Christian Chameleons?
Sermon
I've just had news of yet another parish priest who is off sick, suffering from over-exhaustion or stress. Priests aren't alone in succumbing to this phenomenon for it seems to be a feature of modern life, but there do seem to be rather a lot of priests who find themselves suffering from this illness at some point during their working lives.
I'm not sure whether or not people suffered from stress years ago. If they did, it probably wasn't recognised as an illness, and there are horrific stories of young conscripts from this country who were shot by firing squad during the first world war because they'd been branded as cowards. But everybody now recognises that they weren't cowards at all, but were suffering from some severe stress disorder brought on by the dreadful sights they had to both witness and experience.
And of course, years ago people lived the same hard life day after day and often died young. They worked extremely hard physically, but perhaps were seldom called upon to face new situations. They faced bereavement, but for many families it happened so often that it was considered a normal part of life. And people lived in small and intimate communities which offered plenty of support, especially as family members were almost certainly living in the same community.
So perhaps life had less stress then than it offers now. People in many high-powered professions, such as on the floor of the stock market, apparently get "burnt out" quite quickly. And people who have a lot to cope with, such as school teachers and doctors, often suffer from stress. It isn't always obvious that priests fall into any of those categories, but a considerable number of priests do suffer from stress-related illnesses.
I blame St Paul! He tells us in today's reading from the first letter to the Corinthians that he not only preached the gospel free of charge, but made himself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews he became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law he became like one under the law, so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law he became like one not having the law, so as to win those not having the law. To the weak he became weak, to win the weak.
And to cap it all he said, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." No wonder parish priests become ill from stress if like St Paul, they're trying to do everything and chameleon-like, to be all things to all men. And this is a perennial problem, not only for priests, but for any Christian who is serious about their Christianity.
Jesus seemed to cope with any and every situation. He healed the sick, and no matter how many were brought to him and how difficult and awkward they were,. he always had time for them. He preached and he taught and he still had time to make friends with people who were outside accepted society.
We know we must follow Jesus, and indeed, we want to very much and so try very hard to follow Jesus and be like him. It appears that St Paul managed to do this pretty well. He devoted his whole life to spreading the gospel, and faced any number of hardships and hostility and sufferings in that quest, just as Jesus did in his quest. But neither Jesus nor Paul had families of their own to consider. We know that Jesus had brothers and sisters and that his mother Mary was still alive when he died, but as far as we know he had no wife or children of his own. We know that St Paul had a married sister who had at least one son, but Paul himself wasn't married.
In following Jesus and Paul as closely as possible, the Roman Catholic Church eventually demanded that none of its priests should marry. But the problems that policy of celibacy has caused over the years, are only now beginning to emerge, and they're emerging in a terrible and shocking way. But most Christians don't attempt the road of celibacy and so in the end, many Christians are left juggling their paid work and their family ties and trying to fill every spare moment by being Christian to the whole community.
What was right for Paul isn't necessarily right for other people in other cultures and other centuries, and the danger of becoming like a Christian chameleon and changing character to suit every different situation, is that we may forget who we really are. Jesus never changed to suit different people or different situations. he was always himself, honest and uncompromising even when he knew that would cause awful trouble, not least for himself.
Jesus spoke the truth to people and if they didn't like what they heard, he allowed them to go away. We're told in John's gospel that after the feeding of the five thousand, when Jesus began to talk about himself as "the bread of life", that many disciples left him (John 6:66). And we know that the rich man walked away when Jesus told him to give away his money (Matthew 19:16-22). But not everybody walked away from the truth. When Jesus referred to Simon Peter as "Satan" (Mark 8:33), Peter took it, continued to follow him, and eventually became the head of the Christian Church.
As Jesus showed, love must be based on honesty. Christians who always try to be nice in order to make a show of loving others, aren't spreading Christianity or being true to God or themselves. We humans can't afford to be Christian chameleons. We must be who we are, and acknowledge that we fall short on loving others. We are human beings, not gods, and those who recognise and are able to accept their own limitations are probably much closer to God than those who pretend to be all things to all people.
It's also much healthier to be able to recognise and acknowledge and accept that we are not perfect, that we frequently fail, and that that's OK with God. Christianity is a religion of forgiveness, compassion and understanding, where God constantly picks us up and starts us over again.
