BLOGGING TOWARD SUNDAY…

Everybody has problems, but it occurs to me that pastors are not in the business of promising fixes for all of them.  That’s not what we’re called to do.  We’re called to be witnesses, to call people to discipleship, to be in the business of forming spiritual lives of Christian character.

So when a person shows up in my office with a problem, my task as a pastor is first to get to know him  or her better, to try to give  a life some dignity.  I listen.  I try to understand.  But I’m always trying to pull people back into the church.  I want to tell people, “The problem is not the whole world.  It may feel like the whole world, but it’s not.  You have a golden opportunity every Sunday morning to start over.”

My primary job as a pastor is not to fix problems.  My primary work is to make saints.  I’m in the saint-making business, and that’s why I take Sunday mornings so seriously.  It’s the only shot I have with most of you.  I want to be a preacher and teacher.  I want to baptize  you and your children with integrity.  I want to teach the Bible honestly.  I want to inspire you to follow Jesus Christ.  And from what hear from you…that’s what you want from me.  Thanks for having your priorities straight, it makes a tough job easier. 

Filed under: Blogging Toward Sunday