"The Wounded Healer"

I've decided recently to take a break from reading new Christian books, and take some time to connect to some of the classics, because basically, Truth hasn't changed. I love Brian McLaren and Donald Miller and Rob Bell and such, but for the most part, they aren't saying anything new. So I'm starting with The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen's 100-page answer to the question, "What does it mean to be a minister in contemporary society?" It's a little dry and heady at times (Nouwen was a professor at Yale Divinity School after all), but it's a great view of the future from 1971. Nouwen was a Catholic priest, but his works continue to have broad appeal to Protestants and Catholics alike. I really loved this quote about a pastor's vulnerability being the key to his ability to help others:

"Pastoral conversation is not merely a skillful tool of conversational techniques to manipulate people into the Kingdom of God, but a deep human encounter in which a man is willing to put his own faith and doubt, his own hope and despair, his own light and darkness at the disposal of others who want to find a way through their confusion and touch the solid core of life."

Of course, I believe this applies to all of us in the Church, but that a pastor should be open and vulnerable is a message come should here. Many believe that the pastor is an untouchable, unapproachable person, because, well, some of them are. Some prominent Christian personalities teach that it is their purpose to hear from God for their flock, and they are simply not to be bothered with the tedium of such tasks as washing their own cars or cleaning their own houses. The problem with this is that if you want to lead people, you should be able to relate to them. But enough about that. I'm trying to be more positive these days . . .

We so often make the mistake of underestimating the power of our own vulnerability. I think being able to be open and honest about our struggles as well as our triumphs, our messes as well as our successes (OK, I swear I didn't mean for that to rhyme. That would be lame. And that's no game.) is the one of the keys to effectively living in community. Not to mention it keeps us humble if we bear in mind how thoroughly we screw things up sometime.