The Force of a Program

"We must be on guard against a kind of blind and immature zeal - the zeal of the enthusiast or the zealot - which represents precisely a frantic compensation for the deeply personal qualities which are lacking to us. The zealot is man who "loses himself" in his cause in such a way that he can no longer "find himself" at all. Yet paradoxically this "loss" of himself is not the salutary self-forgetfulness commanded by Christ. It is rather an immersion in his own willfulness conceived of as the will of an abstract, non-personal force: the force of a project or program." - Thomas Merton, "Seasons of Celebration"

I found this little gem in the Peterson book I've been reading, and just finished, "The Jesus Way". In advance of posting some thoughts on it, I thought I'd send it to a friend of mine who is versed in all things Merton, just to ensure I wasn't missing the context. He posted our email exchange here.

Anyway, what struck me about this quote was that Merton nails an attitude about "ministry" that is epidemic in the church, both in Protestant and Catholic churches, liberal and conservative, charismatic and not. We are offended by the word "zealot", particularly when the culture brands our beliefs or ministry efforts as zealotry. After all, we say, a zealot is someone who is violent for their faith, and our intentions are to help others, to feed the poor, to spread the gospel, to heal the sick. Yet, in Merton's words, a zealot is simply one "who "loses himself" in his cause in such a way that he can no longer "find himself" at all." The violence being done there is not with guns or Molotov cocktails that destroys something physical, but a subtle violence that destroys the way of Jesus.

The church does a ton of ministry every day. A large percentage of that ministy occurs through programs that were envisioned by a person or persons. This person(s) more than likely gave all their energy to this idea, at least for a while, until the idea became organized. What I have observed, is that something devious happens during this gestation period. A ministry to poor, inner-city kids starts with a CEO driving around handing out groceries and playing basketball with the kids on their turf. He is filled with energy for what God is doing, the simple connections being made between himself and these who are so unlike him. They fall in love with his simple generosity and attention. Soon, the kids rally around this man as a father-figure and representative of God's kingdom. He says, "How wonderful! Look what God is doing! But there are so many, and I am only one man..." A shift occurs. He begins to look for others to help his ministry. An organization is formed, a staff hired, programs put on the calendar. Pretty soon, the man is a CEO again, the kids are eating lunch and playing basketball on his turf that he built...with his picture neatly hanging on the wall.

This is a caricature of course, but not out of the realm of possibility. The question is not whether the man should develop an organization to help more kids, but is it consistent with the Way of Jesus for that man? Please do not hear that I am advocating an end to all organized ministry or something ridiculous like that. Merton was certainly not condemning projects or programs, but misplaced zeal. It is that zeal that will kill the soul of a person with an idea, if he or she is not careful to keep both feet firmly planted in the ways of Jesus and his kingdom.