The Pastor in Culture

Posted by Adam Fix on March 6, 2009

I like to know what is going on around me.  A typical day for me includes brief visits to a few news websites along with other blogs and resources for cultural engagement.  The people I minister to live in the real world.  They work in offices and factories and live in homes that are in neighborhoods with other real people.  In order to relate to them, I view it as a (kind of ) responsibility of mine to know and care about what they care about.  For me, as a pastor, should this be the case?  Should I spend my time knowing about current events, cultural trends, and the latest technology?  Does it matter what player the football team signed to play quarterback, who performed well on American Idol, or when Apple will release a new ipod?

In one of my favorite books on leadership, The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership, Steven Samples suggests that a person’s time is best spent on reading old books that have stood the test of time and continued to prove relevant.  For us as pastors that book is obviously the Bible.  Samples goes on to tell a story about a period where he did not take in any firsthand news for six months.  He didn’t read newspapers, watch the news on television, or visit any websites.  After the first couple of weeks he began to realize that within 12 hours of a story hitting the newstand or running on the nightly news he would hear about it.  As it turns out, people love to relay information to others (or give people information the other does not know).  In turn, he continued to receive news while having an increased amount of time to read what was truly beneficial and important.

I am not saying this is hard and fast truth, but try this on for size: As pastors if we spend our time studying Scripture and praying for our people, when we are called on to give an opinion on a matter of public concern our thoughts will be guided by Christ, not the editorial of a fallible writer.  I am not saying we can’t hear or read news, that sports are sinful, or that cultural happenings are worthless.  What I am saying is that, as pastors, our calling is to shepherd people in Truth, not in newspapers or television shows.

I’m a sports watcher, I enjoy a few television shows, and keeping up with current events gives me an idea of where those I shepherd are coming from (or at least what they are concerned with at the current time).  However, I hope that those things don’t define me.  I hope the Bible and my pursuit of Christ define me.  I hope that is what defines us as pastors.