Can't say I wasn't warned

I was talking to a couple of friends tonight about - what else - our thoughts about and experiences in church, and one of them mentioned something someone said around 10 years ago. The other person and myself instantly remembered the same thing because it had stuck with us all these years. When I got home, I asked Rob about it and he remembered it, too.

What was said? A visiting speaker told the congregation that we shouldn't all expect to have relationships with the pastor, or shouldn't all expect to be his friend. The reactions of all four of us were similar - we felt we had been told we should leave the pastor alone, and pretty much all of us did.

In light of the fact that so many years had past, I found it interesting that all of us were fairly clear on this having been said, and that we vividly knew our inward reactions to this. I tried to understand it. Of course he couldn't be friends with everyone - that was impossible. The speaker was trying to protect the pastor from being overwhelmed with everyone wanting a piece of him.

But tonight, realizing how much that statement stuck to us all, I realized a more subtle message was given, and perhaps it was the message that was really meant to be heard without being said: The pastor was essentially being placed out of our reach. Not everyone would be worthy.