Professional Deacons?
The subject of this article is the split between the impartial attitude that we usually associate with professionalism and the personal motives that are associated with diaconal work, which include a desire to relate to individuals beyond generalized rules and regulations. I argue that professionali...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2015]
|
| In: |
Diaconia
Year: 2015, Volume: 6, Issue: 2, Pages: 183-192 |
| IxTheo Classification: | RK Charity work ZD Psychology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The subject of this article is the split between the impartial attitude that we usually associate with professionalism and the personal motives that are associated with diaconal work, which include a desire to relate to individuals beyond generalized rules and regulations. I argue that professionalism in relation to the deacon does not exclude such individual perspectives. The term vocation captures both an impartial aspect connected with ones obligations as well as a personal desire to reach out to individuals as persons. The idea of diaconal work as vocation points to similarities with personal commitments to friends, projects or loved ones. In both cases we are talking about actions of special significance to the agent, actions which may require sacrifice and personal loss. But neither vocation nor commitment is reducible to personal feelings or desires; the motive for caring for the stranger in need is not my personal feelings for this stranger, nor any idea that Christian faith demands certain feelings of compassion. Christ wept when he saw the masses, he was moved to compassion, but he had reasons to do that: It was not an emotional impulse. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2196-9027 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Diaconia
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.13109/diac.2015.6.2.183 |