Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Grace is Messy

Home
Meet Steve Austin
About Messy Grace
Books
Speaker
Contact
Categories
- Faith
- Family
  - Marriage
  - Parenting
- Mental Health
- Recovery
- Writing Help
Best of Messy Grace
Support
Supporters
Affirming Churches
ASK STEVE!
Press
The Podcast

Home
Progressive Christian
What if Jesus was the Pastor of Your Church?

What if Jesus was the Pastor of Your Church?

Last updated on: January 3, 2017 at 10:39 am by Steve Austin

What if Jesus was the Pastor of Your Church? 2017-01-03T10:39:44-05:00 Steve Austin

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.

If Jesus were the pastor of the local church...

Source: Canva

What would it look like if Jesus was the pastor of a local church today?

Would He be the lead pastor of a mega church? Would He choose the more conservative Baptist church, with their ultra high morals? Or maybe Jesus would be the spiritual guide of the hipster community that doesn’t even have “church” in the name? Where do you think He would want to serve?

Would Jesus jump around under the glow of purple and green lights to the latest tune the band is playing? Would He be touched by our over-the-top expressions of faith or would He talk about praying to be seen by others? Can you imagine Jesus singing the lyrics to “The Old Rugged Cross,” standing next to the elderly woman on the second row?

Would Pastor Jesus schmooze with big donors at the coffee shop in the lobby before slipping out to his shiny car in reserved parking by the front door? Or would He chase the baristas out with a whip and throw the coffee tables through the window? Would Jesus beg and plead for the building fund? Would He even take up a tithe? And if so, what would He do with it?

Can you imagine Jesus, sitting in on committee meetings? Bake sales, playground fundraisers, choir practices, and building campaigns…would Jesus work within the systems we have or would He scrap them all?

If Jesus were the pastor of your church today...

Source: Canva

What topics would Jesus cover from the pulpit? Would He tell the women to be seen and not heard? Would Jesus have a “moment with the children” before sending them out of the sanctuary, or would they play a major role every week? Would Jesus offer a smooth prayer to transition the into the sermon as the worship team exits the stage and takes their seats?

I wonder what “Potluck Sunday” with Jesus would be like. Sister Schubert’s rolls would never run out and neither would the homemade mac and cheese! Would the pastor purposefully keep Jesus away from the water pitcher?

And what if Jesus was on your church softball team? Would you win every game?

I can’t help but wonder how many churches would even hire Jesus. I mean, He doesn’t even have a MDiv! Would the Search Committee expect Him to shave His beard? Yet, the Jesus sandals are totally making a comeback. He might fit right in, if we could just convince Him to try on some skinny jeans.

Everything Jesus Said About Homosexuality

Created with Canva

Would Jesus have office hours, putting in 40 hours a week at the church? Or would He have a day job? Would He even have a job at all? Or would He be too busy, marching in Pride parades and volunteering at the AIDS clinic? Would Jesus spend his time with crack babies and pimps, sleeping during the day so He could bring good news to prostitutes at night?

What would it be like for Jesus to visit the sick and elderly? Would He lead the singing at the nursing home on Sunday afternoons? Would Jesus empty out children’s cancer hospitals? Can you imagine if Jesus were here healing us right now?

And funerals…how does Jesus even approach a funeral? Would He swell with pride as the pianist played “His Eye is On the Sparrow”? Would Jesus even be invited to the funeral? After all, He doesn’t have the greatest track record of leaving dead people…in a restful state.

If Jesus were the pastor of your church today...

And what would it be like if Jesus told us we were just following Him to see the signs, the healings, to witness Him feeding the five thousand? How would we respond if Jesus said we were missing the whole point, that we are the five thousand and He longs to feed and heal us, too?

I wonder what church might look like if we let Jesus out of the box and watched who He sits next to and listened to what He says. What if we trusted Jesus to love the beat up and broken in our hometown? I wonder if our pews might not be so sparsely populated if we let Jesus be Love, rather than asking him to be the poster child for our cultural norms and political agendas. I don’t know what church would look like if Jesus was the pastor, but I wonder if it would look much like yours and mine.

*I wrote this piece with my friend, Sarah Simmons. Check out Sarah’s blog here.

The Struggle With Church

Previous Post

December 30, 2016

My 5 Favorite Books of the Year

Next Post

January 5, 2017 Join My 21-Day Self-Care Group!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Anxiety Best of Messy Grace Current Events Depression Faith Family Featured Fiction lgbtq Marriage Mental Health Messy Grace Millennials Parenting Recovery Recovery from a Suicide Attempt Recovery from Abuse Recovery from Porn Addiction Religious Recovery Self Care The Struggle With Church This is My Story (series) Uncategorized Writing Help

Select a Month 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 June 2015 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 June 2013 April 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 September 2011 August 2011 May 2011 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Jude, what are believers told to build themselves up in?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The knowledge of God Christian community The fear of the Lord Their most holy faith