on ministry
(NOTE: if you're looking for the May 14 sermon, it is in the next post down.)
What makes the Christian life so hard to live is the fact that society does not expect us to live it. We live in a world that discourages virtues like chastity, humility, meekness, and self-giving. If a layperson goes a week between coming to church, they hear so many more messages against such virtues than they hear for it. The culture encourages them to be crass, brash pleasure-seekers. It is what we expect from people.
Yet it is not what is expected of me. Since I have a "Rev." before my name, people watch their language around me. They apologize for living together before they are married rather than flaunting it. They admit they don’t read the Bible or pray enough (or worse, they pretend they read the Bible or pray more than they do). They are selective when telling me about what they did the previous weekend.
People simply expect that I am a paragon of virtue, though I’m no such thing. People are convinced that I’m better than I actually am; they are sure that I never swear, that I pray punctually and perfectly (and get results), and am completely conversant in the Bible. They are sure I’ve never slipped and fallen, or at least that I don’t slip and fall anymore, and that my free time is completely spent on behalf of the poor and needy.
And because people expect it of me, it’s easier to actually do. Since the world expects pastors to be holy, since I receive positive reinforcement for things like prayer, it’s actually easier to carve out time for it. It might seem like a burden to have people expect such things of you, but it has helped me immensely.
In fact, it makes me want to tell you a little secret, especially you laypeople reading this: God expects the same of you that He does of me. That might sound like I’m chastising you, but I’m really not. In fact, I want you to see a truth that can set you free:
You do not have to have any special knowledge to live a full, rich, rewarding, meaningful, life-changing life with God.
You do not have to have a seminary degree.
You do not have to be ordained.
You do not have to have a call to professional ministry.
You do not have to be sure of everything (in fact, it’s easier if you’re not).
All those things you expect of me because I am a pastor, I expect of you–not because you are pastors, but because you are Christians. The world may expect it of me, and not of you, but the good news is that this adventure called the Christian life is open to all–not just the ordained.
What makes the Christian life so hard to live is the fact that society does not expect us to live it. We live in a world that discourages virtues like chastity, humility, meekness, and self-giving. If a layperson goes a week between coming to church, they hear so many more messages against such virtues than they hear for it. The culture encourages them to be crass, brash pleasure-seekers. It is what we expect from people.
Yet it is not what is expected of me. Since I have a "Rev." before my name, people watch their language around me. They apologize for living together before they are married rather than flaunting it. They admit they don’t read the Bible or pray enough (or worse, they pretend they read the Bible or pray more than they do). They are selective when telling me about what they did the previous weekend.
People simply expect that I am a paragon of virtue, though I’m no such thing. People are convinced that I’m better than I actually am; they are sure that I never swear, that I pray punctually and perfectly (and get results), and am completely conversant in the Bible. They are sure I’ve never slipped and fallen, or at least that I don’t slip and fall anymore, and that my free time is completely spent on behalf of the poor and needy.
And because people expect it of me, it’s easier to actually do. Since the world expects pastors to be holy, since I receive positive reinforcement for things like prayer, it’s actually easier to carve out time for it. It might seem like a burden to have people expect such things of you, but it has helped me immensely.
In fact, it makes me want to tell you a little secret, especially you laypeople reading this: God expects the same of you that He does of me. That might sound like I’m chastising you, but I’m really not. In fact, I want you to see a truth that can set you free:
You do not have to have any special knowledge to live a full, rich, rewarding, meaningful, life-changing life with God.
You do not have to have a seminary degree.
You do not have to be ordained.
You do not have to have a call to professional ministry.
You do not have to be sure of everything (in fact, it’s easier if you’re not).
All those things you expect of me because I am a pastor, I expect of you–not because you are pastors, but because you are Christians. The world may expect it of me, and not of you, but the good news is that this adventure called the Christian life is open to all–not just the ordained.
posted by Rev. Michael Jordan at 6:03 PM
1 Comments:
Really amazing! Useful information. All the best.
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