Pastors and Prophets

Dietrich Bonhoeffer pointed out that the first question Satan asked Eve during the temptation in the Garden of Eden was a theological question. Satan asked if God really meant what he said about not eating the forbidden fruit, or if he might have meant something else.

Every student of theology would do well to reflect upon Bonhoeffer's perceptive observation. The study of theology has its value in revealing the meaning of our faith. But, at the end of your formal theological study, it is important to adopt a measure of humility about your endeavors. We must recognize that the process of theology must always flow from our faith. Theological inquiry is the evidence of faith, rather than its cause.

The study of Satan's temptation of Eve also reminds us that there is nothing necessarily "sacred" about theology. When our theology grows out of our faith, it will unveil new truths and insights about God's encounter with his world and with us as individuals.

That true purpose of theology, however, can easily be distorted. We often make the mistake of starting with our own prejudices or presuppositions, and then choosing theological perspectives that suit us best. If, for example, we have a prior commitment to radical or revolutionary political beliefs, we select theological viewpoints that tend to baptize that particular stance as though it were the only one ordained by God. The same is true of those who begin with a right-wing political ideology and adopt a theology that supports their prejudices. In such cases we are not allowing God's Word and revelation to mold our thoughts and lives; rather, theology is being used for our own purposes, and our own selfish intentions. In the words Satan spoke to Eve, "You shall be like gods, knowing good and evil," so we pretend to be like a god. That is the state of one who uses theology to rationalize personal beliefs and actions that spring from sources having little to do with God's revelation to us in Christ.

It is wise for us all to remember that the biblical presentation of man's temptation and fall depicts man following false theological advice that appeals to his pride and ego. The fall was an instance of man using theology for his own ends, rather than approaching theology as a means for him to be remolded for God's ends.

To Minister and Judge
With that introduction, I want to share with you today my thoughts about the contemporary division in the church between its "pastors" and "prophets."

Our "pastors" are those concerned chiefly about personal salvation; they see the primary responsibility of the Christian as ministering to the personal problems of other individuals. Our "prophets" are those concerned chiefly with seeing God's purposes for the world being realized. They hear a call for the "kingdom of God" to be furthered on earth, and are concerned about the problems of war, poverty, and social injustice. Following in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets, they are not afraid to judge the social and political establishment.

Today the church is torn apart by this division. Its ministers are likely to see themselves primarily either as "pastors" or "prophets," and congregations as well as denominations are split by these factions.

There is an abundance of young prophets in the contemporary church. In recent years, the church has recovered more of its prophetic role, and realized anew that the social-political status quo does not bear God's seal of approval. In part, this has been a reaction against those Christians who wrap their Bibles up with the American flag. The recent re-sensitizing of the church's prophetic vision has illuminated more clearly to many of us the problems of racial and social injustice in our country. Further, our young prophets have felt that Christians and the church cannot remain silent on such questions as war. Ministers have thrust themselves directly into these struggles for the sake of Christ. However, we must ask honestly whether in recovering its prophetic role, the church, and its ministers, may be neglecting the pastoral role.

As always, we must look to the life of Christ in order to discern the pattern of our own ministry and mission today. I believe it is crucially important for Christians, particularly those who will serve as ministers, to recover the biblical picture of Jesus as both "pastor" and "prophet."

First, let us focus on the role of Christ as pastor. The gospels demonstrate how the immediate needs of individual people absorbed Christ's total concern. With all those whom he encountered—the woman at the well, the rich young ruler Nicodemus, and the sick and the lame—he listened, he involved himself with their needs, and then caused each of them to confront his own need for faith.

The life of Christ demonstrated how ministering to the needs of others means responding not just to their apparent concerns, but to their inward, unspoken search for faith. This is the mandate of Jesus that we must follow in being a pastor. In giving ourselves for the sake of others, we are to call them to faith in Christ, who gave himself for us all.

At the same time, however, we must center our concern on Jesus as prophet, and his life as fulfilling the prophetic role. Christ was fearless in his condemnation of the political-religious establishment of his time. He spoke forthrightly in judgment of those who supported the system of religious pretension and hypocrisy, and he called for rejecting contemporary wisdom and seeing a completely new vision of life. The coming of the kingdom of God, and the vision of a world remade by the power of God's love, was proclaimed by his words and actions. From his life, we hear the call for us to be prophets in our own day.

