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A crisis of faith is one thing, a rejection of faith another
Q:What should pastors do if they no longer hold the defining beliefs of their denomination? Do clergy have a moral obligation not to challenge the sincere faith of their parishioners? If this requires them to dissemble from the pulpit, doesn't this create systematic hypocrisy at the center of religion? What would you want your pastor to do with his or her personal doubts or loss of faith?
Temporarily a pastor and a congregation and a denomination may be able to duct-tape something together. But ultimately they're working at cross purposes.
I grew up in a very liberal church in a very liberal denomination. Attending a picnic at the parsonage while I was going through confirmation, I remember sitting across from the minister and wanting to ask him, "Do you really believe this stuff?" Sometimes I wish I had; perhaps if he had said he did I might have looked more deeply into the words of the Creed I was memorizing (along with several fascinating points of denominational history) to pass my examination.
But what if his answer had been, "No." Worse, what if he'd wanted to answer that way but didn't feel like he could say that to a kid in his congregation?
In just about every situation, I think the initial answer to your question is that a pastor experiencing a crisis of faith should avoid doing anything rash while she works through that crisis. A wise pastor will surround himself (even if virtually) with trusted friends and colleagues with whom he can be completely honest. Most are in a situation where a decision to leave the ministry (or to put oneself in a position where s/he will be asked to leave) will have a significant effect on others' lives.
Even the most devout and confident among us will have days when we step into the pulpit praying, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." I think we're called to live in the tension between faith and doubt. Doubt keeps us honest; it protects us from naïve arrogance. Faith, likewise, protects us from despairing unbelief. It's not dishonest for someone who is struggling with a particular theological point to still affirm wholeheartedly the Creed of his tradition because he has continued to identify himself with that tradition and in a sense to submit himself to it as he works through his difficulties.
At the end of the day, though, I have to reject the notion that over the long term someone who cannot uphold the essential tenets of the Christian faith should serve a church in a leadership role. Temporarily a pastor and a congregation and a denomination may be able to duct-tape something together. But ultimately they're working at cross purposes.
For every one of the rare ministers who has moved sincerely from belief to unbelief, there are many more who have moved from belief to vague opinion, not holding firmly to the distinctive commitments of their traditions but not really letting go of them either. Many no longer feel called to pastoral ministry but can't figure out how they'd make a living doing something else, so they phone it in while waiting until the denomination says they can retire.
Meanwhile, across town a diligent bivocational pastor works late into the night on his sermon for Sunday.
By
Jason Poling
|
March 16, 2010; 3:47 PM ET
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Posted by: ashleybone | March 22, 2010 8:09 AM
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What I am trying to say here is that people should only believe things that are easy to believe. A conclusion should beg to be believed; you should never have to make an effort to believe it. Treat all other claims with philosophic skepticism (not contempt or ignorance).
If anything, you should make an effort NOT to believe things readily, because as Francis Bacon put it:
"The human understanding, when any preposition has been once laid down, (either from general admission and belief, or from the pleasure it affords,) forces every thing else to add fresh support and confirmation; and although more cogent and abundant instances may exist to the contrary, yet either does not observe or despises them, or gets rid of and rejects them by some distinction, with violent and injurious prejudice, rather than sacrifice the authority of its first conclusions."
Wisdom and knowledge are inversely proportional to certainty. The more you know, the more doubts you will entertain, and the more questions you will ask. That is a wonderful quality. It is the source of all progress. It is why we no longer live in caves at the mercy of nature. Doubt, unbelief, putting aside error, thinking anew -- these are the great liberating qualities of intellect and the source of human happiness. Doubt, not faith.
Posted by: JedRothwell | March 17, 2010 12:10 AM
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You wrote:
"Even the most devout and confident among us will have days when we step into the pulpit praying, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.'"
I have often heard religious people say this, and frankly, it boggles my mind. This kind of crisis of confidence seldom, if ever, happen to people in other lines of work. A programmer does not wake up thinking that computers don't really work after all. Biologists don't worry that that natural selection doesn't exist. Farmers do not question the wisdom or benefit of growing carrots.
With all due respect, it seems to me that if you have difficulty believing something, or you keep coming up with reasons to doubt, you should immediately stop trying to believe it. Put aside religion and if compelling evidence emerges later on, you can always go back to believing. (I'll grant it would hard to do that if religion is your livelihood.)
When a programmer develops grave doubts about a design, it is time to abandon that approach and try something new. A Democrat who decides Republican ideology makes more sense should change parties (and vice versa!). What possible benefit can there be to holding back and trying to persuade yourself to ignore a logical conclusion that fits the facts? It is an abuse of your own intellect. You can't do it anyway; your mind rebels. You just give yourself a headache -- or neurosis. It is like trying to eat food that tastes rotten.
Posted by: JedRothwell | March 16, 2010 11:39 PM
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Mr. Poling,
Faith does not "protect us from despairing unbelief". I have no belief in gods, no religious faith, no spiritual interests, and I do not despair. Religious people who lose faith often feel despair because they have been indoctrinated to do so, to believe that their life has no worth without their particular sky demon.