Transitional Observations

I have been transitioning from one pastoral setting to another.  In the United Methodist Church that's something that we have to get used to as a pastor.  But it doesn't come easy as you get older.  When you are a young pastor, just starting out, you find the idea of a move to a new church exciting.  New buildings, new house, new everything.  As you get older, though, to make a move means letting things go.  And the longer you serve at a particular church, the more you find you have to leave behind.  The prospects of moving become far more bittersweet.

You also find that you aren't as well prepared as you might think.  Seminary teaches us great and wonderful things.  The churches you serve are actually interested in some of those great and wonderful things.  No matter how long you have been a pastor, you find that instead of bringing all you have to offer to a church, the church instead wishes for you to fit their expectations first.  Fit their mold then be yourself.

That isn't always the case, but to a certain degree it will happen.

You also learn that no matter how passionate you might be about studying the Bible, advancing the Kingdom of God, or deepening spiritual maturity, a particular percentage of the church doesn't care.  It isn't that they aren't interested at all, it just isn't as important to them as it is to you.  And that is a hard lesson to learn.

Some years back when I was in college, a friend asked me to go to a particular concert.  I had no desire to hear that particular band.  It wasn't that I disliked my friend, it was that our musical tastes were very different.  Pastors have to learn that for some, Bible study takes a backseat to missions.  For others, everything takes a back seat to finance.  And for other, discipleship is the only concern.  You have to learn to serve, utilize your strengths, and recognize that you will connect with some people very deeply, with some you will connect well, and with others, the connection is weak.  It is the nature of a diverse congregation.

There are a few other things I have learned over the years.  Let me share a few of those observations with you as well.

Jesus warns against big public prayers and false humility.  Most pastors forget that passage with time and larger churches (it is found in Matthew 6:5-8, by the way).

Be steadfast, but be merciful and gracious.  Remember, in 10 years you might run in to people who heard your early sermons.  You will hope they will be merciful and gracious.

Do not solidify in your beliefs, because your congregation will never be where you are.  They are going to be more conservative.  And the next church you serve will not be the same place you left.  Meet the people where they are, but remember what you are called to do, which is to share Christ – not to force Christ on anyone.  You are the witness.

Only Paul figured out how to be all things to everyone.  When we try, we become nothing to anyone, and we fail to be genuine to ourselves and to our congregation.  Do not be the pastor that is merely an empty robe and has no personality of their own, but is a chameleon being whomever they need to be to fit in. 

You have been called out, and that makes you awkward, disjointed, and set apart.  And do not try to fit in with other pastors.  Be yourself, learn from other pastors, but do not fall prey to peer pressure in the church, in the district meeting, or to get better appointments.  In other words, don’t sell your soul.  And when you do sell your soul, remember that God will offer it back when you remember to whom you belong.

Do not burn bridges when you move, but don’t keep crossing back across them once you do move.  They will remember you for your first and last few sermons, and how well you cared for them.

Hellfire and damnation sermons are easy, foolish, judgmental, and not going to win points with anyone who doesn’t already think in terms of fundamentalism.  Sermons on grace, sermons on the mount, and sermons on love are hard.  Work on them carefully and deliberately.  They are not going to win points with anyone who wants to hear hellfire and damnation, but they might stir the hearts of their husbands, wives and children. 

Something to keep in mind is that faith, for many people, is very much like a parsonage (for those of you not in the United Methodist Church, the term might be manse, rectory, or vicarage).  It’s nice to have, but not much is done with it.