BLOGGING TOWARD SUNDAY…

What a tremendous temptation there is for every pastor to fall into the popularity trap!   I don’t know a single pastor anywhere who doesn’t want to be popular.  All of us want our people to love us, all of us want to avoid strife, arguments, and confrontations.  But far too many of us try to keep things running smoothly by preaching what people want to hear, rather than the clear word of the gospel.  But the call given us by God is not to be popular, but to be faithful, and sometimes we cannot be both.      I am absolutely certain that I could be more popular if in my teaching I taught only concerning things on which there is no disagreement… in other words, if I taught only things everyone already know…  if I didn’t chal­lenge my congregation to new and deeper, more meaningful interpretations of the Scriptures that have been made possible through new translations and understandings.  I could be more popular, but I couldn’t be faithful.   Neither you nor I have been called to be popular in this life.  We have been called to be faithful, faithful to the gospel, faithful to Christ, faithful to what is true and good and right, faithful to each other.  That is a calling which supersedes everything else, a calling that takes second place to nothing.  It is a calling that will sometimes mean being misun­derstood and mistreated.  It is a calling that guarantees a measure of suffering, for as servants of Christ we cannot expect to fare any better than our Master.

As a pastor, I have two primary concerns:  First, to be faithful myself.  That means studying, praying, seeking God’s guidance, and living in obedience according to the guidance He gives.  That means that, like Paul, I have a responsibility to live in every area of my life, personally, privately, in my family relationships, as a husband and father, and in my rela­tionships with you, so that I might be able to say with him, “my way of life in Christ agrees with what I teach.”  Let me assure you that that is a responsibility I take very seriously.  I am not perfect, I don’t have all the answers, I struggle every day just like you do, but I try to the best of my ability to make sure that my walk matches my talk. 

My other primary concern is to urge and inspire you to be faith­ful.  Some­times that means words of gentle encouragement.  Sometimes it means falling in beside you and walking with you, sharing your load, helping you to carry whatever burden you may be laden down with.  Sometimes it might mean confrontation and reproof, but always in an attitude of love and concern.

 I ask you to pray for me, daily, that God will help me to be faithful in all of my pastoral duties — preaching, teaching, visiting, counseling, administrating, and many others.  And I know that in seeking to carry them out, there will be highs and lows, successes and defeats… but in all of that I am sure of my calling, and I know the One who has brought me this far, and He has promised never to leave or forsake me. 

Filed under: Blogging Toward Sunday