Enabling Paul to Accept Reality

My notice in the Sunday church bulletin had announced that I would be in my study for counseling every morning from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. I straightened my desk, sat down, leaned back in my swivel chair, and after yawning took another look at my seminary diploma hanging there on the wall. The seminaries of this church have done a great job, I thought; I certainly can be grateful for the Pastoral Counseling I’ve received. Now I can help my people make an adjustment to life and enable them to feel accepted in the fellowship of the Christian Church.

This happened to be a Tuesday. Nobody had come. And because I was still exhausted from yesterday’s grind, I settled back in my chair to ponder over my work, and before I knew it I fell asleep.…

All of a sudden I awoke. I had heard a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I said. To my utter astonishment there stood the Apostle Paul! Now what on earth could he be doing here? Is it possible that he is seeking me out for counseling? I greeted him. Paul was looking exceedingly troubled, so I pointed to a chair opposite my desk and invited him to sit down and relax.

LO, A PERFECTIONIST!

He did not say anything at first. For a few moments I observed him quietly. He kept wringing his hands, I noticed, and rubbing them across his brow. Frequently he would swallow with great difficulty as if his mouth were dry from nervousness. And then I saw that he would grasp occasionally at his stomach. Apparently he was in severe pain—perhaps ulcers.

“May I have some water?” he asked.

“Why yes.” I left the room and came back, handing him a half-filled glass.

Before he drank, he slipped a little yellow pill into his mouth.

“Are you not feeling well?” I asked.

“No,” Paul replied. “I have been under Dr. Luke’s care for my nerves. Lately I’ve been upset, terribly upset. The condition of the Church is by no means what it should be! How the Church is ever going to accomplish her mission without drastic changes in both clerical and lay ministry I do not know. Luke tells me I am a perfectionist; he says I take life too seriously. So I do, but I cannot help it.”

He stopped talking for a moment, which gave me time to think.

Perfectionists are often neurotic, but I never thought Paul, the great Apostle, would become neurotic for this reason. Of course, he would have just cause for disturbance if he expected the Church today to fulfill the demands of his Epistles for faithfulness and obedience to Christ. But then …

THE STORM ABOUT THE CHURCH

“You feel there are gross weaknesses in the Church?” I asked.

No sooner had I said this than he began to talk up a storm.

“It’s this dire lack of clear-cut witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” he began. “This is what troubles me.

“You know, as one of the great ‘cloud of witnesses’ I am permitted to ‘attend’ many worship services. Some of the sermons I hear are out of your world. Ministers are preaching a language even I find difficult to understand. Some of those ideas they set forth—frankly, they leave me cold. Many ministers seem to be obsessed with concepts like ‘acceptance,’ ‘love,’ and koinonia. As I remember my Greek, that last word means something about fellowship. Yet I notice that these concepts are not always related to the sacrifice of Christ, that tremendous cost which made this ‘acceptance,’ ‘love,’ and ‘fellowship’ possible. Also, the responsibilities of the committed Christian are not stressed so much as the therapeutic value of Christianity, the attaining of peace of mind or security.”

“You feel, then, that the clergy are letting Christ down?” I asked.

“O yes … but in different ways,” he said quickly.

I was about to ask another question, but remembered that the counselee should do the talking. Paul, however, did not need any drawing out; he began talking immediately.

“There seem to be two types of ministers in the Church,” he said, “if you will permit a broad generalization. On the one hand, you have the ‘uneducated’ ministers who preach the Gospel as they understand it. They preach Christ crucified as the only means of salvation, but they confuse people by demanding abstinence from certain practices in order that they might stay saved. Mind you, I am not giving blanket endorsement to the practices they consider ‘worldly’—many of them are demoralizing—but people are led to believe that they earn or keep their salvation by abstinence from ‘things.’ You see, these ministers fail to bring their people to grips with the doctrine of God’s free grace.

“On the other hand, you have the ‘educated’ ministers. While many of them are faithful to their pastoral responsibility of preaching the Good News and nurturing the flock, there are many who are not positive in their proclamation of the Word. They are not dogmatic, except over the fact they are not dogmatic. There is no authority in their preaching because they do not believe the Bible is the authoritative Word of God to man. They submit to a kind of authority which is the ‘authority’ of the critics. But with the witness of the Word undercut, they are left to flounder among the changing theories of higher criticism. You know, it’s always easier to sit in judgment upon the Word than to let the Word judge us.

“Christians in many churches, therefore, fail to grasp the basic Christian message and, as a consequence, fail to understand their responsibility to God.

SEARCHING FOR FUNDAMENTALS

“The one thing on which this group is solidly convinced is that they are not “fundamentalist.” However, before they can be effective in any kind of ministry, they have to come to grips with the “fundamentals” of the faith. Commitment to Christ must be preached before they can expect their constituency to walk in his way. Before changes can take place, men must submit to the Word of God and its judgment. Christ must become, not an article in a creed, but a living, personal Saviour.”

