Excerpt from Mark 11:20-25

"Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered."

Reflection by Christina Villa

I'm always a little surprised to find that the Jesus in the Bible is really not the same as the Jesus in hymns and on those decorative plates your grandmother had.

Take today's Scripture.  Jesus curses a fig tree and makes it wither because he was hungry and the fig tree didn't have any figs on it.  Not a very good example to set for the disciples.  Not very pastoral.

He doesn't do this kind of thing often, but nevertheless this scripture suggests that Jesus had an actual human personality, which means he wasn't always in a good mood. Even Jesus got aggravated.  And he let it show.

Jesus was perfectly good, but he wasn't always perfectly nice. One of the many reasons I would never make it as a clergy person is that people expect ministers to be not only ultra-good, but also super-nice and pastoral all the time. Not even Jesus could manage that. And I wonder: is that what we really want in our spiritual leaders?

In my earlier years of working among ministers, I spent a lot of time in meetings trying to figure out how they really felt.  Anything negative was phrased so carefully that I frequently thought something was being praised when in fact it was being criticized. I remember one former colleague who would energetically nod his head up and down while saying, "No, I don't think so." 

This is what happens when we forget that nice and good aren't the same thing. Let's give our pastors a break and let them have actual human personalities, just like the rest of us. And Jesus.

Prayer

Please watch over those who serve you and care for all of us.  Keep us from making unfair demands on them. Remind us that their jobs are not easy. Make us grateful for them. Amen.

About the Author Christina Villa is on the staff of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio.

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