Wednesday, January 15, 2014

17 Things Easy to Forget When You’re the Pastor

1. I like me.  You should too.  If you don’t, we can both let that be okay.  Really.

2. I am doing the best I can and most days, that’s actually pretty good.

3. I am no one’s savior.

4. Everyone isn’t interested in God . . . or Jesus . . . or church . . . even among those who come every Sunday.

5. The fact that others think the minutia of my life is of interest doesn’t mean that it is.

6. The fact that others think the minutia of my life is of no importance doesn’t mean that it isn’t.

7. The same God that adores you adores me too.

8. This job ain’t for sissies.

9. I take grace seriously and that’s a big deal.  A very big deal.

10. I really do know stuff and sharing it is my job.

11. The fact that some will avoid me like the plague does not mean that I am socially unacceptable.

12. Even when I’m operating from a script (like a sermon), chances are you aren’t.

13. It is not my job to explain myself (grace is as much for me as for you).

14. Chances are if I’m doing my job, I will not be the cool, the popular, kid.  The reverse is also true:  if I am the cool kid, I’m probably not doing my job.

15. I am actually allowed to have a life outside of church, but never outside of God.  God and church are not the same thing.  One is merely an instrumentality (even if an embodiment) of the other.

16. Your discomfort may mean that I got it wrong.  But it might also mean that I got it right – or more accurately, that the Holy Spirit did.

17. Some think this is just a job.  They’re wrong.

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