From <i>Cloister Walk</i>:<br />
<blockquote>Credentials measure what is quantifiable; they represent results. A call, on the other hand, is pure process; it cannot be measured, quantified, or controlled by institutions. People who are called tend to violate the rules in annoying ways.<br />
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[After quoting Walter Brueggeman's Hopeful Imagination "the ideology of our time is that we live 'an uncalled life,' one not referred to any purpose beyond one's self."] I suspect that this idol of the autonomous, uncalled life has a shadow side that demands that we resist the notion that another might be different, might indeed experience a call. Our idol of the autonomous individual is a sham; the truth is we expect everyone to be the same, and dismiss as elitist those who are working through a call to any genuine vocation. It may be that our culture so fears the necessary other that it has grown unable to identify and name real differences without becoming defensive about them.</blockquote><br />
I find these quotes interesting because we pastors live out our calls within the bounds of religious institutions. Our calls are affirmed and recognized by the institution. Credentialed by the institution, and supported by the institution.<br />
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But what if Ms. Norris is right and there’s an inherent conflict between a call and an institution? Add young people’s innate distrust of institutions and we might begin to understand why they’re not being drawn to the ordained ministry. My favorite quote about that comes from an elderly lady in a church in a small East Texas town. I was there to fill in as the preacher and was invited to attend the women’s Sunday School class. The lesson for the day was on Paul’s encouragement to Timothy and suggested that churches do more to recognize and foster young peoples’ calls to ministry. Discussion ensued and this one lady said, “I think one of the best things we can do to get young people into the ministry is to be nicer to our own pastor.” As all eyes in the room turned to her, she looked at me and smiled, “Really,” she said, “we can be rather hard on them. I don’t know why anyone would want to go into the ministry given the way we’ve treated some of our pastors.” Amen, sister.<br />
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The quotes had me reflecting on the process of my own call. I was ordained 14 years ago without any reservations. In the eyes of the institution I was clearly talented and clearly called. However, how is the process of owning that call supposed to look over time? Does owning that call mean becoming more and more establishment and moving up the ladder to bigger churches and higher positions of institutional maintenance? Does it mean moving up the ladder in order to be in higher positions for institutional transformation? <br />
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In my eyes, Jesus was an institutional outsider. I always told my congregation that we weren’t to hear “Pharisees” as “Jews” but rather “religious establishment” of which I was the primary representative. Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees can be interpreted, I think, as criticism of our religious institutions. <br />
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That said, a call needs a community that it might be affirmed and nurtured. What might be the differences between a community with an environment of call (to borrow from a friend) and an institution?
