Jeremy Bouma begins his reflections on Bound Together with a series of illustrations that show how earnest it is that we recognize our connectedness to one another.
A few weeks ago I heard about a pastor whose multi-year affair with a member of his church was finally uncovered. Unfortunately it’s a story that’s all too familiar.
Not only did the inevitable fallout result in two families being ripped apart, the pastor’s ministry dissolved and people left his church. Several people left because of the trauma of the affair; they were personally affected and devastated by their pastor’s sin.
In my seminary program I worked at Starbucks. One of my co-workers was a recent high school graduate who seemed put off by my seminary student status. After several surface-level conversations one day she drilled deeper, grilling me about my pastoral profession.
She shared how she had walked away from the church after witnessing years of hypocrisy and neglect from her parents, both dutiful lay ministers serving in various church ministries. She witnessed the disconnect between their public lives as lay ministers and private lives as parents and spouses. Now she doesn’t want anything to do with church. . .
Read the rest here.