It is essential for us to grasp the uniqueness and fullness of Christ as pastor and prophet. He was not just the pastor or the prophet; he did not fulfill one mission at one point, and the other another time. Rather, his life demonstrated a unity and wholeness. As he revealed God's perfect love, he lived as pastor and prophet to all men. The harmony of the pastoral and prophetic calling is set forth in the words, "He spoke the truth in love." As God's Son, Christ demonstrated that God's love and God's judgment are never in conflict. His life shows us there is never any contradiction between the call for conversion and for following the promise of the kingdom of God.

Our need today is for "pastor-prophets." The prophet who is not also pastor does not fulfill his full prophetic calling. Christians must be committed to bringing about social justice and peace, and see this as their mission. Yet, if one neglects the vision of Christ the pastor, Christ the One who loved all, he may find himself intolerant and unable to love those who do not share his particular vision of God's kingdom. Then his role as a true prophet is harmed; after a time, the only ones who listen to him are those who agree with him. He becomes unable to reach those who need to hear his prophetic words because he is unable to love them.

Prophetic words about the materialism destroying our society, about misplaced priorities as a nation, about war, and about the injustice within our land will never be truly heard by those in the mainstream of society unless they know that the one who is speaking to them also loves them. The prophet who is not also a pastor goes unheard and unheeded. Only when one knows that he is loved and forgiven by Christ's love can he bear the full truth of God's judgment of the world.

In a similar manner, the pastor who is not also a prophet has not realized his full calling as a minister of the gospel. Christians must be committed to proclaiming the good news of Christ, and to ministering personally to others. Yet, when the vision of Christ the prophet is neglected, one isolates himself from the dimensions of suffering throughout the world, and does not grasp the fullness of Christ's love for all.

Many ministers today seem to feel their work is effective when they are loved. So they do all possible to meet the needs of their congregation; they have an active church program, and see that everything runs smoothly. In their preaching they are careful never to offend, never to get too controversial. Certain subjects are never addressed so that no one will get upset. They may deal well with the personal problems of others, and seem to be fine pastors. But they prohibit any real and honest encounter with the world outside of the congregation, with its problems and its suffering. Those in the congregation then tend to segregate their lives into the false dichotomy of the "church" and the "world." The wars their sons are sent to, the decay of their communities, and the social tensions and animosities that engulf them often remain unanswered by their experience in the church.

So the minister who knows only the role of pastor will find he cannot fully minister to the needs of those in his church, because he has neglected to confront prophetically the problems they all must face each day. He will foster a neglect for the world that is contradicted by Christ's love for the world. Our church's need is for those who can follow Christ as pastors and prophets.

Ministering to Politicians
In the light of these thoughts, I would like to offer some observations regarding the church's relationship to those in political power. At the national level, the organized church has tended to act as a prophetic voice to the politician, but too seldom, in my view, has the church acted as a pastor for him. Let me explain what I mean. Through the National Council of Churches, and other denominational groups in Washington, the organized church has played the role of a lobbying group. They have passed resolutions on all sorts of political issues—resolutions that in most every case have supported positions I have taken. Yet, in so doing, the organized church and its representatives have often failed to treat the politician as a person. Rather, the church has assumed a role in Washington similar to that of the AFL-CIO. They have attempted to become another political pressure group wielding influence for particular positions on various bills and proposals. I understand well the compulsion of the organized church to exercise some corporate influence on our government's policies. Yet, I question whether church organizations have chosen the proper and most effective means for having an influence on government. I wonder whether our organized denominations and groups that have had a "lobby" in Washington have been as uniquely effective as they could be as ministers of the church, rather than mere lobbyists for special interests. My own feeling is that much of the efforts in the political realm by the organized church and its representatives has not sufficiently realized the potential impact and importance of the church's pastoral responsibility to those in political power.

