CREEDE HINSHAW: The clergy as troublemakers

To speak God’s word is to be a troublemaker, a calling which most clergy find themselves ill-suited and most congregations don’t want. On a spectrum from caregiver to troublemaker, both pastor and congregation prefer the former. Most clergy prefer to offer comfort, encouragement and hope, avoiding stirring the pot if possible. Most congregations are happy with this arrangement.

But the Hebrew prophets were bold. The wicked King Ahab called Elijah a “troubler of Israel.” (1 Kings 18:17) An annoyed King Jehoshaphat complained that the prophet Micaiah “… never prophesies anything but trouble for me!” (1 Kings 22:8)

One person’s troublemaker is another person’s hero. Many people have visceral, negative reactions to Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Franklin Graham. But these same clergy have their faithful constituencies. Troublesome clergy have overcome their fear to be a voice for the voiceless.

Being a nice guy can lead to benign ineffectiveness and a watering down of the Kingdom of God. Such a harmless, timid village priest is portrayed in Italian writer Allesandro Manzoni’s exciting 1827 novel “The Betrothed” about two star-crossed lovers. Still in print, you can buy it for less than a dollar on Kindle. Essayist William Amelia says “Betrothed” is the greatest Italian novel of modern times.

Manzoni’s novel includes priests and monks of varying degree of holiness. Early in the novel he introduces Don Abbondio, curate of a rustic Italian village, a man “not endowed with the courage of a lion.” The description (pps. 14-15) of this shrinking priest chilled me:

“The system of Don Abbondio consisted in shunning all dispute; he maintained an unarmed neutrality in all the contests that broke out around him … down to the squabbles of the peasantry themselves. By keeping aloof from the overbearing, by affecting not to notice their acts of violence, by bowing low and with the most profound respect to all whom he met, the poor man had succeeded in passing over sixty years without encountering any violent storms. He especially declaimed against those of his confraternity, who, at their own risk, took part with the oppressed against a powerful oppressor. He had a favorite maxim, that an honest man, who looked to himself and minded his own affairs, never met with any rough encounters.”

Most clergy can see themselves in this description. Called to build churches, lead people to maturity in faith, keep congregations financially healthy and stay on the good side of those who hold power and are large donors, it is very tempting to let somebody else stir up the trouble and then to criticize them for their courage.

Ministry includes a facet of troublemaking even when to do so dearly costs the one stirring the pot. In the New Testament Jesus, Paul and others were troublesome to those who needed confronting with God’s righteousness. Who are the troublemakers in our community? Are they recognized as servants of God’s word, irritants to church and community or both? Such persons must not be dismissed easily.

Email Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].