Anonymity

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” - Aristotle, philosopher (384-322 BCE)

I came to work the other day to find an anonymous message waiting for me on my phone. Guess they didn’t like something I said … or perhaps didn’t say, I’m not sure, since the message was peculiar, to say the least.

In over thirty years of ministry this is not the first anonymous message I have received, but for the life of me I still cannot understand why folks hide like this!  One of the great strengths of our tradition is referred to as “freedom of the pew and freedom of the pulpit” which simply means we rely on the individual conscience to form theological opinions.  We tend to shy away from dogma and prefer instead to engage in dialogue.  That seems to me to be pretty much what Jesus did; he asked or answered questions and engaged folks in a process of growth.  The only ones he condemned were the ones who hid in the shadows and manipulated others to achieve selfish ends, refusing to engage openly.  The book of Revelation deals with this pretty handily as well.

One of the things I really appreciate about our Congregation is the willingness to engage in dialogue.  I have had lots of emails, telephone calls, and face to face conversations with folks following sermons here, and even if we did not end up agreeing, we did end up learning something new and as a result took another step on our faith journey.  I think that is pretty cool.

Some folks - pastors included - need to see themselves as “the expert.”  Not me.  I have screwed up enough in life to know darn well that I am not perfect, my knowledge is not perfect (hmm … seems to me that Paul had something to say about that), and my opinions are not perfect.  And if I ever forget that fact, I have a loving wife, three children, and five grandchildren to remind me of it, not to mention excellent staff and a great congregation … which in my opinion makes me a pretty lucky man!

Some things I am pretty knowledgeable about because I have been doing it for thirty years; one thing I know is that even experts can learn something new from others and in fact the greater their expertise the more they tend to learn from others.  I guess perhaps that makes me an expert at un-expertness!

Never be afraid to question; never be afraid to disagree (just don’t be disagreeable); never be afraid to think; and never be afraid to say “Whoops!  I was wrong.”  The Bible tells us that Jesus admitted error (Bonus Points if you can Name That Scripture) and even God admitted perhaps the Creator acted a bit hastily (Double Bonus Points for knowing this one!).

See you in church!

kevin