The greatest pitfall of ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is not sex, or money or even power. Yes, those make the headlines. But the real pitfall is confusing your own biases, prejudices, or just\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/06\/the-greatest-pitfall-of-ministry.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The greatest pitfall of ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is not sex, or money or even power. Yes, those make the headlines. 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{"id":1920,"date":"2013-06-01T17:49:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-01T17:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/06\/the-greatest-pitfall-of-ministry.html"},"modified":"2013-06-01T17:49:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T17:49:00","slug":"the-greatest-pitfall-of-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/06\/the-greatest-pitfall-of-ministry.html","title":{"rendered":"The greatest pitfall of ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

But oddly enough, I\u2019ve learned it\u2019s no different in Catholic circles. \u00a0Again, especially across the Catholic blogosphere. \u00a0See my posts<\/a>\u00a0 about<\/a>\u00a0the amateur<\/a>\u00a0 nature<\/a>\u00a0of so many Catholic bloggers\/apologists. \u00a0Hey, it\u2019s not an easy pitfall to avoid when you\u2019ve had training and education and professional experience. \u00a0Without those things, it can almost become the norm.<\/p>\n

So over at Simcha Fisher\u2019s<\/a>, she\u2019s laid out exactly what she will and won\u2019t tolerate when it comes to fashion. \u00a0What she will wear, what she won\u2019t wear. \u00a0What clothes she finds appealing, what clothes she finds unacceptable. \u00a0No problem at all. \u00a0And she\u2019s right about many things. <\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing. \u00a0What she, and some weeks ago Marc Barnes<\/a>, is railing at is this old notion that women should be pretty and dainty and pure and whatever. \u00a0That idea of girls were girls and men were men. \u00a0Girls in their pretty lace and dainties, rugged men in their shirts and hauberks. \u00a0Yes, I\u2019m aware that, with some scrutiny, we can find problems with those ideals. \u00a0With concentrated scholarly appraisals, we can unpack bad, un-Christian, even dark ideals behind all those.<\/p>\n

But guess what. \u00a0We can do the same with any idea, practice, fad or whatever. In the end, those were simply ideals formed by people of a particular culture in a particular point in history. \u00a0They were simply formulated opinions that people thought worked. \u00a0Just like ideals and preferences held by Marc Barnes, or Simcha Fisher, or me, or anyone. \u00a0Have your opinions all you want. \u00a0Yes, based on that all-important Catechism, which seems more important at some times than others, modesty is probably the best way to err. \u00a0But for heaven\u2019s sake, don\u2019t try to make your own generationally and culturally and socially and personally informed opinions and preferences about fashion choices to be a clash betwixt heaven and hell. \u00a0Don\u2019t make it about the powers of God (your opinions) vs. the powers of Satan (people whose preferences differ). \u00a0It\u2019s a very, very, very and let me repeat \u2013 very \u2013 dangerous temptation in any ministry. \u00a0Which is why applying the label \u2018evil\u2019 to things, or hinting at things like misogyny, bigotry, prejudice, or heresy ought to be done rarely. \u00a0And almost never when discussing slacks as opposed to skirts.<\/p>\n

I should mention that in the piece, Ms. Fisher is more restrained than are many who come by to comment. \u00a0Alas. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"