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advice to young pastors: learn to crane your neck
Paul, the old guy, advises Timothy, the younger guy, to be careful about empowering “new converts” too much too fast in the leadership department because they are more prone to “conceit.” As Bob Dylan sang, “there’s a whole lot of people dying tonight, from the disease of conceit.” Defined as “a high opinion of your own qualities or abilities, especially one that is not justified.” And there’s the rub, right? When we’re young, we’re worried about our qualities and abilities. We fear that our qualities and abilities are inadequate for the pastoring task. Which means we crave confident assurance that we’re wrong about our fears regarding ourselves.
Jesus warned the Pharisees about their blindness by which he meant their blindness regarding themselves. They were unable to see their own blind spots. They too suffered from the disease of conceit, but not because of their newness.
So this is apparently a problem across the age spectrum: the tendency to be blind to one’s blind spots.
I’m teaching my daughter to drive and we’ve talked about blind spots. Actually she told me about a blind spot truckers have that I didn’t realize they had: smack dab in front and to the right, sometimes they can’t see you, she said. And of course I told her about the one we car drivers have to the right and slightly behind our vehicles. I discovered it myself once having driven into a right lane occupied by a vehicle I couldn’t see.
The only thing you can do in the presence of a blind spot is crane your neck. Try extra hard to see what you can’t without the effort, that is.
And there’s the rub, young pastor. Learning how to crane your neck. Because you get a lot of shall we call it, “unsolicited advice” in our business. With the advent of the Internet we get an extra dose of unsolicited correction, which entails the pointing out of purported blind spots: ours, that is and rarely the e-mailers’, in case you haven’t noticed.
So instead of getting exercised in the art of craning, your neck get’s exercised in the art of ducking. These seem to involve opposing muscle groups.
And churches can–they don’t have to but they often do–become echo chambers. Which means you don’t just have your own blind spots, you also have communal blind spots. There are certain realities that certain groups simply don’t crane their necks to see. (I realize that “echo chamber” and “blind spots” are mixed metaphors, but I, like you, am a pastor, which means I never met a metaphor I didn’t like, even when improperly mixed.)
I’ve been talking in this here blog about some of the blind spots that I’ve been craning my neck to see about the tribe I’m part of, which is American, and evangelical. Right now, I’ve been saying, I think we evangelicals have developed a conservative blind spot. There are things we don’t see about our close alliance with all things conservative that are a problem, a real problem. I think they are one of the big problems keeping us evangelicals from being evangelical, which is a problem filled with so much irony as to make it weighty indeed.
You may have noticed that some of my thoughtful blog responders have been pointing out to me my blindness in the opposite, that is to say, liberal direction. One recently wondered why I wasn’t railing against the excesses of Al Franken to the degree that I was railing against the excesses of say, Rush Limbaugh. It’s not that I don’t think Al Franken indulges his liberal soul in excess. It’s just that I don’t see that as a current blind spot in the American evangelical tribe of which I am a part. At least, when I crane my neck to see things lurking to my right and just behind, I don’t see many American evangelicals being powerfully influenced by Al Franken. I just returned from the national board meeting of my mini-tribe, Vineyard, and I don’t think there was a single member of that board who has been influenced by the writings of Al Franken.
All of this is just making my point: unless you crane your neck, you don’t see what’s there in your blind spot.
So how do you exercise the craning muscles of your neck? Especially when you have to contend with your own very personal blind spots and your own very tribal ones.
You begin by assuming that you have blind spots, including ones you cannot yet locate. Like Paul, who waged his own battle with an overly high opinion of himself, said, “We know, but we know in part.” And may I add, the part we don’t know is unknown to us. Meaning it’s the part tucked away in our blind spot.
So meditate, young pastor, on this text: “We know, but we know in part.” Paul knew, but he knew in part. Your favorite theologian knows, but he or she knows in part. Your favorite fellow pastors know, but they know in part. And the part they don’t know is the one unknown to them. Your church and the churches that your church gets along with knows, but only in part. Pickle your brain in that text until your brain accepts the truth of it, including the emotional part of your brain. All my knowing is partial, which means I’ve probably stored some of my ignorance in the knowledge section of my book shelf.
Do this often, this little exercise, because in your business you are rewarded for what you know and not what you don’t. So you are incentivized not to pay much attention to your not-knowing capacity. Especially since it scares the living daylights out of you, not knowing. So make it a matter of prayer. Take God with you into the scary places, just like you tell your kids when you tuck them into bed at night.
Consider it an exercise in stretching your necking craning muscles.
And then, stay on the look out for friends who see the world differently than you do. Maybe it’s a brother in law. Maybe it’s a pastor from the other side of town whose beliefs are not the same as yours. Maybe it’s a person you pay to be your friend, a.k.a. a counselor–someone you invite into your life for a look see.
