The Burden of Church
I was inspired to post on this topic because I keep reading all of these blogs from pastors called, “I love my church!!” and “I love pastoring!!” and “If I loved my church and loved pastoring any more than I do, my nipples would burst!!” And I think it’s cool that they feel that way, but I often don’t. Yesterday I explained WHY I pastor anyway, but for me it’s not because I get a lot of joy out of it. So from what do I get my joy?
Well, in my opinion, from the right places. As far as I can remember, God never teaches us to get joy from pastoring or from our church. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. If you can, more power to ya. But there are two places (that I can think of) where we’re told where we’re to get our joy. (1) Nehemiah 8:10, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (2) Proverbs 5:18, “…rejoice in the wife of your youth.” (I’m not going to mention the fact that the next verse says, “may her breasts satisfy you always.”) (Whoops, just mentioned it).
I don’t acheive this perfectly, but I want my joy to come from my relationship with God and my relationship with my wife. Personally, I don’t look to pastoring or my church for joy. If I do get any joy out of that, that’s just icing on the cake.
So, maybe my “confession” has encouraged you. At least, if you feel like I do, you can know that you’re not alone.
Read more from Vince here.
Tags: Leadership Engine, Staff, Vince Antonucci
