The Body Is Not One Part But Many: It's No Wonder The Body Of Christ Is Hurting!

The Body Is Not One Part But Many:
It's No Wonder The Body Of Christ Is Hurting!

group I sent in for a free booklet offered by Ministers Life. It was entitled, Clergy Stress and Burnout. The contents reveal one key reason why the body of Christ is hurting so much--the "clergyman" is expected to do almost everything.

Think about your own body for a minute. What would happen if a number of your organs suddenly abdicated their functions and expected the stomach to perform them instead? Obviously, your stomach was never designed to do such a thing in the first place. But if it was put in such a predicament, your stomach would overload and explode. It should not surprise us, then, when preachers collapse--they are called upon to be an omnicompetent part in the body of Christ. "Burnout," nervous breakdown, and even suicide are very common among the "clergy."

Tradition Has Underscored This One-Part Dependency

One could cite statements from most Christian traditions to show their underlying assumption that the health of the church rests on one part (cf. Judy Schindler, "The Rise of One-Bishop-Rule in the Early Church," Searching Together, Summer, 1981, pp. 3-9).

For example, the Puritan John Owen asserted in 1689:

On this office ["pastor"] and the discharge of it He has laid the whole weight of the order, rule, and edification of His church (True Nature of a Gospel Church, abridged edition, p. 55).

Perspectives have not changed three hundred years later. In 1980, we are still given the same line of thought:

[The pastor is] like the cerebellum, the center for communicating messages, coordinating functions, and conducting responses between the head and body... The pastor is not only the authoritative communicator of the truth from the Head to the Body, but he is also the accurate communicator of the needs from the Body to the Head... he edifies the Body (David L. McKenna, "The Ministry's Gordian Knot," Leadership, Winter, 1980, pp. 50-51).

The New Testament knows nothing of the edification and welfare of the church resting on "the pastor." Rather, Paul says that the body is not one part, but many (1 Cor. 12:14).

The "Call to the Ministry" Perpetuates the Tradition

The Ministers Life booklet says that "stress and threat of burnout 'comes with the calling' in the ministry." It is time we asked ourselves, "Where in the NT is there a 'call to the ministry' which is the possession of only a few?" The NT only knows of "saints, bishops and deacons" in the local church (Phil. 1:1). The "call" of a few people to "the ministry" effectively distracts from the NT teaching that all of God's people are called to ministry. Ward Gasque notes:

The old view that some Christians are "called" to "ministry" or "full-time Christian service" dies hard. And it is here where we still have room for considerable growth... Although the church generally seems to agree that "the ministry" belongs to the whole people of God and not just to a special caste of professional Christian workers, it is apparent we still have a long way to go in the implementation of this essential theological conviction ("Must Ordinary People Know Theology?," Christianity Today, 2/1/85, pp. 32-33).

The "call to the ministry" seals men off from the NT teaching concerning eldership. It also usually keeps people dependent upon the one part, and hinders the body from being equipped to grow in its ministry. How can the proper function of all the parts be cultivated if the function of one part is viewed as that upon which the church stands or falls?

The Ministers Life booklet mentions that "pastoral burnout" could be avoided if lay people took more active responsibility in discussing and solving problems in the church.

The problem is that inherent in the traditional concept of "the ministry" is the non-participation of the assembly. Thus, you cannot solve the problem of "clergy burnout" without jettisoning the concept of "the clergy." If the body were functioning as it should, there would be no need for the one-part role of "the pastor."

What Happens When the "Call" Fades or Is Redirected?

If a man has had a "call" and has been "in the ministry," people have a difficult time comprehending his status once he "leaves the ministry." Some people equate "leaving the ministry" with "leaving God." It is understandable, then, that it is especially difficult for those who, because of various circumstances, "drop out" of the ministry. They often feel "unused," "put on the shelf," or "unfaithful" to a past calling of God.

Such men need to learn that God has nowhere given a job description that fits such a position as "the ministry." Christ equips men for the eldership. The Lord in wisdom does not put the weight of oversight on one man, but upon a body of elders (Acts 20:17,28). If one is no longer "in the ministry," it may be a providential opportunity to begin significant service to the body. Why should a man feel guilty and useless because he does not occupy a position the NT knows nothing about?

Who Pastors "The Pastor"?

One deadly tragedy of "the ministry" is that it isolates those in it from the congregation. Ministry in this scheme is essentially one-way: the pastor gives; the people receive. One pastor said as he contemplated attending a conference:

I was hungry for the Word. As a pastor, I'm constantly giving out. This time, I needed to be fed. (The Bulletin of Westminster Theological Seminary, Spring 1982, p. 8).

The dreadful implication of this perspective is that the congregation really has no ministry to the pastor. He must go outside of the assembly and be with other "clergy" in order to be fed. Hence, there must be "ministers' conferences" to house "ministers" who are always feeding, but not being fed in their churches.

The Ministers Life booklet observes that many clergymen are lonely:

The fact that few outside the ministry understand the demands on you can make you feel isolated. The very nature of "the ministry" insulates those in it from the laity.

Maturity Comes When the Whole Body Functions

In Eph. 4 we learn that Christ has purposed for his church to "grow up in Him." He has given "pastors and teachers" to equip the saints for ministry. The people of God are to speak the truth in love to one another so that they will grow up (mature) in Christ (Eph. 4:15,25).

It is no wonder that there is so much immaturity in the church when significant "ministry" is seen as coming almost exclusively from one part instead of from among all of the parts (Eph. 4:7,15-16).

There is all the difference in the world between a body of elders preparing the saints for ministry, and "the minister" bearing the "whole weight" of edification in the church. The traditional role of ministers is literally killing men. Your own body would be in a hospital or in a cemetery if its maintenance and growth depended on one part. In light of what is expected of "the minister," should we be shocked at the unhealthy condition of many churches?

What About the Future?

Clergy Stress and Burnout offers two "'survival kits' for church professionals." But we need to think beyond sustaining pressured "clergy." What are we going to do when our current comfortable American life-style collapses? We are in a fool's paradise if we think the status quo will continue endlessly. Someday, the party's going to be over--in a sense, it already is.

What will we do when pastors can no longer be supported? Where will our security be when Christian institutions crumble? What will happen if we can no longer meet in our secure buildings? Are we ready to go "underground"? When we face persecution, aren't we going to wish that the "laity" had been better equipped? The clergy-system depends on certain cultural props. What will we do when those props are kicked out from under us?

It will be too late to act when the radical changes come upon us. We must prepare now (2 Tim. 2:2).

"The body is not one part but many." When are we going to wake up?