And if we remember that and aim for honesty rather than divine perfection, we'll probably escape stress related illnesses and live to a good, Christian old age.
I'm not sure whether or not people suffered from stress years ago. If they did, it probably wasn't recognised as an illness, and there are horrific stories of young conscripts from this country who were shot by firing squad during the first world war because they'd been branded as cowards. But everybody now recognises that they weren't cowards at all, but were suffering from some severe stress disorder brought on by the dreadful sights they had to both witness and experience.
And of course, years ago people lived the same hard life day after day and often died young. They worked extremely hard physically, but perhaps were seldom called upon to face new situations. They faced bereavement, but for many families it happened so often that it was considered a normal part of life. And people lived in small and intimate communities which offered plenty of support, especially as family members were almost certainly living in the same community.
So perhaps life had less stress then than it offers now. People in many high-powered professions, such as on the floor of the stock market, apparently get "burnt out" quite quickly. And people who have a lot to cope with, such as school teachers and doctors, often suffer from stress. It isn't always obvious that priests fall into any of those categories, but a considerable number of priests do suffer from stress-related illnesses.
I blame St Paul! He tells us in today's reading from the first letter to the Corinthians that he not only preached the gospel free of charge, but made himself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews he became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law he became like one under the law, so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law he became like one not having the law, so as to win those not having the law. To the weak he became weak, to win the weak.
And to cap it all he said, "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." No wonder parish priests become ill from stress if like St Paul, they're trying to do everything and chameleon-like, to be all things to all men. And this is a perennial problem, not only for priests, but for any Christian who is serious about their Christianity.
Jesus seemed to cope with any and every situation. He healed the sick, and no matter how many were brought to him and how difficult and awkward they were,. he always had time for them. He preached and he taught and he still had time to make friends with people who were outside accepted society.
We know we must follow Jesus, and indeed, we want to very much and so try very hard to follow Jesus and be like him. It appears that St Paul managed to do this pretty well. He devoted his whole life to spreading the gospel, and faced any number of hardships and hostility and sufferings in that quest, just as Jesus did in his quest. But neither Jesus nor Paul had families of their own to consider. We know that Jesus had brothers and sisters and that his mother Mary was still alive when he died, but as far as we know he had no wife or children of his own. We know that St Paul had a married sister who had at least one son, but Paul himself wasn't married.
In following Jesus and Paul as closely as possible, the Roman Catholic Church eventually demanded that none of its priests should marry. But the problems that policy of celibacy has caused over the years, are only now beginning to emerge, and they're emerging in a terrible and shocking way. But most Christians don't attempt the road of celibacy and so in the end, many Christians are left juggling their paid work and their family ties and trying to fill every spare moment by being Christian to the whole community.
What was right for Paul isn't necessarily right for other people in other cultures and other centuries, and the danger of becoming like a Christian chameleon and changing character to suit every different situation, is that we may forget who we really are. Jesus never changed to suit different people or different situations. he was always himself, honest and uncompromising even when he knew that would cause awful trouble, not least for himself.
Jesus spoke the truth to people and if they didn't like what they heard, he allowed them to go away. We're told in John's gospel that after the feeding of the five thousand, when Jesus began to talk about himself as "the bread of life", that many disciples left him (John 6:66). And we know that the rich man walked away when Jesus told him to give away his money (Matthew 19:16-22). But not everybody walked away from the truth. When Jesus referred to Simon Peter as "Satan" (Mark 8:33), Peter took it, continued to follow him, and eventually became the head of the Christian Church.
As Jesus showed, love must be based on honesty. Christians who always try to be nice in order to make a show of loving others, aren't spreading Christianity or being true to God or themselves. We humans can't afford to be Christian chameleons. We must be who we are, and acknowledge that we fall short on loving others. We are human beings, not gods, and those who recognise and are able to accept their own limitations are probably much closer to God than those who pretend to be all things to all people.
It's also much healthier to be able to recognise and acknowledge and accept that we are not perfect, that we frequently fail, and that that's OK with God. Christianity is a religion of forgiveness, compassion and understanding, where God constantly picks us up and starts us over again.
And if we remember that and aim for honesty rather than divine perfection, we'll probably escape stress related illnesses and live to a good, Christian old age.
