Sunday, November 07, 2004

Worshipping the Pastor

In a very honest post, "i took the red pill" blogs about her experience not entering community because she enjoyed her pastor so much. Now that he's leaving, she's going to stop going to church. It seems as if "i took the red pill" is connected in more ways than she assumes in this post.

But this post made me think of our church. Some people in our church don't get involved in a smaller community because they love our pastor. "He's so good, he speaks so well, I could listen to Him all day..." are some of the things I often hear about him, and it's true. I agree. And that's not his fault. But enjoying the pastor is not a replacement for being in community with others.

"our dear friend and pastor is leaving our (his?) church. it's not until june, but we have decided to stop going, anyway. it's funny, but not funny at all, that weekend i spent with the other women, pursuing our spirit places, connecting with our hearts -- that was church to me. that was more like church than almost anything else i have ever done.

and i realised how very much we went to church because of the pastor. because we love him. we never entered into community, and we really didn't even enter into worship, but something about connecting with his heart gave us the courage to keep connecting with our own. and his words, though not always something we could feel for ourselves, inspired us that something bigger lay beyond our experiences."