Recent experiences have made me want to say this: when you decide to be a pastor of a church, you are deciding to work for an entity like no other. You lose so many of the freedoms normally associated with other types of employers. Your employer is God. It isnt the church denomination. Your responsibility become much more than mere duties and tasks. It involves the spiritual health of real human beings. Your words matter. What your tongue speaks matter. Your tongue can truly speak life or it can sow seeds of evil and discontent. If a pastor is fired, can they complain? What happens if they complain? May they complain if it hurts the spiritual well being of the church from which they were fired? How many souls is it worth to complain? Even if they are in the right, may they complain? Or do they carry that burden silently? And yet, they are human beings after all. Being a pastor or a missionary- or even someone who claims to be a Christian carries a burden with it. People watch you. They hang upon your words- they watch your actions. They measure you. But they arent really measuring you, they are measuring Christ. Especially the spiritually weak. What you say and do in the most difficult of times matters. And peoples souls are on the line. How many souls is your anger worth? You had better be very, very sure of your righteousness if you are a pastor, especially if your anger spreads throughout the congregation. Because that can become a poison that causes the church, that was once a happy and wholesome church, to divide bitterly down the middle. There is always loss when this happens. The strong are hurt- but it is the weak, hapless souls that are sent spinning off into space, screaming and maimed- never to be recovered except by satan who crows, Didnt I tell you they were all hypocrites? Didnt I tell you that, my darling? Choosing to be a pastor today sometimes looks like choosing to be a super star- and a rich one at that. But a true pastor chooses poverty, loss and ultimately, the cross for the sake of Jesus. Sure, perhaps he might one day have a wealthy church- but if push comes to shove, he will gladly, happily choose the cross and the poverty that goes with it. To do otherwise is to prove that you are no pastor and have never been one. A pastor is not a job- it is vocation. It is not a title bestowed, it is a life lived. Some are unworthy. Many are untested. Some are being sorely tested and have yet to prove their mettle. In so many ways, we are all called to be pastors- if only in our tiny spheres. How many souls is your righteousness worth? How many souls is your anger worth? We must all ask ourselves this critical question everyday. Those of us who have been positions of influence must flog ourselves daily to remember that we did not earn it. We were given it- not for our own prominent or wealth or power- but to serve God Almighty. We choose poverty. We choose humility. We choose the cross. We do it gladly, we do it joyfully. And we do it in the desperate hope that we will get to keep on doing it for as long as we live because it is the only thing that gives us purpose. So, for all of you who have influence over others, dont be tempted to vent your righteousness, dont spill your anger if it means tearing apart your church. Dont tell your sorrows or your righteousness if it means souls may be lost. You may be hurting right now, but God sees you. You may not know all the information, but God does. Be patient and be good. Be humble and be quiet. Stop the forces you have put in motion. Preserve the peace while you still can. It matters what you say. It truly does.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 08:10:26 +0000
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