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Thursday, November 10, 2005

Please Don't Feed

A local restaurant sent me a small business sized card in the mail. It was a card that, when presented at the restaurant would provide me and my wife with a free meal. You may be wondering why they sent this card to me. I’ll tell you. I’m a pastor. This restaurant, which is actually part of a chain, has invited all the pastors of our county to come and have a feed on them.
That’s downright nice of them.

Someone at that restaurant got religion, is all I can figure. No…that sounds mean…I don’t mean that, uh…meanly. It just struck me as odd is all. It’s hard not to feel edgy when offered something like this. What’s behind this? Is it a marketing technique to get church goers into their restaurant? Maybe there is a genuine desire to give back to the church from a guy in charge who has been blessed by God?

I don’t know…and I really don’t think it’s my place to try and second guess their motives…it’s a very nice offer and I bowed my head in gratitude when I looked at the letter it came with.

I probably won’t use it. I’ll get back with you if I change my mind. How I feel right now, though, it’s doubtful. This Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church. I’ve been working with our media dude this last week to put together a movie that will help us focus our thoughts and prayers on their behalf.
There’s a picture we’ve included in the movie of a Vietnamese pastor who had just been beaten…his eyes swollen and bleeding, his shoulders hunched. His gaunt and downcast face still roams my mind. He took this beating because he’s a pastor.

No…they sent this card to me at the wrong time. Right now, and I’ll freely admit it, I’m way too ashamed of being an American pastor.
I went to a ministerial meeting last week, and my friend Fuego (not his real name…but a pseudonym that protects Dustin’s anonymity in case he doesn’t want me sharing this publicly) pointed out the accumulated lardage of that group of men. I looked down at my own widening girth and said “Man…we gotta’ lose weight.”
“Dude, we look like body-builders next to them!” was his retort.
I think he was wrong, but it’s a vignette that played through my head as I looked at that card the restaurant sent me.
I can’t seem to shake the glaring contrast. In Viet Nam, there are pastors who get beaten for their work. In America, we get offered free food. All you can eat.

I don’t believe pastors in America should be given free lunches. I really don’t think we’ve earned it. We deserve a serious butt-kicking as far as I can tell. Honestly, what I really wish this restaurant would do is take all the money they will lose in fried chicken alone, as the pastors of our county descend on their buffet, and send it to a few needy souls in persecuted lands.

Then again…why corrupt a pure Christianity like that?

6 Comments:

  • DANG you are right on. I have often thought about how my gut is just a reminder of the spiritual discipline or lack of in my life. Man its 8am where are the biscuits?

    By Blogger mdwinn, at 5:06 AM  

  • You can send your gift card to me! I won't ROB this restauranteur of a blessing. Oh, and could you pass the gravy?

    No, seriously, I get your point. The vision of a local pastor who weighs over 350 (easy!) flashed into my mind.

    "Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself." - Rabbi Abraham Heschel

    By Blogger CMD, at 6:55 AM  

  • That's a good observation, and I think you definately have the right attitude. Just remember you've been called to be an American pastor, and part of your beatings I think are more internal than external. In America there are a lot more social and emotional hardships than physical hardships. That doesn't make one easier than the other, it just makes them different. Thank you for being open and honest with us, it helps to know that the same thoughts that pass through our minds also pass through yours.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:57 AM  

  • This is Brian, Brian Metz. And I can't agree with you more. But, you need to also be more paticular. Southern American pastors are treated like Midevil preists.
    We are, as a good friend once put it, living in Disneyland. I love your heart and I am glad that I was able to learn under your yoke for those formidible years.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:13 PM  

  • Oh, it was really such a lovely gift. I can imagine being that restaurant owner and feeling that there are pastors who deserve so much because they reach out and introduce others to Christ, and through these pastors having the heart to show people God, He transforms their lives. Perhaps he offers chicken dinners because he cannot come and wash your feet. If only we could wash and tend the wounds too of the pastors being persecuted for their faith, and mingle our tears with God's.

    By Blogger Anne, at 5:33 AM  

  • Grateful for you writing this blog

    By Anonymous Agatha, at 12:35 PM  

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