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It is a question that has been rolling around in my head for a while. The only problem is, how can I get an honest answer? The question is: How much do pastors pray, practice silence and read scripture? It is a simple question, but one, I fear, that many pastors try to avoid. As pastors we believe that we should be spending time in these practices, but I have a sneaking suspicion that we do not spend very much time in either prayer, silence, or formational scripture reading. I shared this with a pastor friend of mine and his response was, "Well, we have a lot to do and not a lot of time." I believe his answer was honest and real, but he did not go into detail about how much time was spent in these practices. Other times I have brought it up have been met with a quick subject change. I'm not sure how to understand all of this. Read the Rest Here
I even fear bring it up because it seems a bit judgmental, yet it is an important issue. After all, prayer, silence, and scripture are tools that can shape and form us. There is a lot of talk these days about spiritual formation, but is it just a label to market 'programs' that promise quick results (one minute bible, etc.)? In authentic spiritual formation there are no quick fixes. One's spiritual life is formed over years of faithful practice of spiritual disciplines. The foundation of these disciplines are prayer, formational bible reading (meditation), and silence. What are the results when this foundation is missing in a pastor's life? For one, there is an inability to discern the ways of God. Instead of being able to discern God's will, we settle for good ideas, or what works. We become satisfied with a pragmatic and functional life and ministry. Even if we do have large churches with many programs, beneath the surface is emptiness. What is needed today are pastors who are willing to put their CEO status on hold and discover the ancient practices of silence, formation through scripture and prayer. The only resource needed is time and desire. Spiritual formation takes time and there are no short cuts. As the United Methodist Church's bishops discuss ineffective clergy, perhaps one of the first criteria of effectiveness should be the time and energy spent on spiritual formation using the foundational practices of prayer, silence and scripture. If these practices are not seen as criteria for effectiveness, then we can guarantee they will be regulated to the 'spare cycles' of clergy life. If that happens, how can we possible be guided and led by God? If you want to dialog about this, please feel free to leave a comment to this article. |
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