The Backdoor Between Lawyers & Clergy

I don't know how many folks notice this: There is a huge backdoor
between the legal profession and the clerical profession.

I know of tons of folks, from several Christian traditions, who leave
the legal profession to become a pastor, priest, or minister.

I also know a bunch of folks (not quite as many), who leave the
clerical profession to become a lawyer.

Why is this the case?

I think there is a skill set issue, and an issue of meaning.

In terms of skill set, I think the two "professions" share a bunch of
overlapping skills:

Both professions require listening carefully and caringly to
"clients", and prescribing a course of action to deal with issues
presented.

Both professions are based on the interpretation and application of
"sacred texts" which give the boundaries for practice (lawyers treat
law codes and court decisions as holy writ, while clergy treat
scripture and tradition as holy writ).

Both professions require skillfull and persuasive presentation of the
issues and implications required by the text (clergy do this through
sermons and lessons, whereas lawyers do it in the courtroom and the
judge's chamber).

And both professions have a myriad of "schools" and "sects" which
interpret and apply the "sacred texts" to contemporary life and culture.

This would lend one to think that both professions are interchangeable.

And Christian history would lend credence to this, because several
Lawyers have become Theologians, and several Theologians have helped
shape the Western tradition of Jurisprudence. On the whole, I think
the legal profession has benefitted from this, as Christian theology
tends to humanize law systems and make them more merciful.

As a sidebar:

I think theology has been ransacked by legalism, and in the words of
Sting their "logic ties me up and rapes me". The harsh legal
categories, concepts of legal guilt and retribution, and rigid black-
or-white concepts do violence to the organic, relational nature of our
relationship with God, through Christ, by the power of the Spirit.

I have only to mention Mediaeval Scholaticism, Calvin, Zwingli,
Protestant Scholasticism, and Charles Finney to show how legalism can
infect, distort, and deconstruct the relational, organic nature of the
Christian Life.

Enough sidebar.

The other reason that I think there is such a huge backdoor between
the Legal and Clerical "professions" is that people are either looking
for, or have given up on, meaning and purpose.

Happy, fulfilled clergy have meaning in life. They believe they are
involved in Christ's mission of healing the world. They believe they
know God and are making God known... They are loving God, and taking
God's Love to the world.

Likewise, happy, fulfilled lawyers (and judges) have meaning in life.
They believe they are advancing justice and truth in the world. They
may even see themselves as instruments of God's justice, helping
setting the world to rights with God.

But, sadly, I think this is the exception rather than the rule.

Often the case is that those in the legal profession are jaded. They
see the legal profession as an exercise in "spin", in manipulating and
packaging the truth, so that money and damages are transferred from
one party to the other. Truth is not served. Justice is not served. It
devolves into a process of the unwilling transfer of resources from
the winners to the loosers. Truth becomes a mere exercise of power.

So, in a flight from meaninglessness to meaning, lawyers think that
becoming clergy will "fix" their problems with meaning, and utilize
the skills they already have. Many of those who make this flight are
disillusioned...

Because being clergy often is much like being a mid-level bureaucrat,
a used-car salesman, or a franchise owner. There are tons of
administrative tasks, most of which are aimed at "covering your ass"
from legal liability (thanks legal profession!). There is a never-
ending cycle of trying to please people who complain, and never
getting their approval no matter what you do or do not do. Most people
in the pews are apathetic to Jesus' message of healing and world-
transformation. They just want words of comfort that validate their
prejudices and social mores. Often, the entire gig feels like an
extended sales call where you are trying to "sell" Jesus to a jaded
and skeptical audience of consumers who's big question is "what do I
get out of this deal?"

So, realizing that most (if not all) of the clerical profession is an
exercise in selling spiritual goods and services, and growing the
consumer base, while keeping the current customers happy, clergy leave
the profession to use their skill set in the legal profession (which
on the whole is a little more honest about the fact that money and
power are the REAL bottom line).

It would be my prayer that both the clerical profession and the legal
profession would come to realize their true meaning and purpose in
God's mission for the world. One is God's agent of healing for a
damaged and dismal world, and the other is God's agent to structure a
just society where less people get damaged.

But, until we make the changes necessary to return to our Purpose in
Christ, I guess there will continue to be folks like me who are jaded
for Jesus...

May Jesus draw you into Himself,
jaded.for.jesus@gmail.com
http://jadedforjesus.blogspot.com