Author Archives: scott

CHAP. XXVIII. The Parson in Contempt.

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THe Countrey Parson knows well, that both for the generall ignominy which is cast upon the profession, and much more for those rules, which out of his choysest judgment hee hath resolved to observe, and which are described in this Book, he must be despised; because this hath been the portion of God his Master, and of Gods Saints his Brethren, and this is foretold, that it shall be so still, until things be no more. Neverthelesse, according to the Apostles rule, he endeavours that none shall despise him; especially in his own Parish he suffers it not to his utmost power; for that, where contempt is, there is no room for instruction. This he procures, first by his holy and unblameable life; which carries a reverence with it, even above contempt. Secondly, by a courteous carriage, & winning behaviour: he that wil be respected, must respect; doing kindnesses, but receiving none; at least of those, who are apt to despise: for this argues a height and eminency of mind, which is not easily despised, except it degenerate to pride. Thirdly, by a bold and impartial reproof, even of the best in the Parish, when occasion requires: for this may produce hatred in those that are reproved, but never contempt either in them, or others. Lastly, if the contempt shall proceed so far as to do any thing punishable by law, as contempt is apt to do, if it be not thwarted, the Parson having a due respect both to the person, and to the cause, referreth the whole matter to the examination, and punishment of those which are in Authority, that so the sentence lighting upon one, the example may reach to all. But if the Contempt be not punishable by Law, or being so, the Parson think it in his discretion either unfit, or bootelesse to contend, then when any despises him, he takes it either in an humble way, saying nothing at all; or else in a slighting way, shewing that reproaches touch him no more, then a stone thrown against heaven, where he is, and lives; or in a sad way, grieved at his own, and others sins, which continually breake Gods Laws, and dishonour him with those mouths, which he continually fils, and feeds: or else in a doctrinall way, saying to the contemner, Alas, why do you thus? you hurt your selfe, not me; he that throws a stone at another, hits himseife; and so between gentle reasoning, and pitying, he overcomes the evill: or lastly, in a Triumphant way, being glad, and Joyfull, that he is made conformable to his Master; and being in the world as he was, hath this undoubted pledge of his salvation. These are the five shields, wherewith the Godly receive the darts of the wicked; leaving anger, and retorting, and revenge to the children of the world, whom anothers ill mastereth, and leadeth captive without any resistance, even in resistance, to the same destruction. For while they resist the person that reviles, they resist not the evill which takes hold of them, and is farr the worse enemy.
One of the things that caught me off guard when I was fresh out of seminary was when I discovered some people did not like me simply because I was a minister. I could understand someone not liking something I had done or being annoyed at my personality or the way I do things, but I discovered that some people seem to hold the parson in contempt simply for being a minister. I thought about the lousy things ministers and churches do and know that there are plenty of good reasons hurt people might dislike pastors. I also discovered that some people are angry at God, some are under conviction and lash out at anything that has to do with God — as painful as this can be, it really is a blessing to be the object of anger when it is because you are, as Herbert would say, a deputy of Christ.
Herbert reminds us that some contempt and bad feelings towards us is unavoidable and simply part of the Christian life. However, we are to do what we can to make sure we don’t deserve bad feelings by being genuine (hypocrisy among the clergy has always been a major stumbling block) and impartial and respectful of others. The closing remarks of this chapter I take as a reminder that while a minister should be humble and realize that we will at time be the object of someone’s anger, we are still have self-respect, and more importantly respect for the office we hold, to stand up to unjust acts and words. I know in my own ministry, strong confrontation has won me the respect needed to be heard and has been a tool God has used in conversion.

Snow Day

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Snowman

Originally uploaded by countryparson

Apologies for the dearth of posts lately, we’re still adjusting to the new addition.
We had a rare event Saturday, it snowed! It was the first time we’ve had enough snow stick that we could play in since our wedding eight years ago. We had a blast. Of course by Monday we were in shorts and grilling hot dogs outside.
(Fortunately no injuries, Jeff)

Tools of the Trade: Snopes

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Every once in awhile I have a concerned member of the congregation bring a petition or a message they received through email.  Sometimes it’s about a sick child who’s wish it is to receive cards from all over the world.  Other times they have news of a supposed threat to the Christians from atheist lobbyist.  I’m usually suspicious of these sorts of things and never forward them on if I get the email.

This is one reason I keep Snopes.com in my bookmarks.   Snopes is the ‘urban legends reference page’ that examines these rumors that have been circulating since the internet became popular.  It looks at different claims, organized in a wide variety of categories, and gives it a color coded rating of True, False, Mixed (that is some facts are true others are not)  or Undetermined.  With Snopes.com you can find out if Coke really invented the modern Santa Claus, if the seven dwarves represent stages of drug addiction or if atheists are trying to remove religious broadcasting from the airwaves.  (All false by the way.)

