Pastors Should Be Careful Of Reading Their Own Biographies Into The Apostolic Accounts
In Matthew 4:18-25, Scripture details Christ calling a number of the Apostles to His ministry.
In the account, a number left their previous occupations.
Given that Christ does not explicitly appear before us, it does not follow that we cannot follow Christ in the occupational status that we find ourselves in unless it is something inherently evil such as organized crime.
As an existential application of this passage, the exegete revealed that, if he had listened to his father, he might not have become a minister and certainly not have gone to the mission field.
So why is it deemed more righteous in certain Evangelical circles to leave your elderly family members behind to go minister to other elderly people thousands of miles from where God has already placed you?
Technically, can't it be a greater sacrifice to actually care for one's family because you can't very well gadabout from church to church patting yourself on the back over what a spiritual person you are for driving your parents to the doctors or send out a direct mail fund raising letter insinuating those refusing to send you a check for such spiritual labors are of dubious soteriological standing.
I especially fail to see how those refusing to dump attachments to family in favor of the mission field equate with those in Romans 1 described as allowing homosexuality to gain a foothold in society.
Frederick Meekins is an independent theologian and social critic. Frederick holds a BS in Political Science/History, a MA in Apologetics/Christian Philosophy from Trinity Theological Seminary, and a PhD. in Christian Apologetics from Newburgh Theological Seminary.