Such a person is rare. Which means you may have to wait patiently to find one. And look expectantly in the meantime. Unless they’ve completely violated your trust, don’t give up on your extended family members. They know you pretty well and might have an idea or two about your potential blind spots. My father, for example, was more right about some of mine than I would have predicted. It’s all very dicey trusting a friend like this, which is why make this a matter of prayerful reflection as well.
And read outside your approved reading list. What I mean is this: you have a list of approved books in your head. These are books that you believe to be safe. They wouldn’t mislead anyone under your pastoral charge. That’s great. Such lists are helfpul. They just aren’t always helpful in helping you identify your blind spots. Or at least, they’ve only identified the ones they see, but not the ones they don’t see.
So, please, you owe it to yourself and to your God and to the people you serve as pastor: read outside your approved reading list. I know it’s dicey. I know it’s risky. But so is having a blind spot and not even knowing approximately where in your field of vision it might be.
Tags: al franken, blind spots, bob dylan, conservative, counseling, disease of conceit, evangelical, friends, Jesus, liberal, Paul, pharisees, reading, rush limbaugh
September 18th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Ken, regarding blind spots and reading lists, I could not agree with you more. Your points are well said, but how about some more meat to these bones? What are some brief examples of the blind spots you no longer have, and how did you discover them from reading “outside your approved reading list”?
September 19th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I am one of the thoughtful responders you reference. I will assume sincerity on your part and not sarcasm. If we spend too much time focusing on our blind spot, we may drive right off the road. Metaphorically speaking, I don’t think we should be afraid of blind spots, just be aware that they exist. This keeps us humble. We need to spend the majority of our time focusing on where we are going. I think I’m getting a kink in my neck if you are saying these are some of our blind spots. Are these evangelical blind spots assumed from some of the previous posts?
Global warming; we must accept the current cultural/scientific position and emphasis.
Abortion; we must accept that it is here to stay, and just focus on reducing them.
Pro-life; we must support health care for poor women, and condoms for Africa.
Gay marriage; we have high heterosexual divorce rates, so gay marriage should not be an issue.
Poverty; we culture/society have oppressed people and as a result we should eliminate this oppression.
Why does the evangelical movement have a large number of conservatives? I believe it is simply because of shared values. If evangelicals don’t agree with much of the liberal positions on the issues of the day, it doesn’t make them pharisees or full of conceit. Disagreeing with the positions should not predicate self-righteous hatred of those who have these positions.
September 20th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Gem, interesting post! I’m curious as to your final point: Who, if anyone, has, in your opinion, been showing a tendency to “predicate self-righteous hatred of those who have these positions”, and on which pages in this weblog have you seen that occurring? Just curious…
September 20th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Archie, I’m glad you asked. I am not saying this weblog has any self-righteous hatred. I am referring to the Pharisees that Ken brought up and his connection to blind spots and responders. Pharisees we could say had self-righteous hatred to those who were “sinners” and those who were not like them, say the Samaritans. There has much debate in these pages on Rush, etc. and Ken is proposing that many evangelicals have been influenced by Rush to the point that they are dangerously crossing the line of despising others with a contempt and leading to a pharisaical heart.
I believe that many evangelical conservatives do not let their faith and walk with Christ be driven by the Rush factor. I have pointed out the liberal versions of Rush do exist, Al Franken, only to point out that there is plenty of hate filled liberal rhetoric out there. But, ken is correct when he says Al Franken does not hold much sway with evangelical conservatives. And for the sincere evangelical Christian, I think ken is giving Rush too much credit.
So, I responded to say that just because people may challenge passionately some of the issues of the day does not mean that they are Pharisees. My assumption was that Ken may be implying that some of the responders are full of conceit and Pharisaical when he said, “Because you get a lot of shall we call it, “unsolicited advice” in our business. With the advent of the Internet…pointing out of purported blind spots: ours, that is and rarely the e-mailers’, in case you haven’t noticed.” I will admit my error in assuming, since the old saying is this usually makes an ass—u—me. And I will admit my overly sensitive self is also involved…
My apologies to Ken for bringing up the Rush word again.
September 21st, 2008 at 1:26 am
Let’s get a group discussion going here! Here are a few quotes which recently have been of import to me:
“In dark ages people are best guided by religion, as in a pitch-black night a blind man is the best guide; he knows the roads and paths better than a man who can see. When daylight comes, however, it is foolish to use blind, old men as guides.”
– Heinrich Heine, Gedanken und Einfalle
“Faith is a cop-out. If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can’t be taken on its own merits.”
– Dan Barker
“To trust anyone whom I don’t know from personal experience to be trustworthy, is to feel the same way about people today as I did when I was a child. I don’t know the character or the judgment of any of the people who composed the bible, therefore I have insufficient evidence of their trustworthiness to trust and believe what they have to say.”