What makes Snopes another great resource for ministers is that it covers many of those ‘preacher stories’.  There are several stories I have heard as sermon illustrations that are complete lies.  Ministers hear them and continue to use them without bothering to check on their veracity.  Illustrating sermons with fabrications destroys a our integrity and it is only laziness or foolishness that would keep a preacher from checking if NASA scientists really discovered a missing day.

Finally, Snopes is a great source for actual stories of interesting events that can be used for illustrations.  I subscribe to the RSS feed so I can keep up with new stories, even if they’re never used they are usually pretty fun.

CHAP. XXVII. The Parson in mirth.

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THe Countrey Parson is generally sad, because hee knows nothing but the Crosse of Christ, his minde being defixed on it with those nailes wherewith his Master was: or if he have any leisure to look off from thence, he meets continually with two most sad spectacles. Sin, and Misery; God dishonoured every day, and man afflicted. Neverthelesse, he somtimes refresheth himselfe, as knowing that nature will not bear everlasting droopings, and that pleasantnesse of disposition is a great key to do good; not onely because all men shun the company of perpetuall severity, but also for that when they are in company, instructions seasoned with pleasantnesse, both enter sooner, and roote deeper. Wherefore he condescends to humane frailties both in himseife and others; and intermingles some mirth in his discourses occasionally, according to the pulse of the hearer.

In all the serious work of ministry, Herbert reminds us that a continually somber character is a drawback. Dealing with sin and pain, sickness and death there are times we can be tempted to melancholy, but there is a hope and joy we proclaim that must shine through in all that we do.

Although not directly related (Herbert is discussing how we express ‘mirth’ with others in what we do.), C. H. Spurgeon had a good essay on why ministers can be prone to depression and how they should deal with their ‘Fainting Fits’. Read it here.

(Image: Allsboro Cumberland Presbyterian Church by John Hayes)

Why Churches should use Open Source, pt. 5: The Software

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A few years ago our Church did a Yard Giveaway. Instead of having families take items to charity donation boxes, we wanted to try to recycle items in our own community. We had everyone clean out their closet so we could give stuff away to people who might need it — no one came. After discussing thing we realized no one would believe we had anything worth stopping for if it was free. The next year we tried the same thing, only this time we called it a Church Yard Sale. Several folks came, but when they asked how much an item cost we told them it was free, everyone wanted to know what the catch was. We couldn’t get anyone to believe there was anything worthwhile if it didn’t cost anything.

Since I’ve been giving reasons for churches consider using Open Source, I wanted to conclude with a list of open source programs for most common tasks. If you wonder if something thats free could be as good as something that costs (sometimes lots) of money, try out some of these programs.  You can find other programs that don’t cost anything, like iTunes or Acrobat Reader, but this is a list of free, open source projects.

  • OpenOffice.org: a full office suite with word processor, presentation, spread sheets etc…
  • Sumatra: I hate how slow Acrobat Reader is when I just want to look at a page of a PDF, sumatra is a faster PDF reader.
  • Firefox: a Web Browser with lots of addons available.
  • Thunderbird: an email and news reader.
  • VLC: media player, can handle nearly any format of audio and video.
  • NoteCase: notebook.
  • The Sword: Bible Study software, has many translation including the ESV.

Enjoy!

The Parson’s Eye (Commentary)

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In this chapter Herbert recommends that a Pastor takes time to reflect on his parishioners, particularly to consider sins that would not be so obvious.  I find three things particularly insightful.

  • We should take time away, regularly, from doing  work in our church to think and pray and reflect on things.  Herbert knows we need distance and quiet to consider some things.  This probably goes against our natural instinct to work, do things and be active, but we need to make time to reflect on things so that we can be sure our work and action is in the right direction.
  • Herbert has a pretty extensive treatment of some aspects of moral theology here.  He reminds us that there are some sins in our people’s lives that are not obvious, but are no less sinful and corrupting.  It is so easy for us to notice some sins and dismiss others — the gluttonous preacher denouncing alcohol.  I find it interesting that Herbert reminds us of this so that the lesser obvious sins such as covetousness can be treated pastorally as well as adultery.
  • Like all good pastoral theologians, he points out the need to apply the rules of morality and administer pastoral care in ways that match the specific situation.  Since the early church, good pastors have recognized the need to adjust their care to the individual; there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach to pastoral ministry.

So a challenge for fellow pastors: take some time this week to reflect on the life and direction of your congregation.  I find it helpful at times to drive around our community trying to be attentive to what’s going on inside the houses of those living here.  Prayerfully consider the things that aren’t obvious and pray for direction.  Stand on the hill and consider your flock.