Heart & Soul
Kevin A. Miller
April 1, 2000
If there were a binding contract to sign before entering ministry, the fine print would include: "The undersigned acknowledges that the pastoral ministry may be hazardous and subject the undersigned to expressions of animosity, including but not limited to calumny, slander, misrepresentation, and betrayal."
Being betrayed is so profoundly painful few pastors can talk about it—yet if they do open up, they can't stop talking about what happened to them.
Let's admit what most seminary classes and church-leadership seminars skip over: being betrayed is fairly common for godly leaders. I just made a mental list of 12 pastors and Christian leaders I know who have experienced serious and significant betrayal.
David had his Absalom. Paul had his Demas, who deserted him, and Alexander the coppersmith, who "has done me much harm." Jesus had Iscariot.
We now know all about Judas, so the story may hold little drama for us. We forget that Jesus chose Judas after praying all night. They spent every day together for three years, talking, eating together, laughing. Jesus sent him out in ministry. Judas shared in the miracle of feeding 5,000 people; his hands took the small, round barley loaves from Jesus and tore off chunks of bread for hungry people.
What makes each case of betrayal so painful is that someone who knows your heart—who knows your longings and character—turns from that and chooses to believe you are really dangerous.
The mind freezes as it tries to grasp how a friend, someone who knew you deeply, intimately, could turn on you and attack you. Michael Card brilliantly captures the agony in one song: "Only a friend can betray a friend, a stranger has nothing to gain / and only a friend comes close enough to ever ...
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