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Getting a Grip on Pastoral Rage

Orginally published on Friday, March 18, 2005 at 6:00 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Ed Rowell has a great article posted over at LeadershipJournal.net on pastoral rage. Ed writes… During a recent baptism, I paraphrased a passage of Scripture to fit the situation: "If anyone is in Christ, he or she (I was baptizing a young woman) is a new creature in Christ. The next morning, I was going through the cards we use for guest registration, prayer requests, and miscellaneous information. Suddenly one of them nailed me, by name, for "daring to change the infallible, inerrant, unchangeable Word of God…

When the Bible says 'he,' it means 'he' ? to change it to fit your rampant feminist agenda is the worst kind of heresy."

Most days I would have tossed it in the trash with the hope that he buy a better laxative. But that particular Monday, that note really scorched me. I wasted an hour writing a scathing reply, even though the note was unsigned. (We've since adopted the policy of trashing unsigned critiques without reading them.)

At lunch I told a buddy about it, and he asked, "Why did that one make you so angry?"

[You can read the whole article here.]

FOR DISCUSSION: Do you ever get to the point that you feel like Ed? How do you deal with that stress? What did you think of Ed's suggestions?

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TRACKBACKS: (0) There are 3 Comments:

Posted by

Friday, March 18, 2005 at 9:00 PM

Am I the only one who is going to be honest about this one. Being a pastor has made me mad as h***. I lose my temper and my patience with everybody from parishioners to the cashier at Krogers to my son when he wants me to put his train track together. I was never like this until I became a pastor.

If you ever read a “disgruntled pastor” article in the USAToday...it is probably me!
Posted by pjlr

Saturday, March 19, 2005 at 5:03 PM

Good article. The illustration of toxic buildup over time was very appropriate.

Art: you were never exposed to such levels of toxicity until you became a pastor:)
Posted by bernie dehler

Monday, March 21, 2005 at 1:11 AM

This particular “event” centered on the issue of “women in the church.” Here’s a great article to read that explains the background on this issue (Christianity Today magazine article):

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/009/1.40.html

I recently did a webcast on this issue; it’s playing for free here: http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/247 .

Yes, this is one issue that can get real hot. Is it worth yet? Yes. It’s a “learning moment” for many people in the faith…

...Bernie
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/247

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