10th Anniversary

Today is my 10^th anniversary of being an ordained minister with the CCCC’s (Conservative Congregational Christian Conference). I have been in pastoral ministry for twelve. In reflecting on this, I thought I would share some of the key lessons God has been teaching me in that time.

1. God always provides what you need when you need it. When God calls you to do something for Him, whether it be work as a pastor like myself or anything else, He will always provide what you need to do His work. But it will never be up front, it will probably not come the way you think, and will come when you need it, not when you want it.
2. God loves to connect you to people you would never seek out on your own. Many of the friends I have made along the way in my ministry are people that, left to myself I would never thought I would be friends with. God loves to teach you to love everyone, not just the people like you.
3. There are three kinds of fatherhood, being a father of your own kids, being a spiritual father to people you disciple, and being a pastor or elder who are the spiritual fathers of their congregations. Many of us are called to be fathers in the first sense, some are called to be fathers in the third, but all men are called to experience fatherhood in the second sense. Of course you could say the same about motherhood too, but I’m a guy so…
4. Pastoring is not so much about teaching things as it is about relationships. Christianity is not a set of doctrines to be taught but a way of life to be lived. It is just as much caught as it is taught. We need to remember that.
5. Conduct yourself in the truth towards others and respond to others with grace. You worry about being just, righteous, wise, and honest. You can’t do that for others. You can only do that for yourself. But respond to others with grace, mercy, compassion, kindness, and gentleness.
6. The Church is full of people, and therefore things will be messy. You will get hurt. You will hurt people. People will make mistakes. People will fail. Don’t be surprised at the mess. Bring the Gospel into the mess. Forgiveness, grace, and mercy need the mess to grow. If you didn’t have the mess you couldn’t have learn how to love like Jesus either.
7. If you are not freaking out every once in a while because you feel like you are in over your head, something is wrong. If God is not teaching you that you are not enough so that you can see that He is enough, you are not living to God by Christ but living for yourself using God and Christ as window dressing.

So there you have it. Seven big things I have been learning in the last ten years. Have you been learning the same things? Different things? I would love to hear from you.