Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Are You Discouraged?
GET OVER IT! Seriously, that is my reaction when I read this post, linked by Milt Stanley. It begins by describing a pastoral lament:
And I have some news for you. It is a sinful world, we are all dying from the moment we are born. If you are being drained by your job it is not because your job is so special, it is because you are not plugged into the power source sufficiently. (Hint, Hint)
Which brings me to my second point. Being a pastor DOES NOT make you better than the rest of us. Way too many people get into ministry thinking it will afford them the opportunity to be a better Christian than the rest of us - NOPE! - just different. Besides I am EQUALLY AS CALLED TO WHAT I DO IN LIFE AS A PASTOR IS TO THE PULPIT. I want you to think about that really hard. Pastoral ministry is not a "calling," and everything else just "settling." We are each called to what we do, because it is all part of God's plan.
I realize there is a lack of graciousness to this post, and I am being entirely unsympathetic. I understand the frustration because I SHARE IT - which is the real point of this. Such discouragement can be viewed as a ministry opportunity - a place to connect with the congregation because of the similarity of experience.
All of us get up some days and have to force one foot in front of the other. USE THAT TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP. Then watch Christ flourish in your life and in your congregation's life.
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It's another Sunday afternoon in the pastor's house. He lives for Sunday mornings but dies by Sunday night. Like Elijah, he slinks from Carmel to cave in a few short hours. He wakes up eagerly with glorious expectations only to lay down fitfully with questions. Does anybody care about the things of God? Is there a bud on any of the trees? Is anyone hungry for something, anything resembling godliness? Does anyone like talking about the Bible? Do matters of the soul matter to anyone?As it begins to respond to this lament, taking it very seriously, the post says:
Inevitably these questions drift from "them" to "me." Maybe it's me. After some years we should expect some quantifiable growth, right? Even a pruned tree comes back in the Spring. Am I right for this church? Maybe we just want different things from each other. Am I even right for ministry? Maybe I misunderstood the yearning I thought God was giving me. Maybe folks were just tickling my ears when I asked them about pastoral ministry. Maybe I'm doing more harm than good. There are fewer people doing fewer things on a slimmer budget. Is the ship sinking or did I run it aground? I love what I do, but hate what I've done. Am I crazy? Have I preached the right gospel? Where are the classifieds?
God has designed ministry to kill you. It killed Jesus and it will kill us. Paul spoke of his ministry perhaps more in terms of dying than living (2 Cor 4.11-12; Gal 6.17; Phil 2.17). The pangs of discouragement are the sounds of a man giving his life away for God's people. It's the sound of man making his home in a cemetery, hoping that today will be the day life springs eternal. God will make sure Jesus is the only one left standing in the battle royal for souls.Dude, seriously - welcome to life. Everybody gets discouraged with what they do from time-to-time. There is nothing special about this lament, it is just described in a different package because of what you try to do. Everyone, and I mean everyone, no matter what the job, from factory worker to President of the United States, wonders at some point if anybody cares about what they are doing and if it matters. If this is the right job for me, and so forth and so on.
And I have some news for you. It is a sinful world, we are all dying from the moment we are born. If you are being drained by your job it is not because your job is so special, it is because you are not plugged into the power source sufficiently. (Hint, Hint)
Which brings me to my second point. Being a pastor DOES NOT make you better than the rest of us. Way too many people get into ministry thinking it will afford them the opportunity to be a better Christian than the rest of us - NOPE! - just different. Besides I am EQUALLY AS CALLED TO WHAT I DO IN LIFE AS A PASTOR IS TO THE PULPIT. I want you to think about that really hard. Pastoral ministry is not a "calling," and everything else just "settling." We are each called to what we do, because it is all part of God's plan.
I realize there is a lack of graciousness to this post, and I am being entirely unsympathetic. I understand the frustration because I SHARE IT - which is the real point of this. Such discouragement can be viewed as a ministry opportunity - a place to connect with the congregation because of the similarity of experience.
All of us get up some days and have to force one foot in front of the other. USE THAT TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP. Then watch Christ flourish in your life and in your congregation's life.
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