Word to the Wise
Wednesday, September 6, 2006 - 22nd Wednesday in Ordinary Time
[1 Corinthians 3:1-9 and Luke 4:38-44]Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor. For we are God's co-workers, you are God's field, God's building.
Every pastor or church leader knows the scourge of factions! Competition seems "hard-wired" into human nature. In the case of the Corinthian community, factions seem to have appeared which were expressed according to the preacher who had evangelized the individuals involved. Paul had enough trouble with the "Judaizers" who were requiring adherence to the Mosaic code. He didn't need divisions of other kinds, based on personalities. Folks with "followers" or "groupies" are one of the "main banes" of pastoral work. The perspective offered by Paul is very important. The message is one. The God is one. The community should focus on God and getting the message out, NOT on the preacher or evangelizer. Of course there are likely to be "power" or "influence" issues accompanying these matters. Anyone who believes that Shi'ite and Sunni Moslems are killing one another over the question of who should have succeeded Mohammed simply doesn't know the situation. The same can be true when there's a battle between the Music Minister and the Youth Minister! It was a problem in Jesus' time as well. James and John wanted seats next to Jesus in the "kingdom!" One of the apostles wanted to rain down fire on people who were preaching but were "not of our company!" One of the most important skills of a pastor is to unify the community around the principal focus, Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. All of us can benefit from asking ourselves if we have fallen into the trap of "factionalism." If so, it's time for a change! AMEN
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