Kingdom Harbor

I often talk about church as a car repair shop rather than a Sunday trip through a car wash. While the latter may feel nice and give your exterior a little extra shine for a few days, it does not address the ‘engine’ inside that makes us go. At MainStreet we desire to open the hood of our hearts and let the Good Mechanic go to work on our interior soul with his loving wrench. We might call this “soul-wrenching” work (if you get the work bench pun)—not always pleasant and self-affirming, but formational.

My doctoral studies have me exploring the moral formation approaches of the ancient rabbis and Greco-Roman philosophers. I have really enjoyed getting to know Roman philosophers such as Seneca and Epictetus. My “car mechanic” approach above has a lot in common with Epictetus’ view of the philosopher’s lecture-room as a hospital. Epictetus’ advice to philosophers-in-training is good for pastors-in-training to consider as well:

“Men, the lecture-room of the philosopher is a hospital; you ought not to walk out of it in pleasure, but in pain. For you are not well when you come in; one man has a dislocated shoulder, another an abscess, another a fistula, another a headache. And then am I to sit down and recite to you dainty little notions and clever little mottoes, so that you will go out with words of praise on your lips, one man carrying away his shoulder just as it was when he came in, another his head in the same state, another his fistula, another his abscess? (Epictetus, Discourse 3.23.23-38)

He emphasizes that true growth—of mind, body and soul—often comes through opening ourselves to the pain of cognitive dissonance, exposing ourselves to new ideas and sometimes giving long-held convictions a decent burial. The wise student welcomes this uncomfortable aspect of learning, while the fool surrounds himself with teachers who only reinforce what they already believe. “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to counsel” (Prov. 19:20). 

Epictetus (AD 55-135), a Stoic philosopher, was a contemporary of the Apostle Paul who warned believers of the danger of choosing teachers who “say what their itching ears want to hear”  in order to “suit their own desires” (2 Tim. 4:3). We hear an echo of Paul in Epictetus’s refusal to be the kind of teacher who will “recite to you dainty little notions and clever little mottoes, so that you will go out with words of praise on your lips.” How many churches are serving up weekly doses of “dainty little notions” and “clever little mottoes” in their sermons while the people leave with the same soul-debilitating conditions they came with? We may go home feeling better but are we  “being transformed by the renewing of our mind” (Rom. 12:2)?

Epictetus would also remind pastors and preachers today that many of the folks who gather weekly in pews to hear a sermon are not always concerned with the things they should be concerned with. They want the sermon to help assuage a guilty conscience or boost their self-esteem or offer 3 easy steps to the perfect marriage or help them get ahead in their job. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit may want to address some deeper matters of the heart. As he puts it:

“I invite you to come and hear that you are in a bad way, and that you are concerned with anything rather than what you should be concerned with, and that you are ignorant of the good and the evil, and are wretched and miserable.” That’s a fine invitation! And yet if the philosopher’s discourse does not produce this effect, it is lifeless and so is the speaker himself. Rufus used to say, “If you have nothing better to do than to praise me, then I am speaking to no purpose” (Epictetus, Discourse 3.23.23-38).

To bring in another great Stoic philosopher, Seneca (4BC-65AD), who was the tutor of Nero also cuts to the quick:

“A sick man does not call a physician who is eloquent…Why do you tickle my ears? Why do you entertain me? There is other business at hand; I am to be cauterized, operated upon, or put on a diet. That is why you were summoned to treat me!” (Seneca, Epistle 75).

Likewise, how can good pastor busy himself with scratching ears when some folks may need a heart transplant?  The wise sage is trained to see the underlying issue beneath the surface issue; the wise pastor is trained to expose the unseen infection causing all the symptoms. A pastor who plays it safe in their sermons so as to be praised by her congregation, Epictetus would warn, is in danger of having a “lifeless” teaching ministry. Epictetus would say to the teacher in search of praise what Jesus said to the Pharisee in search of applause: “You already have your reward in full.” But such a person is not yet “a scribe trained for the Kingdom” (Matt 13:52).

Some potent and piercing words from the ancient past to ponder on a Monday as I recover from my own feeble preaching attempt yesterday. Lord, have mercy!

“My friends, we should not all try to become teachers. In fact, teachers will be judged more strictly than others” (James 3:1).