11 Things Your Pastor Wants You To Know

Last updated on: September 15, 2016 at 2:16 pm by Anonymous

11 Things Your Pastor Wants You To Know 2016-09-15T14:16:14-05:00 Anonymous

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Original Photo Attribution: “Lyrestad church” CC 2.0

Being a pastor is one of those jobs everyone thinks he understands, but few really do. I had no idea what it was going to be like myself. So after 20 years of experience, here are 11 things some of us wish you knew.

1. I love my job. Jesus is a great boss, and I am doing the job I have wanted to do all my life. I give up every weekend, live apart from my extended family, and often I am misunderstood or resented, but I do this job gladly.

2. I am a bad business manager. I am inefficient and slow to act on the business side of church. I wait too long to fire people, and do a bad job of budgeting, planning and marketing. Honestly, I am bad at all of those things because I don’t want to be good at them. I did not go into the pastorate to run a business. I want to help people by telling them the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. I want to walk along side people and watch their souls develop. Attending to the “business” needs of the church feels like kissing a Dementor–all my joy is sucked away.

3. My wife is not on staff. She loves the church, but she has a completely different set of giftsfrom me. She would love to have you as a friend, but please do not put unfair expectations on her just because she has me as her husband. And please do not punish or ignore her just because you get angry with me from time to time.

4. My children are not role models. They are children. They did not get to pick what their father did for a living. Please do not expect them to act differently from other children.

5. I cannot fix your spouse, your children, or your friends. You may come to me with the problems of people you love. Sometimes those problems are really just your unwillingness to accept them for who they are. Other times your loved ones are self-destructive and need to change. Either way, I cannot help them unless they are willing to come talk to me.

6. I cannot fix you either. This fact makes me terribly sad, but it is true. I thought for years that I could. Finally, I realized I cannot even fix myself. I can love you. I can limp along side you toward glory. But I cannot make you happy, and I cannot fix you.

7. I do not love everything about this church either. I do not pick the music, set the thermostat, or run the nursery. I have had to make concessions about almost everything this church does. Many of my best ideas have been rejected. Living in community demands concessions. I would love to hear your suggestions and have you help. But please remember, just because we reject your idea does not mean we reject you.

8. I don’t have as many friends as you might think. Just because I find it easy, even fun, to stand in front of a crowd does not mean I have a crowd of friends. Most pastors I know are terribly lonely. You would be surprised how many of us spend holidays and Saturdays alone, because honestly, who would want to go out with a preacher?

9. I can see you from the pulpit, and, yes, it bugs me when you roll your eyes or play with your phone. I understand, it’s hard for me to sit still too. But I thought you might want to know I see you.

10. I love the Church, and this church in particular. I think about church more than anyone in our congregation. She is filled with sinners, hypocrites and mean people. But she is my mother and I love her. She gave me life and hope, and I will love her until I die.

11. I am honored to be a part of your story. Almost everyone who comes to me for counseling apologizes. You have no idea how honored I am that you would share your heart and your struggles with me. I have not earned that kind of love and trust. Thank you so much for loving me enough to need me. Thank you for letting me serve you. When you do that, you allow me to feel a little bit like Jesus. There is no better feeling

-Anonymous Pastor

Previous Post

December 6, 2014

"All Is Lost" Movie Review

Next Post

December 11, 2014 Credo For Christ: A View on Baptism

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #ShoutYourAbortion 10 Commandments 2016 Election 2017 2020 Election Abortion Accelerate Books Adultery America Andy Stanley Arminianism Ashley Madison Atonement B&H Academic Baptism Barry Horner Beauty Biblical Elders Billy Graham Blog Book Review Bruce Jenner Caitlyn Jenner Calvin Calvinism Cheating Chick-fil-A Children Christ Christian History Christian Living Christian Podcasts Christianity Christmas Church History Church Leadership Civil Disobedience Constitutional Coronavirus Culture Death Demoninations Discipleship Doctrine Doctrine of God Donald Trump Ecclesiology Entertainment Eschatology Ethics Evangelical Evangelism Evil Evolution Fear Forgive Yourself Forgiveness Francis Chan Future Israel Gay Marriage Gender Genesis George Floyd Gospel Government Gun Control Halloween hamartiology Heavenly Reward Hermeneutics History Hollywood Holy Spirit Homeschool Homosexual Homosexuality Hope Hospitality Humor Husband Infant Baptism Interview Jesus John Piper Josh Duggar Joshua Harris Judgment Justice Kathy Griffin Kim Davis Leadership Logic Love Manhood Marriage Martin Luther Messianic Prophecy Miscarriage Mocking Modesty Money Movie Reviews Music Music Review Netflix New Testament Obergefell Old Testament Parenting Pastor Pastoring Persecution Planned Parenthood Podcast Politics Pop Culture Pornography Prayer Preaching Predestination Pride Prosperity Gospel Rachel Held Evans Racism Ravi Zacharias Redemption Reformation 500 Reformation Day Reformed Theology Relationship Repentance Salvation Same Sex Marriage Satan Satire Scripture Seminary Sex Sin slavery Sola Scriptura Soteriology Sovereignty Spiritual Gifts Spurgeon Star Wars Steven Furtick Suffering Sufficiency of Scripture Sunday School Supreme Court Technology Testimony The Church The Lord of the Rings The Problem of Evil The Shack Theology Theonomy Tithing Transgenderism Tullian Tchividjian Uncategorized Universalism Vanity Fair Video Games Virgin Birth Voting Wife Women Worldview Worship

Select a Month June 2025 April 2025 March 2025 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz