Ministers are metaphors.
This is why people will leave their home church and follow ministers who move to another church.
This is why when someone steals from a business it is tragic, but when a minister steal from the church it is tragic and horrendous.
This is why when someone is hospitalized the minister is given access to the patient even when others are restricted.
This is why people will leave their home church and follow ministers who move to another church.
Ministers are metaphors in our culture for something else. Ministers are metaphors for God.
This is not saying that ministers are God or even God like. Not at all. However, ministers and the world gets into trouble forgetting that ministers are metaphors.
Ministers who forget that we are metaphors will fall into the trap of believing that we are god. And when we feel like we have "god-like" power and authority we have the potential to do things that are very un-Godly.
When we forget that ministers are metaphors, we have a potential to allow the minister to act in ways that are not becoming of the office of minister.
The next time you see a minister, remember that ministers are metaphors of God. It is not the minister who should be followed but the God they point to.
Is your minister helping you to follow the metaphor they embody? Have you ever forgotten that a minister is a metaphor for God? Do you know of a minister who has forgotten that as well?