The Tentmaker...

Wow, I never thought my simple little post from Sunday would provoke such a (relative) outpouring of, uh, commentatiousness.

That is too a word. Now it is, anyway.

Seriously, though, I do appreciate Supergirl's comments on my religious interests and on my "calling" - whatever it is. It's a strange journey we've taken together. But I can't imagine it any other way.

I also appreciate Charles' comments and encouragement. It's not often that someone I don't know comments on my blog.

I, too, struggle with the idea of the "hireling ministry" as Charles calls it. In the UMC, we would call it "full time Church service" or "a lifetime commitment to ministry". What this means to me is that "ministry" can become just another vocation or a job instead of a calling.

In fact, all Christians are "called" to ministry of some kind. That's something I discussed with our District Superintendent last week. People tell me that I'm being called into the ministry, and maybe I am, but I also have to think about my family's best interest. And a pay cut doesn't seem to fit into that picture too well. On the other hand, I shared with her my feeling that the blanket call for Christians to be ministers does not necessarily mean that all are called to preach and teach. And certainly not to get a paycheck. I don't think we want folks going into the "ministry" for that reason alone.

I don't know much of anything about Charles' Quakerism, but I agree with him in that the scriptural justification for vocational ministers is pretty much nonexistent - at least in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul devoted the latter part of his life to spreading the Good News and he accepted some compensation from the congregations that he served. But he did not expect it. He also had a vocation that would 'pay the bills' otherwise.

I'm not presumptuous enough to equate myself with Paul - I like the women, er, woman too much for that analogy to be true. And my zeal is not quite up to Pauline standards. But I'm working on that.

Of course times also change and the Bible doesn't say that we should use lightbulbs either.