By Ed Chinn

Do you realize that you have never seen yourself?

You've only seen a flat image of your likeness in a mirror, photograph, or video.  But, apart from those human inventions, you would have no idea what you even look like.

Surely our Creator could have given us the capacity to see ourselves.  Like additional eyes on the ends of our fingers or toes.  But He didn't.  Did He just not think of that?  Or does that contain a clue about who we are?

Is it possible that - by ourselves - we are incomplete?  Do we really, I mean really, need each other?  Like animals that help each other with health and hygiene, maybe our inability to see or reach certain parts of ourselves reveals our need to receive and extend care.  We all need "someone to watch over me."

HE CARES

In Superman II, the deliciously evil General Zod suddenly realizes the secret of Superman.  In trying to describe it, he utters a fine (although accidental) depiction of God: "He cares. He actually cares for these earth people."

You or I will never understand the how, the why, or the depth of God's care.  If we see it at all, we tend to think His care is conditional or programmatic.  You know; that He cares so that we will become "better," more useful to His "Kingdom," or that we will worship Him better, or longer, or something.

I think that is pure nonsense...nothing more than management-think imposed on the Creator.  The fact is He cares.  Period.  Unconditional.  That is a sweet and eternal mystery.  We will never dissect "He cares" enough to unlock its truth.

Generous care is God's signature; it is writ large across all creation.  Jesus used birds and lilies as examples of that autograph (Matthew 6: 26-39).  In the simplicity of their dependence, the Creator takes magnificent care for them.  Even though they don't "work" for Him, the sheer detail of His vast care for them (and us) is just incomprehensible.

On a sub-freezing day this past winter, my wife and I watched geese diving below the icy surface of a nearby lake. "Oh," Joanne shivered, "how can they do that?"

As I thought about her question, I remembered God seeming surprised that Adam and Eve felt the need to make clothes.  Where did they get the idea that they were naked?  Why would they feel the need for something that their Creator Father - so magnificently detailed in His care - had not provided?  Was it possible that He had planned to take care of them in all seasons and circumstances just as he does for geese?  Apparently, the geese are not cold.  I don't think it has occurred to them that they are naked.  They don't seem to feel the need to come up with "improvements" on His care.

Does God really care that much?  Does He pay attention to the detailed needs of His creation?  Can we trust Him and receive His care?

Much, perhaps all, of human misery springs from our inability to simply receive God's consummate and extravagant care.  We've been robbed by the raging arrogance and autonomy of the age.  And we're left impoverished by those ideas which convinced us that the very idea of care is sexist, paternalistic, exploitive, demeaning, and immobilizing.

THE PASTORAL GIFT

Ephesians 4:1-13 in THE MESSAGE paints a vivid portrait of Jesus.  As Conqueror, He crushes His Enemy, confiscates the stolen treasures, and then ascends and descends the great stairway between heaven and earth - scattering those redeemed gifts above and below.

One of those gifts is pastor (Ephesians 4:11).  But here in 21^st century America, do we even know what "pastor" means?

Sadly, the contemporary portrait of a pastor comes straight out of Adam's wardrobe - a garment that we humans make and wear. "Pastor" has become the complete consumer package - the CEO, VP of Sales & Marketing, writer, 25-minute preacher, baritone narrator for church and community events, funeral and wedding master, and designer theologian (Many "real" pastors have been deceived into believing they should wear this ill-fitting clergy "uniform").

I think this is why "mentor" has become a substitute for "pastor."  A mentor is a custom built enhancer of me. As I design my own career goals, spiritual desires, financial objectives, romantic ambitions, etc., I get to make a consumer choice of the best package of skills to help me attain my goals.

But, a biblical "pastor" is God's idea and design.  A pastor does not spring from religion, culture, or marketing.  Just as the earth didn't request, want, honor, or love a savior (that was God's idea), so a true pastor does not conform to a consumer pattern.  He does not relate to earth's applause.

As a representative of the caring nature of God, a real pastor is taught by heaven (not earth) how to care for people.  If you think about the one word that the Bible repeatedly grabs as a word picture of pastoral care - shepherd - you realize that it is not a smart career choice.

"Shepherd" has never been a pretty, esteemed, high profile, or even a religious job.

Very simply, shepherds care about keeping sheep healthy and safe.  They know the weaknesses, blind spots, quirks, and needs of sheep.  They also understand the sheep's environment - as a habitat for natural enemies and as the pantry of essential provisions (like grass and water).  The shepherd knows how to fight one and provide the other.

Shepherds don't teach or train sheep.  They don't see sheep as servants of their own interests.  And a shepherd doesn't fulfill sheep fantasies.

A shepherd/pastor is a heavenly pattern of the Creator's care cast upon the earth.  As such, he will never belong entirely to either realm.  His heart may swell with the glory of heaven, but his fingernails are black with dirt and muck.

In next month's Lucid, I will tell you a story of what that actually looks like in today's world.  So, in the August issue, look for "The House on Sugar Ridge."

As a writer, Ed Chinn has been published in many US newspapers, magazines and websites. His new book, "Footprints in the Sea," is available here. Ed and his wife, Joanne, live in Middle Tennessee. Email Ed.