“to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”
Ephesians 1:6
The end of that verse is a wonderful truth. As believers, we are accepted by God! We don’t have to ramp-up the performance treadmill to obtain God’s love, nor to maintain it once He has found us in salvation. We are accepted by God because Christ’s righteousness is ours by faith.
I recently read an article by a fellow pastor. He touched on some of the things congregations don’t typically know about their pastors. After reading the article, I thought I should share some of the thoughts with you because they periodically apply to me.
My hope in sharing this information is to help you better understand me and draw us closer together as a church longing to be more like Jesus. I realize you having such information about me makes me vulnerable, but it’s worth the risk. The pastor discussed three areas where pastors struggle with regularity – insecurity, being misunderstood, and loneliness. I thought he hit the nail right on the head.
Insecurity- You may always see your pastor with a smile, but do not let it fool you. Yes, my smiles are genuine, especially since I love the church family I have the privilege to lead by serving. But behind those smiles is a man who sometimes feels he is in way over his head.
All pastors second-guess themselves at times. We wonder if we should have said or done something differently if the outcomes would have been different. We constantly wonder “am I doing a good job?” We see other ministries and wonder why we are not experiencing the same fruit. We often feel the need to justify our compensation. We work ourselves to death to justify it. And to top off all these things, we know we are dealing with eternities, souls that live forever. Who is sufficient for such things? Certainly not us!
Being misunderstood – Pastors constantly use words to communicate ideas, plans, and truths, but on occasion someone will mischaracterize or misinterpret something we say. We often say things people do not like to hear. People like to size their pastor up fairly quickly, often writing them off, or making character judgments, without even knowing us at all.
Sometimes pastors have to make decisions or hard calls. There are situations when we have information that informs our decision and knowledge others do not have, but we are not at liberty to share. In some cases, people are unfair to us and question our motive for every decision we make. “He only wants us to give so he can have a raise.” “He only wants us to invite and bring others to church so he can say he has a bigger congregation.” One of the things with which I wrestle is the frequency of being mischaracterized or misunderstood by others.
Loneliness – I do not always feel lonely. But at times I do. The feeling of loneliness can stem from not being included in “outside the church” get-togethers. Many pastors feel lonely because they feel used. People have no difficulty reaching out to us when they need something, and especially to complain about something, but they do not call just to say “hi” or to offer to serve in some ministry capacity. People expect pastors to be there for them, but may also feel no responsibility to be there for them. That can be a lonely place.
Having said all of this, I realize some reading this can relate this to their own work or social setting. All of us, as sinners (even the redeemed ones), will experience insecurity, misunderstanding, and loneliness (among a whole host of other emotions). This is not a phenomenon unique to pastors. I strive to remember that more and more so that I do not offer tainted counsel or ministry. I strive for genuineness in every setting – the person you see on Sunday is the same person you see the rest of the week.
The New Year provides a good opportunity to reflect, reassess, and retool our thinking, speech, and behavior in light of God’s Word. So, even as I pray for and strive for gospel integrity with you, I hope you’ll pray for me and strive for gospel integrity with me (or continue to do so if you’re already there).
I look forward to seeing you Sunday! Pastor Daren
Trinity Presbyterian Church 