Rob Bell* offers vivid, if not earthy, imagery of what pastors often experience.
Bell recounted the story of a letter he received from a supporter. The note, in which the writer recounted how he defended Bell when another person accused him of being nothing more than “fluff and irrelevance,” was intended to edify and encourage. But he said the only part he remembered was the criticism. This, says Bell, is the definition of a “chocolate covered turd.” It looks sweet on the outside until you take a bite. Then it betrays you.
That’s how ministry is. You may hear nine really good things, but it’s the one critical comment that will eat away at your soul. We tell ourselves that it’s really nothing, that “you just have to laugh about it,” and that those small paper cuts really don’t hurt. But they do. Over time, says Bell, those small wounds build up and we experience “death by paper cuts.”
Read the whole article by Skye Jethani here.
Still, before we bemoan our trials too much, it should be said to us as pastors. Unpleasant as they may be, very rarely do the paper cuts actually bleed (Heb 12:4). And, is this not our call?
Pollywog Creek by way of Vitamin Z.
*Having disagreed elsewhere with Rob Bell about his views on forgiveness, I will refrain here from dialoguing with his theology of forgiveness, thereby inflicting more paper cuts, though I suppose even this footnote could qualify as a paper cut.
This actually encouraged me. I’ve only ‘put myself out there’ in small ways while ministering to others. But I feel like I know just what he means about ‘chocolate covered turds’. It helps to know that this should be expected.
Now, for a paper cut (which you’re ready for, right?)… Those one sided quote marks on these blogs really drive me nuts. Do they bother anyone else but me???
That’s a relatively pain free paper cut!
I don’t like them either. But, it’s not as easy as one would think to change them . . .
Chris, will you add me to your blog roll?
Yogi
Yogi, I have you down. I pray you are doing well.
Hey Chris:
I appreciated what Rob Bell is getting at and believe that his message was important in publicly speaking to what so many pastors have tacitly experienced. But, I’m not sure he has landed at the optimal position in the fulcrum and likely leaned too far forward (as I spoke to here).
Interestingly, in reading through Free of Charge Volf makes a case for us, as imitators of God, to offer and even “enact” forgiveness before an offense has even occurred (Chapter 4). God has offered and even enacted forgiveness in choosing the Lamb of God “before the foundation of the world.” I struggle with this.