Taken from a section from a book I'm reading by Eugene Peterson called Under the Unpredictable Plant.
"Why do pastors have such a difficult time being pastors? Because we are awash in idolatry. Where two or three are gathered together and the name of God comes up, a committee is formed for making an idol. We want gods that are not gods so we can 'be as gods.'
The idolatry to which pastors are conspicuously liable is not personal but vocational, the idolatry of a religious career that we can take charge of and manage.
[...]
The pastoral vocation in America is embarrassingly banal [(lacking originality, freshness, or novelty)]. It is banal because it is pursued under the canons of job efficiency and career management. It is banal because it is reduced to the dimensions of a job description. It is banal because it is an idol -- a call from God exchanged for an offer by the devil to work that can be measured and manipulated at the convenience of the worker. Holiness is not banal. Holiness is blazing.
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