Barbara Brown Taylor, The Preaching Life, 1993. Chap.3 Vocation
When talking about "priest":
The first thing to say is that a priest is a representative person--a parson--who walks the shifting boundary between heaven and earth, representing God to humankind, representing humankind to God, and serving each in the other's name. It is not possible to execise such priesthood without participating in Christ's own, which means there are no entrepreneurs in ministry, only partners. Pursuing that vocation, priests are likely to wear a hundred different hats--social worker, chauffeur, cook, financial advisor, community organizer, babasitter, philanthropist, marriage counselor, cheerleader, friend--but whatever hat they happen to be wearing at the time, priestz remember that they wear it as God's person, for God's sake, in God's name. (pp.30-1)
About"preaching":
Preaching is not something an ordained minister does for fifteen minutes on Sundays, but what the whole congregation does all week long; it is a way of approaching the world, and of gleaning God's presence there. (p.32)
And "vocation":
There is even a chance that the Christian vocation is above all a vocation to imagine--to see what God sees when God looks at the world, and to believe that God's dreams can come true. (p.37)
Does she say anything about being called by God to be a priest in the book?
回覆刪除This may sound too critical but sometimes i suspect some people are not called by God to be one... What do you think? Do you think it is a must to be called by God to be a priest (a pastor)?
I think the author mentions the importance about being baptized more than being ordained. It means that the vocation to become a disciple is prior to become a priest. You have first to be a follower of Jesus, and then you can do any jobs He calls you to do. I think to become a priest is just like others -- we all need a call from God. But the real life is that usually we don't know how to recognize the "must", for which it needs our whole life to make sure.
回覆刪除Very good point. I have nothing more to say. I think what's left now is that every one of us who "thinks" (as opposed to surely knows) is called by God to be a priest needs to carefully examine his/ her calling back and forth.
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