The Preacher's task

The things that swirl around in a preacher's heart about the flock he oversees, at times, can be quite a burden. The very people that he is trying to help mature in their faith can sink to surprising immature depths at times. He may receive a snarky comment at the door as he is greeting his flock for worship. As he is helping to lead his flock in worship or preach to them he may receive glaring scowls of disapproval at everything from the length of his sermon, to the sermon topic, to the song list, to the temperature of the room.

As he prepares for Sunday throughout the week he may be broken-hearted over the life choices he sees his flock make that, at best may be a very poor witness of faith and, at worst may be a self-destructive sin pattern that will eventually lead them to hell.

Not every preacher does, but any preacher worth his salt, truly cares about growing the spiritual maturity levels of the people he serves. His main task is to help the people he serves filter all of life through the lens of Scripture. For some reason, helping people in that process can be very similar to a forced prostrate exam for some.

Many people are very happy to not have anything change in their worldview. Scripture has a way of violently intruding on our particular comforts and wreaking havoc. The preacher recognizes this, but some are more gentle than others at allowing the Scriptures to do their offensive work in the lives of the flock they serve.

I know this is somewhat of a rant, but it is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. If you are a preacher and you are coasting into retirement and never want to upset the apple cart...do God a big favor and step down so that He can get busy undoing what you have done.

Sabbatical Day 1

It's been a while, old friend...

I have been away from my blog for a long time now. So many things have happened in my life since my last post back in November that it would be very futile to try to write it all here. So I'll just jump back in and start with today.

I met with another minister today over lunch. He is a Lutheran minister. He preaches at Zion Lutheran Church in Des Moines. We met and talked about One Prayer 2010.

I realized as we chatted and ate (a great meal, by the way, at Pho All Seasons) that it is critical for those of us in ministry to have friends in ministry.

Nobody knows a preacher like another preacher! (That's what another preacher-friend of mine used to say.) It is so important to be able to share openly and honestly with someone that truly understands.

The Bible says in Proverbs, "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Preachers need preacher friends. Plain and simple. I'm happy I made a new preacher friend today who inspired me to get back on my blog. Here's his blog, by the way: http://pastorjohnsthoughts.blogspot.com