The Seminary of Suffering : Jars of Clay

Happy opening day of the baseball season - I'm enjoying the opportunity to watch the Brewers play the Reds this afternoon.  Along with melting snow, the opening day of baseball signals the end of winter.  And for some of us (particularly those of us in the northern reaches of the country), winter can be and seem very, very long.  So, praise God - for opening day and the sureness of the seasons changing.

If you haven't already seen the introductory remarks regarding the "Seminary of Suffering" series, please click here for some context on my hope and design for these postings.  Today's posting pertains to a term that Paul uses in 2 Corinthians, a book which has a great deal to say about the nature of the pastor/missionary as one set apart for peculiar kinds and seasons of suffering.  Here's the broader passage, from 2 Corinthians 4, of Paul - and pastor and Christian in general - as a "jar of clay."

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.  For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death is at work in us, but life in you." -2 Cor. 4:7-12 (ESV)

There's a great deal of territory to cover in this broader passage - but context being the great help it is, is here presented for our benefit to see just how clay-like we really are.  So I offer my remarks below on what it is to be a jar of clay:

• At the heart of the matter is an issue of identity.  The primary identity of any true pastor is his status as a Christian, a saint, a justified sinner redeemed by the blood of the Good Shepherd Himself.  This is the over-riding identity of any true pastor.  Yet just as we may have different roles that warrant different titles throughout the course of life - daddy, husband, employee, etc. - so also, pastors and missionaries have different identity "angles" from which to approach a right understanding of what a pastor really is.  Here, we find a key term that - pun intended - holds a good deal of substance in the pastor as a jar of clay.  In an age - like many other - where pastors are groomed as CEOs, self-starting entrepreneurs, self-help experts, and the like, there is very little room for a pastor to know himself to be weak and non-proclaimable.  I say "non-proclaimable" because Paul makes mention of the fact, in verse 5, that what he and his co-laborers were concerned with doing was not proclaiming themselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.  Jesus is the Treasure and we are the clay pot.  Why would we want to proclaim ourselves as the ultimate answer for a church?  Why would even the most fruitful and gifted of men, as Paul himself was, want to deny a church of the Treasure that is Jesus Christ, the treasure of the Gospel, the great goal of the very glory of God Himself - all in order to extol a frail pot of clay?  We do not like to think of ourselves as weak and frail.  Yet this is exactly what we are.  We are jars of clay, with imperfect and fading bodies, hearts that fluctuate in affection between the things of this world and the things of God, and souls that must endure the presence of indwelling sin until we reach glory.  It is hard to think of a better term to use than "jar of clay" to describe man viewed from this perspective.
• The jar of clay picture not only highlights the finiteness and frailty of the pastor, but it also designates the pastor as one who carries about a treasure that far overshadows the vessel in which it is carried.  The clay pot would have been a very typical vessel in the first century world in which Paul lived.  It would have been used to store food, drink, etc.  It was average.  It was domestic.  But what is so amazing is that the pastor, being a jar of clay, would be entrusted with so valuable a treasure to carry and set before men.  Just as one purchases a packaged item for the item itself and not the vessel it's delivered in, so also the pastor, as a jar of clay, displays to this world that there is only one to worship, the glorious Trinity.  Frail and finite as we are, we proclaim a great God, His great Gospel, by His great grace, for His great glory.  But the greatness belongs to God.  And not to us.  And I suggest that our self-identification as jars of clay will help put to flight the perils of self-importance, in order that we might be concerned with pursuing the purposes of God in the great vocation He has called us to in the service of the church.

I offer you these reflections knowing that there is much more that could be said about the identity of the pastor as a jar of clay.  Please feel free to offer your thoughts as you care to.  Be looking for some more out of 2 Cor. 4 later on this week.

Additionally, Stephen Altrogge posted a great pump-primer on the issue of anxiety and depression in the life of the church.  As a man who struggles with anxiety (part of my clay-ness), I found it to be very helpful and worthwhile.  It's entitled Talking Freely About Depression and Anxiety.

To God Alone Be the Glory,
-Chris