On p. 91 in The Jesus Way, Peterson mentions the way of imperfection taking us into slums...homeless shelters where we find common ground with addicts and the abused...It reminded me of a mission trip that I led during a seminary internship to a homeless ministry for men in Corpus Christi. I was probably 5 years out of college, engaged, working on my M.Div., working for this wealthy church in Austin. At the homeless shelter, a guy my age was living there. He had a short army-haircut and drove a beat up truck with a Texas A&M bumper sticker so I told him I was an Aggie. It turned out we were in the same class at A&M except I had ended up in seminary 5 years later and he had ended up a drug addict in a homeless shelter. I remember being so struck by how easily our roles could have been reversed and so humbled by the experience. I had to repent of my arrogance and presumptuousness that all these men had mental illness or had always lived in poverty, etc. It really is only the grace of God working through so many people in my life that keeps me from living in the homeless shelter myself.
I'm intrigued by the imperfection of David's way. It's something I know so well in my heart, but I still struggle so much with the desire to "have it all together." I want to look good, dress right, say the right things, not let anyone or anything slip through the cracks. And frankly, often, I feel like perfection is what's expected of me as a pastor. We recently had a wild weekend with 3 funerals, a wedding, a worship leader candidate in town...and one of our elderly members went into the hospital. No one went to see him until Monday, and he'd already been released. His daughter has been very vocal about the fact that no one visited and hasn't been accepting of any of our explanations. I know this is just one of those things that happens because we can't be everywhere at the same time. BUT, there's still a part of me that says, "I should have gotten there. I really did let them down..." and I know that part of me is trying to be what Rob Bell appropriately calls "Superpastor." I wish someone would give me some more specific details on how to follow Bell's suggestion of taking Superpastor out on the back porch and killing her. What about you, how does perfectionism get in the way of your ministry?"
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I find perfectionism also runs in the face of the demand - from seminary, presbyteries, and congregations - to be capable. And as a solo pastor, it's a call to be capable across the board - preaching, pastoral care, administration, vision, personal health/integrity. It's like asking for Jesus.
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