“All this bothers you?” I asked.

He sighed and put his head in his hands. “Of course; doesn’t it bother you?”

‘Well …,” I began.

“I know times have changed,” he continued. “A long time has elapsed since the First Adam walked on earth, and we’ve made tremendous progress technologically. But spiritually, be assured that men have not changed. They are as rebellious as Adam was. They still turn to covetousness—idolatry. They continue to worship self and the gods it creates. But worse, many no longer acknowledge any kinship to their Creator. Professing Christians call to question God’s authority and reject Christ as their sovereign Lord.”

He paused, and we thought for a while in deep and serious silence.

“You feel, then,” I resumed at last, “that many of the clergy have failed God, and man, made in God’s image, is rebellious and self-willed. Is that correct? And you also feel that ‘Christians’ within the Church have rejected Christ’s lordship in their lives, and the Church herself has not been faithful in her ministry of the Gospel. Is this true?”

“Yes,” he replied, “I believe that to be true.”

GOD’S SUFFERING SERVANT

Paul appeared to be more relaxed now than when he first entered. The pain and much of the distress seemed to have died away. In an effort to enable the Apostle to gain further insight into his anxiety, I asked: “Is there anything else that is giving you undue anxiety?

“There are many things about the Church that cause me anxiety,” he said, “but let me mention this one other matter before I leave.”

“Go right ahead,” I replied.

“You know,” he continued, “theologians have been speaking much lately about the Church as God’s Suffering Servant Community. Their return to the Scriptures for an understanding of the mission of the Church is salutary. They call attention to the fact that Christ saved the world through his vicarious death, and they insist that the Church, the Body of Christ, must sacrifice herself also.

“Now recently I heard a minister speak on the theme ‘The Church as a Suffering Servant Community.’ The occasion was a discussion group, and some of the people there insisted that the Church is serving Christ today, without suffering. The minister justly took exception to the statement and raised the question: ‘Is the Christian Church really serving him, or is she merely creating an organization in which members can find “security in faith and fellowship” while adhering to a kind of heretical, non-biblical Christianity and avoiding any real attempt to do the will of God which leads inevitably to self-denial and sacrifice? If we stopped conforming to the world, and began conforming to the strict ethics of the New Testament, and if we began to practice Christian brotherhood and to demonstrate compassion for a world dying without Christ, then the Church would become a Suffering Servant Community.’ When he said this, a dead silence fell over the group and they turned to consider a more important matter—the relevance of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the idea of the Kingdom of God.

“Why isn’t the hub of the Christian wheel,” Paul continued, “commitment to Christ and his will? Why are so many churches organized according to social-likeness and economic-likeness, and not Christ-likeness? In the early Church it was a reckless abandon to Christ as ‘Lord of all’ that bound us together.

PROGRAM PREDOMINANT

“The American Church is too preoccupied with her ‘program’ and with having ‘fellowship.’ But she has forgotten that fellowship is a by-product of service to Christ. She has not begun to gird the towel and serve sacrificially, after her Lord’s example. She tries to be greater than her Lord, and fails to realize that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. Until she sees these things, denies herself, and reckons her vocation in terms of sacrificial service, she will never know the smile of God’s approval.

“The new concept of the Kingdom which Christ brought differed radically from the popular Jewish concept of my day,” he added. “The Jews thought of the Kingdom in terms of peace, prosperity, and privilege.

“Our Lord ushered in a universal, spiritual Kingdom. He called disciples not to be at ease in Zion but to die, rise, and suffer with and for him. It was this new idea of the Kingdom that the Jews found offensive, and which the disciples were slow in grasping. It is this idea which American Christianity also seems to find offensive.

TOO MUCH TO EXPECT

“I could go on,” he said, making a gesture with his hand, “but it would do no good. I have taken too much of your time already.”

“Oh, feel free to talk longer,” I said quickly as he rose to go.

“It is not necessary. You see, as I have been speaking with you, I have been listening too. I think I realize I have been too much of a perfectionist—I have expected too much from the American Church. The Church is still composed of sinful, frail men—men who live in the flesh. I suppose I have to learn how to accept reality, how to stop expecting anything better than the status quo.

“How strange. God has made perfect redemption for sin by the sacrifice of his Son; he has restored his image in those who have committed themselves to him in Christ; and the Holy Spirit indwells all believers to guide them through the Word. Yet it is too much to expect men, even though redeemed, to sacrifice themselves in obedience to God!”

With these words Paul disappeared. Somehow I felt I had succeeded with this counseling situation. Paul had at least accepted a realistic view of the American Church, I thought. I am confident he will have less anxiety now, and feel more at ease.

Jacob J. Vellenga served on the National Board of Administration of the United Presbyterian Church from 1948–54. Since 1958 he has served the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. as Associate Executive. He holds the A.B. degree from Monmouth College, the B.D. from Pittsburgh-Xenia Seminary, Th.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and D.D. from Monmouth College, Illinois.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.