The Unspoken Tension Between Pastors and Laity
A couple of thoughts beyond Thom Rainer's essay.
by Rod D. Martin
May 19, 2013
Dr. Thom Rainer, President of LifeWay and founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism at Southern Seminary, published an essay this morning entitled "The Unspoken Tension Between (Some) Pastors and (Some) Laity". It points out some of the growing problems between the two groups, and provides solid pastoral counsel about how to deal with a growing illness that needs to be stopped if not cured, fast.
Nevertheless, I believe Dr. Rainer's article misses two bigger icebergs crashing into our churches, their point of contact centered clearly at the pulpit.
1. Our pastors' understanding (or lack thereof) of the world we live in. I am extremely pleased with the vastly improved quality of SBC seminary education (both in terms of orthodoxy and of academic rigor) since the Conservative Resurgence. But more than a few of our pastors know little or nothing of anything else. How are they supposed to counsel businessmen, for instance, when they kn…