Pastors Are Not Regular People

The main character in A New Kind of Christian is Dan, who is a pastor at a Community church. The book revolves around an ongoing conversation that he has with Neo, an high school science teacher. The book begins by showing how Dan has nobody but his wife to confide in when it comes to difficulties he is having about his faith/religion. According to Neo, pastors are not "regular people" and to a degree I think that I agree. I mean think about it. If you ask your pastor a question and they don't have a "good" answer or perhaps they seem to be struggling with that same question , what is your reaction? One might think that this pastor isn't credible and may not be fit to be in the position they are in. Another might say, "Well if Pastor is having trouble with this, then I guess I can make my own decision." Why is it that when we find a leader in this position asking their own questions or doubting something that has "always been done that way" we bring down the judgment hammer? And this hammer is a lot bigger and heavier than any that we slam down on somebody outside of church leadership.

Many pastors aren't allowed to ask tough questions or show that they struggle with a spiritual, religious, or Christian issue. They're supposed to have it all figured out as if God had a special one-on-one dinner meeting with them and explained how everything works so they can pass on this information to their congregation. There's a different standard we hold church leaders to, not that this is entirely bad. The shepherd should lead the flock in an above reproach manner. But shouldn't we allow the shepherd to work out their own struggles and encourage him or her to not do it just the way we've always done it (or believe what we believe because that's the way we learned it in Sunday School)? Allow the shepherd to strengthen his staff and then use it to guide the flock that the Master has entrusted him.

Do you think its dangerous to not allow our church leaders to work these things out and be honest and vulnerable about their own flesh and bone?