– Me
Peace,
Mark
September 21st, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Oh, I don’t know. Are we first and foremost culture warriors or are we evangels? Whatever legitimate power we have, we have from Jesus. Is that political power or spiritual power? Have we been commissioned to set the world to rights, or have we been asked to bring the Holy Spirit to the world? What are we? What is our job as the followers of Jesus? How do we bring Jesus to those who do not know him? We can bring him forward in a way that will defeat our purpose, or we can bring him forth in a way that will be effective in the larger culture. We have a choice. We need to examine how we are doing this critically to ensure that we do it well.
September 21st, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Mark,
1) Who/what does Heinrich Heine claim are the ones who can see, of whom we should now follow instead of “blind religion”? If it’s science, that makes no sense (science is by definition blind to answer the key questions we seek an answer to: why are we here, etc.). But I would have to agree with the assertion that to use religion to answer questions of science, like how things work in the natural realm, as the two were often inextricably tied in the worldviews of the dark ages and before, would be like letting the blind lead in daylight (not that science answers even those questions with undeniable certainty).
2) Nothing can be taken “on its own merits”, and everything you claim to believe at some level will require you to accept an essential a priori assumption on faith. Unless you can give me an example to prove me wrong (you are choosing to have faith that you are now reading these words on your computer screen, and that this isn’t just a very realistic dream… or maybe you’re in the “MATRIX” =)
3) Essentially the same logical fallacy as #2:
If you only believe what you are told be those that you “know from personal experience”, then you cannot believe anything about modern science (unless you personally know the scientist who performed the experiments and interpreted the results) or very little else. Do you actually feel like you can know/understand anything? And how does knowing someone personally make them any more trustworthy? If you can tell someone’s trustworthiness so definitively just by knowing them by personal experience, that is quite a talent. You seem to put a lot of faith in that ability of yours.
-sorry for the sarcasm, I don’t mean to be harsh, but if I’m totally off the mark on these issues, please do make it known to me
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 am
You are correct, faith is a cop-out. Faith allows us to cop-out of the pessimistic view that this is all there is, because we have hope that tomorrow will be a better day. Faith allows us to cop-out of looking the other way when see our brother is in need, because we see with the eyes of Christ. Faith allows us to cop-out of the craving for more in this life, because we have a hope that our treasure and wealth is in a place that cannot be lost. Faith allows us to cop-out of the hate filled rhetoric that fills this information age and look beyond to the potential that exists in a world that Christ was willing to die for. Yea, faith is a cop-out…
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:16 am
Trenton, thanks much for your thoughts. You wrote:
1) “Who/what does Heinrich Heine claim are the ones who can see, of whom we should now follow instead of ‘blind religion’?”
I think his point is that we no longer need to follow anyone, because we can now think for ourselves.
2) “you are choosing to have faith that you are now reading these words on your computer screen, and that this isn’t just a very realistic dream.”
I am not “choosing to have faith” that I am now typing on my computer keyboard. Instead, I am “compelled to believe” that I am now typing. I am compelled by the evidence and logic of my present situation that, beyond any current reasonable doubt, I am now typing. This belief, just like any other belief, is provisional, and I will remain compelled to hold this belief until I am compelled by further evidence and/or logic to believe otherwise.
3) “Do you actually feel like you can know/understand anything?”
Yes I can know some things, provisionally.
“And how does knowing someone personally make them any more trustworthy?”
The better I know someone, the better I know just how trustworthy they really are, or aren’t.
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:34 am
Hey Ken, your post on this page seems to be structured like a sermon. I’m more interested in your unstructured thoughts than in your sermons!
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:38 am
Methinks y’all are talking about different definitions of “faith”! Pick a def & stick to it!
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary:
Faith\, n.
1. Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony.
2. The assent of the mind to the statement or proposition of another, on the ground of the manifest truth of what he utters; firm and earnest belief, on probable evidence of any kind, especially in regard to important moral truth.
Faith, that is, fidelity, — the fealty of the finite will and understanding to the reason. –Coleridge.
3. (Theol.) (a) The belief in the historic truthfulness of the Scripture narrative, and the supernatural origin of its teachings, sometimes called historical and speculative faith. (b) The belief in the facts and truth of the Scriptures, with a practical love of them; especially, that confiding and affectionate belief in the person and work of Christ, which affects the character and life, and makes a man a true Christian, — called a practical, evangelical, or saving faith.
Without faith it is impossible to please him [God]. –Heb. xi. 6.
The faith of the gospel is that emotion of the mind which is called “trust” or “confidence” exercised toward the moral character of God, and particularly of the Savior. –Dr. T. Dwight.
Faith is an affectionate, practical confidence in the testimony of God. –J. Hawes.
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 am
Ken, how do you define “faith”?