In his collection of essays, Unfinished Rabbi, Arnold Jacob Wolf writes of the many different people and groups he has taught. What unites them, he says, is: “In each case they are allergic to superficial one-shot lectures and to halfhearted generalities.” Sadly, too many Protestant pastors have fallen into the trap of refusing to take the laity seriously. All too often congregations are subjected to Sunday school lessons and sermons that are shallow to the point of being trite and which bear little relevance to their lives. We wonder at declining attendance, we reconstruct worship to model the latest fad in popular entertainment, and we offer cafeteria services to meet the needs of our ‘target demographic,’ all the while ignoring the simple fact that our parishioners are tired of “superficial one-shot lectures and halfhearted generalities.”
I am both unapologetically Baptist and unapologetically ecumenical. I believe that the historical Baptist witness has been and remains an important voice in American Christianity. It is not the only voice. Few of us stand in the pulpit on Sunday morning and face a homogenous gathering of people raised in Baptist churches. Often, nearly half will have come from other Christian traditions — some many years ago, some within the past few months, and some whose spiritual journey continues to lead them from denomination to denomination. Many who are with us this Sunday may in the future transfer membership to a non-Baptist church. What they ultimately seek is a deepening spiritual life, a growing faith, and a relationship with God. A laity defined by denominational identity has given way to a pan-Protestant laity, defined by a heartfelt desire for love and fellowship within the bounds of the historic Christian faith. Such people will not suffer the superficial or the halfhearted lightly.
Some weeks ago, a young visitor approached me after the service. She told me that she goes to church to be fed for the week ahead. Instead of a full meal, the pastor puts a pea on her plate. She thanked me for manna for the week’s journey. I should be flattered, but the truth is, I’m not that good. It saddens me to think that there are millions more like this young woman, whose pastor does not take her seriously enough to give her more than a pea.
I hope visitors to this website will find food for thought. I learned many years ago as an inner city hospice chaplain that I don’t have all the answers. Sometimes I don’t have any answers, but together we can at least explore the questions. Like Rabbi Wolf, I am an unfinished pastor; more importantly, I am an unfinished Christian. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, I have much to learn before my eyes are fully opened.
