What I Want From My Pastor

I remember being in a conversation about the demands that parishioners have on their pastor. This was shortly after I had experienced a tough split with a Church as a pastor. The person I was chatting with made a comment that really struck me funny. They made the comment that they had only a couple of expectations for their pastor and they went on to tell me what they were. The thing that was funny was that if you multiply 1-2 expectations from every parishioner that adds up pretty quickly. No wonder some of our pastors feel like they live in a fishbowl and controlled by their congregations. Some congregants want a friend, some want a person to engage in crisis with, some want a God substitute, and some want someone to blame for their own personal spiritual failures and a scads of other desires.

I was reading in my Hebrews commentary again today and read a great quote from A. J. Gossip who used to tell his students that when he was ordained to the ministry he felt as if the people were saying to him: “We are for ever involved in the dust and the heat of the day; we have to spend our time getting and spending; we have to serve at the counter, to toil at the desk, to make the wheels of industry go round. We want you to be set apart so that you can go in to the secret place of God and come back every Sunday with a word from Him to us.”

I like that at some level. I know now that as a laymen I spend a great amount of my time, “making the wheels of industry”, family and personal interest go around. When I go to church I am looking for a word from the Lord. I am not saying that anything substitutes for my direct connection with the Lord but I do hope my pastors are aware that of all the demands on their time, one of the most important ones may be for them to walk with the Lord and hear fresh His voice for the rest of us. NO PRESSURE GUYS!

Photo by bleak!