Clogging Clergy

God said to Solomon, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14). Notice the first condition there. God’s “people, which are called by [His] name,” must “humble themselves.” Certainly this must be true as well for the leaders of God’s people. It must begin there. This is quite fitting as one of first clogs encountered in the flow of effective Christian ministry is often the pride of the ministry leader. It is understandably difficult for a pastor to acknowledge that he may have “gotten it wrong” for the past 20 years in a particular area of his belief, vision, teaching, practice, etc. But the church has had certain things wrong for centuries; so why not admit the mistakes over a few decades? We within the ministerial leadership must acknowledge the barriers in our humanity, those personal clogs in our own understanding. We must humble ourselves. Not only must there be a humbling, but it needs to be by ourselves (as the Holy Spirit gives us grace).

We must be strong enough to fall to our knees. Else such strength will be given to another who will force us to our knees. “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). “Every knee shall bow” (Isaiah 45:23). As He proved with the children of Israel at the border of Canaan, then again at the battle of Ai, then again with the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, then again with the Roman Catholic Inquisition, then again with the Christians in communist Russia, then again with the so-called Christian nation that hosted and boasted the World Trade Center, God has shown Himself quite capable of bringing “[His] people, which are called by [His] name” to their knees. So the question is, “Will we humble ourselves, or will we be humbled?”