When faithfulness in Ministry gets narrowed down

It was an interesting afternoon at the Sem, with and interesting the topic on the agenda.

But I didn't see that coming.

Talking about  the office of the Ministry, one of the presenters proposed:"From pastors, the only thing required is that they are faithful." The part that I didn't see coming was: "He doesn't need to do fancy things like preaching on TV, or have this and that gift, or...." And a few more items were added to the list. At the time, I was the presenter of Toque de Vida, a daily music & message TV program. The presenter knew that. So, like they say in Brazil: "I could have gone to bed without that one." Or maybe not.

At the time it bothered me. Not the criticism of TV preaching, but what to me sounded as the narrowing down of the word "faithful." What transpired from that definition is that if I only say the words of the Bible and from the Confessions, that is already enough to keep my call active and to prevent me from being considered a pastor who is not faithfully serving his people. Which, in its turn, implied a veiled criticism of certain public ministerial activities - such as preaching on TV, music or public exposure - and the idea that pastors who have more visible gifts might be seeking to bring glory more to to themselves than to God Himself.

That was a line or argument that I just couldn't agree with. It made me think about when was the word "faithful," when referring to a pastor, reduced to that simplistic, narrowed down approach and application.  

What the presenter described is better defined as orthodoxy, not faithfulness. Uttering the correct words when preaching and teaching is fidelity to the Word — which is a real and important concept, but it has its own word. Faithfulness embraces so much more. It connects to everything relational, vocational, and missional from the pastoral call. Writing to Timothy, Paul doesn't say "preach correctly and you're done." He describes a whole person — temperate, hospitable, able to teach, not quarrelsome, well thought of by outsiders. That's not a doctrinal checklist. That's a pastoral life. 

A quick example? A pastor who is orthodox("faithful") in teaching and preaching, but gets caught in adultery, stealing or public harassment will be most likely excluded from the Office of the Ministry in the Lutheran Church. 

The Greek word pistos — faithful — carries the weight of trustworthiness, reliability, proven character. It is not a posture of restraint. It is a posture that connects to daily practice in different areas of ministry, stewarding gifts, talents and opportunities to maximize the reach of the Gospel. Always in accordance with one's gift, but in a posture of full accountability to the one who called and gifted that pastor to fulfill his call. 

Where does the need to reduce faithfulness comes from?

For one, I grant that it comes from a desire to curb heresy and bad practices. There is so much misuse of the Word of God and of one's gifts and talents in the work of the Church that resorting to orthodoxy as the defining mark of faithfulness feels like a safe harbour — a way to remain grounded in the Word and in the Ministry.

But there are other possibilities too. 

One possibility is fear. The fear of not having the same gifts as other pastors and feeling diminished by it. The fear of being compared against another pastor. The fear of not being appreciated as one's desire is. The fear of ego-bruising.

Another possibility is jealousy. The hidden feeling of watching other pastors from a distance, with the sensation that "my ministry will never get that level of attention." Some might call it secret admiration, which could also be true.

And one of the places where it may also come from is comfort and some measure of laziness. Keeping things to a minimum in order to keep work in the same measure. It is less demanding to talk about "ministry of Word and (2) Sacraments" as if they were 3 tasks the pastor has. It is comfortable to claim that one needs unending office hours when there's other faithful opportunities and needs beyond the parking lot. When that concept of faithfulness is supported by a plethora of theological resources, time is saved to invest in personal projects, programs or pleasures.

What happens when faithfulness is narrowed down? We will have a theological articulation that takes the "Word and Sacraments" motto to mean that as long as a pastor does the Sunday service and performs certain duties, faithfulness should not be challenged. This leads to a real problem when some not only leave gifts and opportunities untouched but then resort to their theological keyboards to criticize those who do.

Let me be clear. I do agree that orthodoxy and faithfulness are at the essence of pastoral ministry. Also, that there are core duties that belong in the ministry. But faithfulness is not a special gift or an extra-class asset — it is a pre-requisite. Just as we expect the pastor to be a man, to study the Bible and to love his sheep.

Therefore, if that is the one requisite that makes a pastor, we are missing out on something. The whole list of Timothy, for example. The qualifications of the bishops. The hard work. The dedication. The humility. The extra mile, the involvement. The punctuality in bringing his offerings as all other members do. The involvement in the Church not as an "employee" but as one with them. The perception that the Church is not there to be shaped in the likeness of the pastor, but that pastor and congregation and one under Christ. Different offices, but same Church.

There is room in the Church for all pastors. Those who sing and those who speak only. Those who preach and teach with excellence and those who are in the average. Those who travel and those who stay put. Those who create big projects and those who serve small congregations.  As long as they are not settling for reductionism, but rather exploring God's gifts to their full extent and capacity, that is faithfulness unabridged. That is the picture of a faithful pastor.

No one is saying that that every pastor must play an instrument, sing well, speak more than one language, start social project, or gather over 1,000 people every Sunday. But we don't need a narrative that bashes gifts and values reductionism - or worse of all, accommodation.

What we definitely can't ignore is that we need faithful pastors who acknowledge their own special gifts and won't settle for the minimum, but work to develop them to the best quality possible — for God deserves nothing less than that. I spent years in front of a camera, helping to build what became the longest running daily TV program in the Brazilian Lutheran Church's History. That work demanded more faithfulness, not less — more prayer, more study, more accountability to the Word,  more learning and development. No gift reduces the call, but amplifies and intensifies it.

Whether in front of a camera, in the pulpit, in a big project or in the solitude of the pastor's study, the call is the same: to faithfully stay grounded in orthodoxy and to develop gifts and God-given opportunities. 

Always to the glory of God.