I voted. . .

If you look at how voting works, it is rather remarkable that we have any outstanding presidents elected over the years.  Certainly, the great are the exception and mediocre the rule, with some equally exceptions on the bad side.  What is also curious is that the presidents who were popular in their day have seen their glory fade over time and others, held largely in contempt during their terms of office, have seen their luster restored.  Although we might disagree over which presidents were good or bad or middling and which improved or declined in the rear view mirror, I think this is a safe conclusion.

Turn to popes and you see the same thing.  It is rather exceptional that great popes resulted from the voting behind closed doors.  In the same way, mediocre popes have been the rule.  At least do not harm, right?  Caretakers who are faithful are sometimes better than those whose boldness proved wrongheaded.  It is also curious that over time the esteem in which we hold some popes has changed.  Some have been seen as better in retrospect than they were while pope and others who were popular have been seen as less than good.  Again, we might disagree about which list to place their names, but we all have lists.

Could it be the same for parish pastors?  After all, we vote on them, too.  Sure, it is not quite the same as the vote taken for a president or governor or senator or the like but neither is it quite like the vote taken for a pope but it is a vote.  Sometimes the pastors who were seen as wonderful going in have proven not so wonderful leaving and those who were not so highly thought of while they served have had their reputation improve over time.  In fact, the issue is not simply with the pastors or popes or presidents but with how we judge.  

Our judgment is somewhat flawed or at least skewed.  Worse, our judgment is too quick -- especially today.  The media have already decided who is a good president and who is not so good even before they do anything.  We have joined the chorus of those quick to place our opinion out there on who is good and who is bad.  We are an impatient lot.  Even more than this, we love to judge.  Our judgment is precisely the problem.  We judge God as we do those whom we might elect.  We are always looking at God and wondering what He has done for us lately -- just like the politicians who come calling.  It does not matter to us what he did then, we want to know what he is doing for us now.

One thing I have learned.  Faithfulness is not always rewarded with earthly esteem.  One of my mentors and a pastor whom I have had the deepest respect for over the years faced a couple of angry mobs at voters meetings trying to get rid of him.  He continued to serve the parish and them faithfully even in the face of such opposition.  Perhaps he outlasted his critics.  Both parishes I have served were not quick to warm to me.  In fact I thought perhaps I had made a mistake in accepting one call and in not taking a call sooner from the first place.  In the end, both congregations were filled with people who deeply appreciated my ministry even as I learned to love them as parishioners but both came after a longer tenure and at a time when people might have been more willing to wait and see.  I was as guilty of judging them as they were of me.

Another thing I have learned is not to let one snapshot in time define an era.  Judgments are too often made on the basis of one moment or one issue or one decision.  But what seems right or wrong in a moment often looks different over time.  God is filled with this surprise.  We are ever judging Him in the same way -- too little, too late -- until in hindsight things look different.  Perhaps we should learn to rein in our judgment of Him and of those who serve and lead us.  I do not mean that we should ignore wrong but that no one who serves a nation or a church needs to have a scorecard list his points up or down based upon one moment, one decision, or one stand.  Not even God.