"there are many people who reach God as Christians without being in charge of anything"

Vivarini & D'Alemagna, 1446

"we whom the Lord has deigned, thanks to no merits of ours, to set in this high station (about which a very strict account indeed has to be rendered) have two things about us that must be clearly distinguished: one, that we are Christians, the other, that we are placed in charge [(praepositi)]. Being Christians is for our sake; being in charge is for yours. It is to our advantage that we are Christians, only to yours that we are in charge. And there are many people who reach God as Christians without being in charge of anything [(multi qui christiani, et non praepositi)], and no doubt have all the easier a journey for traveling light, and carrying less of a burden. But we bishops, apart from being Christians, as which we shall render God an account of our manner of life, are also in charge of you, and as such will render God an account of our stewardship."

     St. Augustine, Sermon 46.2 On the shepherds, trans. Edmund Hill, WSA III/2, 263-264.