Dear Collective Clergy:

As you may gather from my sermons over the past several weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about community, about interdependence, about sharing. Perhaps because there are few things less independent or self-sufficient than caring for someone who is ill; or perhaps because I am old enough to realize there are some things I will never accomplish in this life. Whatever the reason, I’ve been musing about how spirituality has become a personal responsibility. We’ve privatized it. We are taught that each of us is responsible for working out our own salvation, our prayer life, our meditation, our scriptural devotion, even our emotional health and faith. I’m not so sure that’s right.

Much of this started with the Reformation. The reformers denounced the special position priests held in mediating God’s presence for the people through the administration of the sacramental system. Channeling grace through the hands of a particular class of men created opportunities for corruption and manipulation. The Protestants’ radical disempowerment of the clergy shifted spiritual functions to the work of individuals. Confession, repentance, prayer for healing, reconciliation became the responsibility of each Christian, not the priestly office. But in doing so, we lost spiritual interdependence.

Yes, there is a differentiation of ‘spiritual gifts’ and how a variety of gifts express concert within the ‘body of Christ’, but those have been assigned to functional categories of work. Good teachers serve on the education committee; those with a skill for numbers serve on the finance committee; those who are good at sales are asked to serve on the membership committee. Gifts are assigned to administrative departments, and the minister serves as the COO of the corporation. But for the stuff of your heart, your deeper piety, your awareness of God’s love, grace and presence, you’re on your own.

This thing we call spirituality has been shunted off as an exclusive space to be found somewhere deep inside, protected from the assistance and annoyance of others. It has become possible to say one is spiritual but not religious, meaning we feel our piety in a place divorced from connectional accountability. Untethered from social organization, non-religious spiritualists claim deep devotion without the messy stuff of having to deal with people. We say things like, “Jesus died for me!” rather than “Christ died for the world.”

I think it is important to recall that the gift of the Holy Spirit was not poured into the hearts of individuals but upon the whole gathered church. If the best expression of our love for God is shown through our love for others, then the true work of God in our hearts must lubricate our connection to others. This makes acts of service and interdependence the highest expression of faith-filled devotion; the more practical the act, the deeper the spirituality.

I think that’s what the Reformers meant by the priesthood of all believers. We all have sacramental power to mediate the evidence of God’s grace to others, but it becomes a priesthood when it is collectively shared. It is not the priesthood of each and every believer; it is a priesthood manifest through our many hands together.

Appreciative for the many hands of priests who continue to minister to Dani and me, I remain,

With Love,
Jonathan Krogh
Your Pastor