Jun 24, 2009
thoughts that got me thinking… #2
Those who feel insecure always love to be in a position of leadership and power. To have power is to have control. Many pastors in leadership roles are those who are insecure. Whether they move on due to their accomphlishments or lack of, the next area of control and power to sought for is, most of the time, sexual.
Filed by edmund at 5.59 pm under Culture,Faith |
6 Comments
alan yu
this is very true.
one pastor who studies the enneagram once told me that most pastoral professionals are type 2 people (helpers), and the pitfall for type 2 people is often lust.
Jun 24th, 2009
edmund
so we are destined to fail then?
Jun 24th, 2009
Anson
I just read this book for my pastoral ethics class:
Betrayal of Trust: Confronting and Preventing Clergy Sexual Misconduct
by Stanley J. Grenz and Roy D. Bell
http://www.amazon.com/Betrayal-Trust-Confronting-Preventing-Misconduct/dp/0801091144
There is a checkup list at the end of the book:
1. Do you blame everyone else for what is wrong or seriously ineffective in your life?
2. Do you in practice reject the idea of a personal spiritual director/mentor who is mature enough to hold you responsible and facilitate change in your life?
3. When your spouse wants you to join her in a Marriage Encounter seminar, do you find excuses to avoid this?
4. When you read John Gottman’s ideas about marriage, do you dismiss them as unnecessary and as having little to offer you in your marriage?
5. When you talk to yourself are you preoccupied with negative thoughts and beliefs?
6. Do you see your wife and the church as two more burdens you have to bear?
7. Do you fantasize about sexual involvement outside your marriage and find such fantasies more attractive than your marriage?
8. Does your family complain about the lack of healthy boundaries in your professional life?
9. Are approval and success what you dream about, and will you pay any price to achieve them?
10. Do you reject the idea that you need to develop a commitment to deeper spirituality?
Answering yes to any of these questions indicates that you are vulnerable to becoming a wanderer, and the greater number of yes answers, the greater the potential for misconduct.
Jun 24th, 2009
alan yu
no, enneagram is not about destiny, but tendencies and how to manage those tendencies… so, for type 2 person, humility needs to be nurtured.
Jun 25th, 2009
edmund
Good stuff guys. We are slaves and prisoners of/for Christ, something that are definitely not good if you are dying for more power and control, right?
Jun 25th, 2009
Justo
Yeah, man, I totally hear ya. I wonder whether theological education sometimes nurtures this sense of superiority, not in the sense of what they teach us in seminary or even how seminary is conducted and managed but just the whole “I’m being educated for the sake of the church” atmosphere. I met a lot of people while taking classes who wanted to “change the world” or “reform the church.” I have to confess that I used to be like that too–and when I’m not careful, still am! Maybe instead of hammering away at that spot-on exegesis or wrestling with the next way of explaining Triune communion, I really need to sit down on that mountain and listen to Jesus say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Sigh. I wonder how really practicing and praying spiritual poverty and purity of heart in the Jesus way would totally transform our sense of what Christian ministry actually is all about.
Jun 25th, 2009
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