Father Richard Kunst: Preaching to be popular

Apologetics 

I readily admit that I am not very good at giving praise to people. It is very important to affirm a job well done, especially if you are in a position of management. If any of my parish or school staff read this column, they would probably concur; I need to work on that a little more, because people should be affirmed when the job is indeed well done. 

We priests probably know this better than most, because we tend to desire affirmation more. Priests are always giving talks, teaching classes, and preaching homilies, so our work is very public. By the very nature of our vocation, a lot of people see our work, so getting affirmation is a good thing when it is warranted. In saying this, I also have to admit to the pitfalls of priests actually seeking praise and adulation. Priests can have an inordinate desire for affirmation, and that is not good either. 

Everyone wants to be liked; there is nothing wrong with that. But it should never dictate how we preach and teach or what we preach and teach. I am convinced that the No. 1 reason priests hesitate about preaching tough and controversial subjects is that they do not want to upset people who like them, and that is a problem. 

“The disease to please” is always a problem, but when we priests do it, it is worse. When homilies are focused on getting praise rather than teaching hard truths, the priest shifts focus from God and replaces it with ever-changing human opinions. This, of course, is tied to fear of rejection and not being liked. If in our homilies we become people-pleasers, we become motivated by fear rather than love. 

Preaching the tough and unpopular subjects, the issues on which the church is at odds with culture, takes courage and fortitude, but if it is done in charity, it is always an act of love. 

Now, in saying this, it is also an error for priests to think that they always have to preach the tough and unpopular subjects. There are some priests who, in the not so distant past, became famous online for always harping on the difficult subjects of our culture. It is just as wrong to preach on those subjects every week as it is to never address them at all. 

As always, Jesus is the perfect example here. In the Gospel of John, as Jesus is speaking to the Jews who did not believe in him, he said, “I do not accept human praise” (John 5:41), and a bit later he says, “How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?” (44). Woe to the priest, deacon, or bishop who preaches to appease humans rather than preach the truth of Christ! We have to preach the tough subjects, it is actually a sign that we love our people that we do not shy away from difficult topics. 

But in saying all of this I realize that I am focusing too much on the ordained, because the fact of the matter is we can all fall into the “disease to please,” whether that be at work, school, among friends, or at home with family. If we shy away from controversial topics in our conversations because we don’t want to be in the minority, that’s a problem. If we are at work and a coworker starts to criticize the church, and we don’t speak up out of fear, that is a problem. 

In my column back in February, I wrote about the temptation to live too much in other people’s heads, that the desire to be “liked” on social media could be an extension of our adolescence. This topic is a close cousin to that one, because when we do things to obtain praise, we are giving way too much attention to what other people think than to the Truth which we all should serve. It just happens to be more obvious when a priest does it. 

You may remember the parable Jesus tells in Matthew’s Gospel about the man who went on a journey and entrusted three of his servants with money. The first two servants invested the money and doubled the investment. The third disciple, out of fear, buried the money, and as a result received scorn from his master. What the master said to his first two servants is what our goal in this life should be. He said, “Well done my faithful servant …. Come and share your master’s joy” (Matthew 25:21). That is the only approval that we should have as our goal. 

Father Richard Kunst is pastor of St. James and St. Elizabeth in Duluth. Reach him at [email protected].