Different Perspectives

August 17, 2018

“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of another.” 

                                                                                   —Proverbs 27:17

A conversation with a pastor friend the other day brought this proverb to mind. We were talking about why we do what we do—why we’re in ministry, and got to discussing the theological foundations for pastoral ministry. It’s something that doesn’t happen often enough. You’d think that pastors would do this kind of mutual introspection on a regular basis, but in more than 40 years of ministry, I could count on my fingers how often I’ve actually talked seriously with another pastor about the theological underpinnings of what we do.

The fact is, we need each other if we are to engage life seriously. One of the dangers of the increasing prevalence of online education is the tendency to become isolated from the people and conversations we need to keep from stagnating and straying from our calling. This is true not only of Christian ministry, but also of life in general.

This morning I had a wonderful conversation with a woman in our writer’s group. Today was my day for a group critique of something I had written a couple weeks ago using some of the Biblical imagery regarding gardens. She had questioned my use of a particular text, but later apologized, hoping I wasn’t offended. I wasn’t, and told her so, and added that I valued her perspective as a Jewish person on the Old Testament texts I referenced. We grow best if we are not planted in monocultural fields, and this week my iron was sharpened by two conversations that stretched me and made me look with a more critical eye upon my own perspectives. For that, I am thankful tonight,