How will 2002 be remembered – retrospect, introspect, prospect
Scripture reading: 1 Corinthians 7:1-16. Text: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Matthew 26:41. Often people express their views concerning this column and one of their remarks is: why don’t we deal with current issues that seem to be important? My humble answer is: we don’t wish to hurt anyone’s feelings. This time I dare to touch a current problem in such a way, that under no circumstances do we want to be critical or judgmental, keeping in mind our Lord’s admonition: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged . . . How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” Matthew 7:1 and 4.
How will the year of 2002 be remembered in ecclesiastical circles? Most probably one of the memorable events would be the problem that surfaced (or rather erupted) when in a denomination some clergy were accused (justly or unjustly) for the consequences of the weakness of the flesh. Please be understanding, because if we scratch the surface, shocking surprises will be uncovered almost everywhere concerning carnal temptations. Here again we should not forget what our Lord had said: “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7. Please read the whole story about the woman caught in adultery, John 8:1-11.
SENSATIONAL, SPECTACULAR AND EXCEPTIONAL MAY EASILY DISTORT OUR VIEWS AND OPINIONS.
I wish to claim the privilege to say or write: “I know because I was there.” Not by choice, but by chance, I had to live under nazi and following it under communist rule. Both were cruel, oppressive, and dictatorial. Both wished to control the church and use it for their own purposes.
Which denomination could resist better the pressure and withstand the political manipulations? That one, where the clergy did not have a family. Regardless how devoted we are, how much we love the Lord, and what promises we had to make when we had been ordained, it was very hard to remain brave and courageous when the welfare of the spouse and children was in jeopardy. Today who would suffer martyrdom in such a way that first he or she must witness his or her children’s torture? I am a “FATHER” and also a husband and a grandfather and we love our children and children’s children. Would I be able to tolerate to see them suffer? Would you compromise the lives of your beloved ones for the sake of your religious convictions?
On a lower level, today in many denominations a great percentage of the congregations are small (a hundred church members or even less) and this also has its adverse affect on the clergy’s family. The fear that the pastor will be fired and lose his income is constantly there. Some lay people like to use this leverage: “Rev. do not forget, if the people don’t like you, there will be no food on the table.”
The social and economic profiles of our congregations are such that people chiefly with low and middle income attend the worship service. When a pastor has four children, how can he or she send them through college? A part of the contract that is not spelled out: The pastor’s salary is low but the retirement plan is “out of this world.”
How many girls wish to be a pastor’s wife? Most of them prefer to live a private life and not to be in the limelight when the congregation might say how to dress, how the raise the children, show example, and be a perfect spouse, mother, and church worker.
On the other hand there is a great strength in the fact, that when the state puts a clergy into the concentration camp there are no crying children or weeping wife left behind. Next day another pastor comes and life goes on. The state is helpless against such church organization. The martyrs’ blood is the best “miracle grow” for the church.
Jesus had never given any instruction or made even allusion to the marital status of his disciples, Peter was married, please read Mark 1:30, and apostle Paul expresses his views on family life in our scripture reading, 1 Corinthians 7:1-16. Apostle Paul leaves the option, to get married or remain single, up to the individual.
The Presbyterian denominatuion propagates chastity in singleness and faithfulness in marriage, unfortunately with not the greatest enthusiasm on the part of many.
We will not solve our problems that entail physical relationships, however, we have the option to pay attention to Jesus: “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Can we be so fed spiritually during the coming year that our body will be strong, our determination to resist temptation unshakable, the relationships with each other pure, and our conscience clear? May God guide and bless us accordingly.
The Rev. Alexander Jalso is a retired United Presbyterian minister living in Brownsville.