The Positives of Pastoring and the Positives of your Job

I’m a pastor and I’ve read a number of blogs and articles talking about pastors and how hard it is to be a pastor and how little pastors get paid and how much people complain about pastors and so on.  Is some of it true?  Sure.  Is a lot of it true?  Probably.  However, what doesn’t get talked about so much are the positive aspects of being a pastor.  I’m going to try about counteract the negativity a little and talk about some of the highlights of being a pastor.  You’ve probably had some negative thoughts about your job too.  Instead of focussing on the negatives, see what positives you can find.  (If you can’t find any positives, it might be time for a new job.)

Pastors get a lot of flexibility in their schedule.  I get to go out for coffee with someone from the church and talk about life.  I meet with volunteers in the evening to talk about youth ministry.  To the average 9-5 worker the pastor’s job schedule probably looks like a joke.  However a lot of work is done outside traditional office hours.  I can change my schedule pretty quickly and easily.  Don’t get me wrong, most pastors work very hard and certainly put in their fair share of hours but pastoring is a lifestyle not a job so that means you can ditch the office sometimes and go be with people or do something fun.  The lifestyle factor means you are always on call (hello crisis on my day off), but you get to be flexible with your schedule and that’s a luxury not everyone gets to enjoy which I am thankful for.

Pastors get paid to serve people.  It might sound kind of funny to say that, yet I believe it’s a privilege to get paid to serve God’s people.  Many articles and blogs complain about how little pastors get paid.  Do most pastors get paid a lot? No.  Is the job all about the money? No.  I believe God can work beyond the paycheque.  If someone is in ministry for the money, something is wrong.  I think the thing that gets pastors upset sometimes is comparing what get paid in ministry to what they would get paid in the secular world for the same skill set they bring to the table in their ministry position.  Pastoring is a high challenge job requiring a wide variety of skills and education.  I think if most pastors took their pastoral skill set to the secular world they would instantly double their salary.  Yet in any job it’s not about comparing to what others do or get (that’s a great way to breed dissatisfaction), it’s doing what God has called you to do and trusting him to provide what you need.  I get paid to do what I am passionate about and serve in ministry that has eternal value.  That’s cool.

Perhaps you’ve had similar thoughts about your job or your life situation.  Instead of thinking about all the negatives, think about what you are blessed with and the benefits of your current job or life situation.  You just might find yourself enjoying life a little more!

How to Help Young People Belong to the Church

I believe there are two crucial transitions in a young person’s life where adults can come alongside teenagers and make a huge impact. The first is around age 12-13 when a child becomes a teenager and the second is when a teenager becomes a young adult around age 18-22. 

Children see the world, for better or worse, largely through their parent’s eyes when they are young.  This begins to change as children hit puberty and become teenagers.  They begin to form more of their own opinions and begin searching for their own identity and place in the world.  This is a major transition as they are no longer all kid, and not yet fully teenager.  Sometimes if you observe closely you can literally see them switching modes from child to teenager within minutes.  Because this is a major transition children of this age are asking a ton of questions and are constantly looking for answers as they seek to relate to the world.  Adults can come alongside kids at this age and build relationships with them and help them through this transition.  In the church kids at this age are making the transition from children’s programs to youth programs.  Now is the time to help kids feel like they belong in 'big church' as they move away from the structured and sheltered confines of the children’s ministry.

The second major transition is the shift from teenager to young adult.  This is another crucial moment where adults and churches can make or break a teenager’s relationship with the church.  Teenagers are graduating highschool and choosing careers or post-secondary education.  Major life shaping decisions are made in this phase.  Making this age even more crucial is the transition that teenagers face in the church.  By graduation and age 18 or so teenagers are too old for the church youth ministry program and begin to transition out.  What is important to realize here is that if a person has grown up in the church they have been part of a program tailor made for their age category for their whole lives.  After graduating from youth ministry teens are suddenly part of 'big church' with all the variety and age ranges that entails.  Some churches, especially smaller ones, do not have a specific young adults program, so these graduates are thrown into the mixer.  If they have not been welcomed at church and built a few significant relationships with adults during their childhood and youth ministry years, they will probably simply leave church. 

There is abundant material written on how many young adults are leaving the church these days and I would contend that part of the reason is that teenagers have not found their place in the church outside of the youth ministry program. (To be fair, a number of these young adults who leave church return to church later in life.)  Youth ministries need to do a better job on integrating youth ministry into the ministry of the whole body so that teens are exposed to ‘big church’ often and become comfortable in church outside of the youth ministry program.  We can all play our part by building a few relationships with teenagers in our churches so that when they graduate highschool and the youth ministry program, they don’t graduate from church.

Two major transitions.  Two incredible opportunities to shape upcoming generations.  What is your role?

How to Cultivate Receptivity to the Holy Spirit (Part 2 of 2)

This week is the conclusion of this series.  I hope you have enjoyed it and that it has provided some practical help as you seek the manifest presence of God.  Today I will share a few practical steps to help you cultivate receptivity to the Holy Spirit in your life.

1.  James 4:8 “draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”  We have to actively seek God and desire for him to work in our lives.  If we do not provide an opening for God’s action in our lives, he will not force himself on us.

2. Practice spiritual disciplines.  Read the Bible, pray, worship, serve etc. (there are many more spiritual disciplines).  As we spend time in spiritual disciplines a little bit of worldliness falls away and the hidden spiritual realm is opened up a little bit more.

3. Offer ourselves as living sacrifices.  There is no limit to what God can do with a willing sacrifice.  See Romans 12:1-2.

4. Strive to live a holy life.  God is a God of love, but he is first and foremost a holy God.  To follow Jesus in earnest we must strive for holiness and love.

5. Submit to God’s will.  We reach a landmark moment when we realize that God’s will is what is good for us and that it is what is pleasing to God.

A person submitted to God and striving to live a holy life will be far more aware of the presence of God because that person realizes that she is an active agent of God’s kingdom breaking into this world.  If I sacrifice and actively work to improve my marriage there will a payoff in development of depth, trust and communication in the relationship.  It is no different with God.  If you sacrifice and put effort into the relationship, the relationship will grow and improve.

If we passively sit back and wait for God to do something, he very well may do something, but it likely won’t be through those who are sitting back waiting for something to happen.  It will be through those who have submitted themselves to God and have said “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10).

One final Tozer quote to wrap things up: “Let any man turn to God in earnest, let him begin to exercise himself unto godliness, let him seek to develop his powers of spiritual receptivity by trust and obedience and humility, and the results will exceed anything he may have hoped in his leaner and weaker days” (Tozer The Pursuit of God pg 64).

A.W. Tozer’s book The Pursuit of God inspired me to write this series and if you've enjoyed this series of blogs I’d strongly encourage you to read it.  I’ll be back next week with a new topic so stay tuned!