As we wrap up our DISCIPLE series, I want to stick in a quick plug for the new series coming up: Confessions of a Pastor…
Uncover the deep, dark, secrets that have remained untold in the realm of a pastor’s life: insecurities,
doubts, and weariness….frustrations, concerns and mistakes. In “Confessions of a Pastor,” Pastor Craig opens up in hopes of shattering any false pretenses. What is it like to be a pastor? Probably a lot like being anyone else. Let go of the expectations and high standards that are keeping you in bondage and let God start to become one of your truest friends through your own confessions.
Here are the 4 confessions, perhaps you’ll relate to at least one of them…
- I don’t feel like praying
- I feel completely inadequate
- Sometimes I have my doubts about God
- I don’t like a lot of Christians
This will be a great series to bring a friend.
3 comments
August 20, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Nutz
How interesting…. just yesterday I was speaking with my mentor who pointed out that most of my difficulties in life revolve around the belief that I am completely inadequate and my attempts to prove to the world that I am better than I believe myself to be, in hopes that the world will accept me and validate me.
What a painful yet freeing piece of truth!
I am looking forward to whatever God has planned that will renew my mind and fill it with His truth… I can’t even imagine how life altering it will be to be secure in the truth that God and God alone is my adequacy… He made me on purpose so that I can bring honor to Him and only what God thinks of me is relevant.
It still amazes me to hear other people talk about themself and describe me, especially when I thought it was an area where I was terminally unique.
I am looking forward to hearing what solutions are offered for this particular human battle.
August 22, 2008 at 11:50 am
bigfoot
This past week two guys down south told the world that they “Found Bigfoot”. Everybody was talking about it and everyone wanted it to be true… Well it got me think about this series. We as Christians (sometimes) think that our Pastors have all the answers and just don’t have the problems we “sinners” do. WE call them for every little thing in our life and when they let us down because they don’t have the answer we “want” to hear, we get mad, defensive, and maybe even leave the church…. Here’s a headline for ya….” Super (i can’t do wrong, always love to pray, and have no problem loving everybody) Pastors don’t exist…. They have the same issues, problems, fears, and sin as we do. We “Followers of Christ” need to turn to Christ first for everything…. Pray to Jesus and ask him for guidance and love… Read our Bibles so that we know what Jesus says about life…Strengthen ourselves by hanging with our Brothers and Sisters and wrestle with God and his word….Your Pastors love Jesus and want to lift you up and help you, but you have to seek Jesus….It’s YOUR relationship with him that matters….Bigfoot does not exist…Super Pastors don’t exist, Jesus Christ and his love does!
August 25, 2008 at 6:50 pm
totally human
I hadn’t realized how I could expect my church leaders to be spiritually mature to such an unrealistic degree, until a few days after I read this post. I expect them to make some of those “little” mistakes… lose keys, say a bad word when they smash a finger, etc…. but, to not be spiritually “on” all the time, to not have some sort of high speed connection with heaven that allows them to know almost everything…. shouldn’t THAT be a given? I suppose it would be… if church leaders were not human. My church leader are human however, so they do things that bug me… sometime often, sometimes not so often.
Recently, I had something bugging me about a church leader… they were not doing something in a way I thought it needed to be done (no arrogance there…ugh) so I found myself questioning, in my own mind, if they were the right person for the job. To my surprise, every time I prayed I couldn’t get them out of my mind… it was like I had to pray for them. As soon as I started to pray for them I would hear myself asking God to encourage them so they could lead others to God in a more powerful way. Funny how my attitude started to change, almost without me realizing it. I was able to see the church leader as human, myself as NOT the all-knowing and realize that as a human were are all a work in progress.
So, maybe praying for our church leaders is as much for our benefit as it is for them. Either way, prayer has never hurt me and has frequently changed me for the better. I guess I’ll keep doing that until I learn otherwise. It may even benefit the church leaders when I pray for them.