“Who the hell do you think you are??”
This question was posed, with shock and awe in mind, by a professor of mine when instructing us about handling the bread at the Eucharist. You are not Jesus, was his point. And this is true. So just know the answer to the question is not that. But in the name of making sure priests don’t think they’re Jesus, or don’t think they are somehow holier than the laity, there has been, in the past few years, a growing tide of anti-clericalism in the Church. In many ways this is a very good thing. After years of utter deference to their priests, lay people are being encouraged to take more ownership over the ministries and vitality of their church and faith life. This is good for both laity and clergy.
But being a newly ordained priest, it strikes me that this anti-clericalism has infiltrated our formational structures such that priests are not encouraged to articulate an identity worthy of their calling. The pendulum has swung a little too far in the direction of dismantling the ecclesiastical hierarchy and has led to an impoverished view of the priesthood; its duties and responsibilities.
Coming from this sort of formation, I was surprised to find how much the people still need priests. In a time when fewer and fewer people have any vocabulary to articulate the ever-present drives for truth, community, love and justice, priests serve as living, breathing witnesses to the fact that some people—a lot of people—believe God is real. And they carry with them some tools, tools of Word and Sacrament, that can help people articulate those deep yearnings and passions that long to be unleashed. In an era that too often dismisses the past in light of the creed that humankind is on an infinite upward trajectory, priests are markers of the power of history, the wisdom of the ages, and those truths and values that have resonated with human beings across time and place. And when all else fails they are called to be beacons of hope and holiness in a world increasingly devoid of those things.
There is a certain role you need to play as a priest. A role the world still needs. A role that, if done well, can make God known to people. The thing that has surprised me the most in this year is how much people still want, still yearn for someone to fill that role. How you understand yourself—your sinful, broken self—to inhabit that role is something priests need to be clear on, or it won’t be clear to others. You are a walking, talking symbol, and that collar around your neck means you know things about God and can reveal God to people through word and deed. That is an awesome, and humbling responsibility.
It’s for that reason that it is not terribly helpful to a congregation if the priest, in all efforts to deflect their priestly authority, disregard their mastery of theology, the Bible, Church History, the Sacraments and so on. You are the one who is expected to be fluent (or at least convincingly conversant) with these holy things. You are a representative of the Church in all its richness. You are expected to perform duties of blessing and absolution that will ring true in the ears of your hearers. You’ve got a job to do and it requires some professional competency to be effective.
Let me reiterate, this does not raise the priest above her congregation, putting her somehow closer to God. But it’s not terribly helpful for someone to feel like their priest is “just like them,” the same way it’s not helpful for your doctor to be “just like you” or it’s not helpful for the chef at a restaurant to be “just like you” (believe me, you don’t want me cooking your dinner). It is important to be relatable, to be human, for sure, but people need some expertise, some guidance, some teaching and direction in the matters of the Spirit. They want to trust that you know what you’re doing and believe it. That’s what will be helpful in inspiring others to a deeper life of faith.
As with most things in life, it is the balance that is key. Being a priest does not mean being the only one who speaks to, about, or for God. But glorifying the priesthood of all believers over and above the priesthood of the priesthood is similarly unhelpful. We need priests who are priests, lay people who are lay people and we need everyone to understand that they are a child of God.