Any politician's life is full of those trying to pressure him, argue with him, or extract some promise or favor from him. Most people treat a politician like one who is to be lobbied and won over to their side. However, a politician confronts within himself deep questions about the issues and decisions he must make. He needs to find people with whom he can honestly share and confide his thoughts in order to think through the troubling choices he must make. Further, as one in political life faces such decisions, he often must confront deep moral issues and questions of fundamental values and ethics. In the midst of those dilemmas he can profit from those who will think through these questions with him from the perspective of faith, and even with the support of prayer. Because of this need, I believe churchmen should not view politicians merely as someone who has to be "lobbied." Rather, their aim should be to build honest personal relationships with politicians, based on true concern, love, and understanding.

In my own experience, I have frequently been subject to the displeasure and resentment of fellow Christians who have disagreed with certain of my political positions, particularly my stance against the [Vietnam] war. One especially memorable letter was addressed, "Dear Former Brother in Christ." This type of criticism, coming from those who share a professed allegiance to Christ, is the hardest for me to understand and to bear.

There will be real and deep divisions on various political issues between ministers and politicians who claim allegiance to the same Lord. And as my experience suggests, that conflict can come regardless of what side of the political or theological spectrum the politician and the churchman find themselves.

What I would suggest to the church, and particularly to those who sense the need to be the "salt of the earth" amidst the political establishment, is that they not neglect their call as pastors to minister to the life of the politician. In so doing, the church has a completely unique means for influencing his thinking, his values, and his political choices. The prophetic voice that the church is called to speak in our age is more likely to be heard and followed by those in political power when it is spoken by those who, in committed pastoral relationships, have shown them genuine concern and love.

There is, of course, the danger of one who acts only as a pastor to those in political power. The tendency for some is to blind themselves to theological dimensions of the problems faced in the political realm, thinking only of the personal needs of those who hold office. The temptation for the politician, in that case, is to use the minister or the church to give him the appearance of godly support. Thus, in thinking only of being a pastor, and neglecting his prophetic responsibilities, the churchman can find himself being used publicly as a symbol of God's seal of approval on the policies and actions of a particular politician. So while I am stressing the need to rethink the pastoral responsibility of the church to those in political power, I must warn that this must never be severed from a continuing prophetic role.

If the church is not a pastor to the politician, its prophetic message will not be received; it will fall on dry ground. But if the church is not a prophet to the politician, its pastoral responsibility will remain incomplete; there will be no vision, no stimulus for growth, and "the people will perish."

The Spiritual Dimensions of Politics
Both those who will be ministers of the church, and those like me who are politicians, should realize that there are deep spiritual dimensions to political problems we face as a nation. Our crisis as a country involves our values as a people. As Michael Novak has written,

The age of theology has arrived again .... The interesting questions today are theological. If (as all seem to agree) our culture is in crisis, it is in large measure because what we shall count as real, what we shall count as true, what we shall count as beautiful, what we shall count as sane, are in question. Until we decide what it is we shall defer to, emulate, and celebrate, we have no culture; we have chaos .... What do I mean by "theological?" I mean the consideration of two questions in particular: "Who am I?" and "Who are we?"

The issues of war, race, poverty, ecology are really the symptoms of the shallow, corrupt, and warped values we hold. Legislative actions to alleviate these conditions are essential, but they alone are not sufficient. The materialism of society, our misguided priorities, and our disregard for the sacredness of all human life are the deeper dimensions of our crisis.

The changes required are in our lifestyles, our basic values, and our attitudes toward our fellow man. The plight of our country today affirms truths our faith has always maintained—that individual people, as well as the structures of society, must be totally renewed and transformed.

The church's unique mission, not shared by any other institution, is to speak to the spiritual depth of our nation's crisis, recognizing the imperative of change in the lives of people through the power of God's love. We find ourselves in the midst of revolution. Our task is to reveal the urgent relevance of the message and life of Christ as the ultimate means for a renewing impact on the lives of individuals and on our common destiny as a people.

But the responsibility to confront our contemporary crisis of values, and hope for a renewal of compassion and a genuine reconciliation in our land, can never be left to the church's ministers alone. Our task is the mobilization of the laity, for the work of God is never meant to be done only through "professional ministers." We must begin by enabling the involvement of the people who make up the church in Christ's mission for this time. They must carry the message, embody the love, and demonstrate the relevance of Christ's love to our age of social and political crisis.

Mark O. Hatfield was U.S. Senator from Oregon and a Sojourners contributing editor when this article appeared.