If
you were to ask a minister why he signed up for this “job” of being a minister,
what would he say? Would he ever
encourage his son to follow in his footsteps?
If he had it do over again, would he?
What
is it that causes a man to follow a career path where he is only as good as his
last sermon? Where if he really listens
to the Spirit and preaches what is needed he is often hated because many don’t
want to hear their failings. If he
somehow doesn’t make enough hospital or home visits, or phone calls, he is
regarded as a failure. He meets couples
at the brink of divorce and takes on their pain and hurt in order to help them
find the ability to let God put it back together again. Sometimes it works, sometimes it
doesn’t.
Why
would someone want to take on a position where everyone has their own opinion
of how he should do his job, and what his priorities should be, and no two
people agree on any one thing except that he could and should do better. What is it that causes a man to want to
accept the task of taking different generations, races, cultures, ages and
sexes all together into one group and finding a way to help them all mold
together even though they all have different preferences, opinions, and
purposes?
Is
it the constant criticism? Maybe he
enjoys being told that the music is terrible, or that the services are not what
they are looking for. Quite possibly he
enjoys being told that parishioners are leaving because they aren’t being
fed. Could it be that he secretly likes
to be away from his family far more than is healthy and doesn’t want to be at
home? Or the fact that his wife cries
herself to sleep many nights because of the way either she or her husband are
being treated or talked about?
What
causes a man to lose sleep because he is up all night praying for the Church,
for the lost, for saints who are dying, for those who are gossiping and tearing
the church apart, and for his family that is being torn apart at the seams
because of the seeming insensitivity of the very people he is serving? Maybe it’s the great pay and/or physical
benefits.
Don’t
get me wrong. Getting paid anything for
taking the message of Jesus to a lost and dying world is a bonus, however
unfortunately sometimes the ones who are supposed to be on God’s team make
being a minister a very thankless and difficult job.
Maybe
he does this, because he just can’t see any other way to do what he wants to do
the most and that is to reach people for Jesus.
His life will never be the same because of the caring hand of the Master
and more than anything he wants everyone he knows to find that same life
changing relationship.
I
write this for one purpose and one purpose alone. I want you to put your thinker on today,
that’s it. Think about the minister or
elder or volunteer servant who has made a huge impact in your life and tell
him/her thank you.
Think
about ways you can make their lives easier not more difficult.
Think
about praying for them on a regular basis (and do it)
Think
about reaching out to their spouses and children, and not in a judgmental way
but in a loving gesture.
Think
about what you say in regards to those who are putting their lives on the line
for the Kingdom of God every day, before you say it.
Think
about (really think hard) what it would be like to be in their position and
have mercy on them, show grace to them, and forgive them for their failures w/o
holding it against them.
May you be blessed today as you think of those who have served you in this capacity at different times in your life.
