248Pastor and Salesman, Synonyms?
posted by Jeffrey on January 12th, 2007
*Warning: Slight ranting and hasty generalization ahead*
Two steps forward, one step back. That is the way it seems to be as I truly attempt to allow my perspective of truth to be transformed from dogmatic to more fluid. Specifically, over the last three years I’ve swung all the way from the, “you’re wrong if you don’t go to church” extreme, to the opposite, “you’re wrong if you do go to church” extreme. Now, I’m seeking to live on a whole other pendulum, if you will, altogether. This new plane of awareness is one where there is no “right” or “wrong” way to follow Christ, but to see the Love, Truth, and beauty in all expressions therein.
However, I often find myself irritated and perturbed by “pastors”, as I encounter them in daily life, be it right or not (whoa, huge internal conflict in this post thus far). Two specific and recent occasions come to mind, one having occurred this morning as I was getting some work done at one of my favorite local coffee houses. A small group of men walk into the coffee house and immediately I think to myself, “church people”…and not with a pleasant connotation. I don’t know why I thought this, it was just an air about them.
Sure enough, the men walk to the counter and are greeted by the staff. The pleasantries went something like this:
staff 1: “Good morning guys, are you the ones using our conference room this morning?”
man 1: [in his best “pastor voice”] “Yup, I’m _______, the senior pastor of _______ church, we’ve been meeting for _______ years down at _______…”
Wham! Right out of the bat. The staffer didn’t even have time to ask this gentleman’s name and he’s already dropping the “senior pastor” bomb, et al. What is the compulsion by so many “pastors” to do this? Let me take an aside to admit that sadly, at one point in my life, I too resorted to similar tactics.
So I guess here’s the point–I couldn’t help thinking, as I watched this interaction occur, why do so many “pastors” come across as cheesy, sketchy, shady, salesmen? Do you know what I mean? It’s that aforementioned “pastor voice”, the smile that seems fake, the freaky stare through you gaze, and just a seemingly overall persona that accompanies so many in that profession.
I don’t have an answer…and I’m not even sure that there’s a question of any value here. I guess, as mentioned at the top of the post, I’m just kind of ranting about something that I feel distracts people from the awareness of Christ’s Love and the freedom that it brings. It’s not that I have a problem with people who “go to church” or “pastors” of churches themselves (refer to the first paragraph of this post), but rather the appearance of inauthenticity and the feeling of being thrown a sales pitch for a certain church, leading me to question the motives behind such pleasantries completely.
Sorry if I’ve offended anyone with this post, I normally work this stuff out internally, but just felt like posting it. I don’t know why. Just be yourself, let the Christ within you live out through you and don’t worry about a sales pitch or looking a certain way. The Love of Christ is obvious and contagious, it is all we need…and I’m not really even sure what that totally means.
Technorati Tags: pastor, church, love, jeffrey davis
002: Ginger,
January 13th, 2007 at 8:07 pmI couldn’t agree with you more. Sounds like we are in a very similar place in our journey, as well. There is nothing wrong with being honest and asking questions.
Great post!
003: Thomas McKenzie,
January 13th, 2007 at 10:56 pmMy uncle is a doctor. Whenever he makes reservations at a restaurant, he calls in the name “Doctor K–” Is he being inauthentic? No, not really. He is using his position to make a statement of some kind. What statement? Hard to say–I tip well, give me a good table, don’t mess with me, I’m not a moron–who knows.
My point is this. Most people are pretty full of themselves. They let you know how great they are by driving an expensive car, or name-dropping a client, or refering to themselves as “doctor” or wearing a rolex, or whatever. This pastor is no different. No better, but no worse.
This incident may lead us to ask this question: how am I like that? How do I communicate my “greatness” to others? What log do I need to pull out of my own eye? Why do I find it neccessary to judge others? At least, that’s what it does for me.
004: Jeffrey,
January 14th, 2007 at 10:50 amGinger, it’s cool to hear of other people who are thinking similar things and walking a similar journey. Not to say, however, that it’s not cool to meet people who think differently and walk a different journey, of course. 
Thomas, great comment and point. I did not mean to purvey the idea that it was the introduction itself that bothered me, my apologies if I did. It was the tone, the attitude, and the overall persona of this particular individual and instance that fueled this post. Unfortunately, as I see it, many “pastors” carry a similar air about them…while many do not ;-). Nevertheless, I feel that you could not be more true regarding the classic plank and splinter allusion. Again, I did not mean to communicate, in this or any other post, that I am without fault and have any credibility to pass judgment on others. Thanks for pointing out even a hint of that tone.
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