We all have an inbound need to relate to others. We look for people at work, our family our friends others who’s hobbies or recreational activities are the same as ours. Can be quite a list. Of course many of them overlap and this is a good thing. We also gather with people of the same faith as our own to strengthen, support and worship together. And it is this last group I want to highlight.
All of us normally respect and admire our pastor. He is, after all, our shepherd, and sits with an awesome responsibility to his congregation, and with actions that are answerable to God. Not only does he need to posses those character traits addressed in Titus and Timothy but he must carry them out. He must have a genuine servant’s heart, and that is not something you can be taught. It’s a gift of God, and of course you do not have to be a pastor to receive it.
Some years ago a pastor said the biggest disappointment in your life would come from people. How right he was. Disappointment is based on an unfulfilled expectation of a commitment. Put another way; someone said they will do something then doesn’t follow through.
In a congregation the higher the responsibility the greater the impact when commitments are not met. Of course the pastor is on the top rung and will, if he fails, have the greater impact. People that have looked up to him for spiritual guidance, counsel and mentoring find themselves alone. An entire congregation may very well walk out the door and never come back. More often than not a core group will remain while others follow the broken pastor and others look for a new “church home”. Why is that? Why do people who are supposedly Christians quit that congregation, and quite often stop any activity, when a pastor fails?
Do people go to the church to be entertained by a pastor craftsman with words? Do they go for the big band sound of the praise and worship team? Why are they going? To get their socially accepted weekly shot of God so they can smile and speak religion during the week knowing their pastor has God well in hand for them? Tell me just where is God in all this? When you accepted Christ in you life and made Him your personal savior was it with the proviso that “Mr. Whoever” will remain as the pastor? Your favorite pastor with all his knowledge, word from God, and a shining example to the local community, just split with last weeks tithing, or was caught in some form of immorality, or any other deceptive practices that can befall the natural man. What’s a person to do?
Just what are you ground in, God, or the pastor’s words he lays on you each Sunday? Yes, who is your God anyway? What part of you cannot surrender to Christ? Your Ego? Is it that difficult to accept – yes accept – the fact, that you need to place yourself at the mercy of something you have no control over? That you must submit to something that you cannot touch, feel, smell, see, or hear. Something that you cannot put any dimensions to?
God is a Spirit and God is love. (Yes it’s in the Book). Let’s see you wrap those two in a brown paper bag. A Spirit can be anyplace at any time. Love; Well, the love of God. I can only believe that Gods love is the mother lode, the core from which all love emanates. Strip yourself of all ego, self, pride, conceit, worldly possessions, natural drives (sexuality) and then think about love. It is still there, but where’s it coming from?
Well, we do have the love of self, pride, achievement, possessions, abilities, and gender prowess (stalking the opposite sex to marital bliss) and others, but what about Gods love? Christ said to love one another even as I have loved the Church. And He said to be a servant as I have served you. Now this is what I believe is the key to the success of a strong Christian. Notice here, I’m not saying strong congregation, but strong Christian. When we all develop a servant’s heart and work on it every day of our lives we must lean very heavily on God for support. It becomes a spiritual exponential curve with a growing need for greater understanding more love and more strength. (Oh by the way, being a servant is not a weakness. You exercise servanthood and you’re building incredible spiritual strength, and yes that’s in the Book too). The more you work the servanthood the more you need to do it. Pretty soon you find yourself giggling over all the stupid things you did before. Things fall into a clearer perspective and the ultimate spiritual high. You draw closer and closer to God. It’s a blast. Don’t think for a moment were living in la la land here. We are still wrapped into this natural body that is an enemy to God. (Yes that’s in the Book too). We still have our battles.
The beauty of it all is we grow to recognize where all this is coming from and we know who to turn to for another drink from His well. We recognize that we have the Holy Ghost resident within us and He keeps us on the solid foundation. Our strength continues and not only do we grow in our own individual knowledge of Christ but we are able to give our support to a corporate body of believers as a member. Life is good.