In finishing up one of my last assignments for class, I ran across the story from Hudson Taylor:
After concluding my last service about ten o’clock that night, a poor man asked me to go and pray with his wife, saying that she was dying. I readily agreed, and on the way to his house asked him why he had not sent for the priest, as his accent told me he was an Irishman. He had done so, he said, but the priest refused to come without a payment of eighteen pence, which the man did not possess, as the family was starving.’
I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t too often the experience of those in need. As ministry and professional ambition have intersected, there are more and more ministers who see ministry as a viable and stable career option.
But is ministry a career? As churches have begun to look more and more like businesses and corporations, the answer in the American church is a yes.
But should the answer be yes?