliation is an additional shaping influence in how we posture ourselves toward these topics.
On LGBTQ
After the Pulse night club shooting (only need to watch the first 7 minutes)
Homosexuality and the Bible (sermon from 2 years ago)
On Race
On the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre:
On the 100th Anniversary of the TRM:
On Women in Ministry
On Christian Nationalism
On How We Figure Out What’s Right & Wrong
OK, that’s a lot! I hope I didn’t give you more of an answer than you wanted. But this certainly gives you a strong head start on discerning where we are on these issues and will give us something to talk through if you’d like to grab a meal together.
While I knew I appreciated Levin’s A Time to Build, this was the first time I realized how profoundly some of his framework for institutionally-minded leadership had shaped by own pastoral imagination.
On further reflection, I took my email to this couple, added additional context and sent it along to the staff of our church:
Hey friends,
I got an email from a couple in the church who was curious where I stood on a number of social issues. They’re brand new to the community, so they haven’t had much of a chance to hear many of these topics addressed by me.
I’m sharing my response with you (the above note) primarily to pass along the third paragraph in the email. This is a thought I’ve never articulated, but that is fundamental to understanding how I conceive of my own calling as a pastor. Yuval Levin’s A Time to Build was helpful in getting my brain around this. In the book, Levin says that people stop trusting institutions because they no longer believe the people in them are being adequately formed by the institution’s ideals (eg. congressional representatives, pastors/priests, etc.). Rather than letting the demands of their office shape and direct how they behave, they use their office as a platform for self-expression (you could probably think of a few examples of leaders who fit this bill). Doing so—failing to let the ideals of the institution shape/guide their behavior and instead doing their own thing—undermines trust in that institution. Levin says that a way forward, in order to rebuild trust in the institution is for the people in them to let themselves be reformed and refined according to the ideals of that institution and its expectations on those within it. He tells us to ask this formational question: “Given my position, how should I act in a given situation?”
This question evokes numerous questions for self-reflection: “Given my role as a pastor, how should I handle my private life? Manage what I look at on screens? Relate to my family? Spend my money? Use my social media? Relate to controversial social topics?” You could ask those questions about your own roles (spouse, parent, church staff person, etc.).
I share all this – NOT, truly, because of anything going on with any of you. This is no subtweet. But I share it as an along-the-way opportunity to explain how I relate to the world (and thus think about preaching, pastoral ministry, and life in the local church). If you have time, take a peek at my email to the couple below.
Thanks for reading! I love and appreciate you all.
The shift from vocational formation (“Given my position, how should I act in a given situation?”) to using our pastoral offices as platforms for self-expression (“What do I think about this and how can I use my position to gain attention?”) has undermined institutions like the local church. The shift to embracing and submitting to the inherited and received nature of our orthodoxy and orthopraxy is a step toward restoring trust, or at the least, restoring greater conformity to the way of Jesus.
The challenge, of course, is discerning with the help of the Holy Spirit and in conversation with the communion of saints what the scriptures do say and having the courage to name when we’ve read incompletely, read with blindspots or read correctly, but postured ourselves in un-Christlike or unmerciful ways in response. Caveats aside, we must release the burden and repent of the hubris of autonomously inventing our views and returning to the spirit of the Apostle Paul: “For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance…” (1 Cor. 15:3).
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