Confucianism – and the rectification of names (part 2)
In the previous post I shared with you the Confucian concept of the Rectification of Names – and the example of a pastor who does not behave like a pastor. And we saw that in churches influenced by Confucianism, such a pastor would be looked down on and despised.
However there is something else as well to point out by way of application for Chinese churches. And in many ways it’s the opposite of that pastor who dresses down, who goes barefoot, who has an earring.
Because by contrast, there are pastors who have a dignified bearing. who dress well. who are reverent in the way they speak. who are smooth in their performance of all the appropriate ‘rites’ as a pastor – but who at the same time are virtually useless in advancing the mission of God in their area!
And so when it comes to exercising church discipline, they are hesitant. When it comes to speaking out about respectable sins, they are quiet. When it comes to stretching the church beyond the comfort point for the sake of God’s mission, they will hold that off for yet another season while they consolidate the church.
One can imagine such a pastor in a Chinese church – they look pastor-ish, and may in fact have served for many years. Their congregation may be very happy with him - because he seems so right. And that’s because he matches so well what they look for in the externals. Like the ruler of the earlier post on the Doctrine of the Mean, he may be considered such a great figure because he has managed to maintain harmony in the church family for all these years!
But the great tragedy is that in many cases such pastors may in fact be doing their churches a disservice. Like tigers, they promise sound pastoral leadership – but like paper tigers they only perform the motions of pastoral leadership: the shaking of hands, the subdued clothes, the warm and inoffensive pastoral visit.
Unfortunately because they seem so right, churches may content themselves with such paper tigers leading their churches and ministries. And as a consequence such churches slowly turn their attention to maintaining the form of church, while leaving the mission of God largely unfinished…
