Look to Christ, Not the Pastor's Wife

"It's always so wrong to do anything you can't tell the minister's wife. It's as good as an extra conscience to have a minister's wife for your friend."

Reading these transparent words from Lucy Maud Montgomery's quirky lead, Anne Shirley, caused me to pause with a smile but then quickly frown. As a pastor's wife, I've had women articulate similar thoughts to me over the years. Sometimes these sentiments have been expressed fearfully in the case of women who are afraid to openly share their personal struggles or areas of weaknesses with someone they perceive as "having it all together" spiritually. Other times this kind of thinking has been conveyed with a sense of admiration or desire for approval, women wanting to secure for themselves my good opinion of their character or choices. Whenever this has happened, I remind these women they should aspire to please and imitate Christ, not me, but it's easy to unintentionally embrace traditions which place pastors or their wives on unrealistically high moral pedestals. Church leaders though, aren't the determiners of right or wrong. Only God is Judge. Whether in vocational ministry or not, we are all fellow travelers walking alongside each other on the road of life, seeking to humbly submit to God in obedience to His word. If someone makes it their aim to pattern their life after or receive validation from me (or any other person in ministry) they have set their sights on a goal much too small. We too are sinful, flawed, broken people in need of the grace of the Gospel. I'd encourage all of us, as Paul did, to seek to imitate other Christians only as much as they imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). He is the only righteous One, worthy of our devotion. Let's follow Him together.