Do you understand who your preacher is? No really. You see, the reason I ask is because many people see what he does a couple of days a week and assume that tells them everything they need to know about who he is. Maybe your perspective of a preacher is something like this:
- “Sure he’s a pretty good guy but he doesn’t know anything about what its like to work a full 40+ hours a week and then still do everything he says is so important.”
- “I like him but he just cannot relate to the moral, financial, and family struggles that I have to face everyday.”
Or, on the other hand, maybe you’re a little bit more cynical of preachers and your perspective is more along the lines of:
- “That lazy bum only works a few hours a week and sponges a living off the hard work of the church…he needs to go out and get a real job.”
- “There are times in the middle of the day when he should be at work and I call the church building and he’s not there…I mean, if I wasn’t at work in the middle of the day I wouldn’t have a job. He just thinks he’s better than everybody else.”
Some misunderstandings are rather innocent. When people just don’t know any better they are prone to developing misinformed assumptions that don’t reflect reality.
However, other misunderstandings are a little less than civil. They develop from a combination of ignorance and resentment. They don’t just have misinformed assumptions; theirs’ are a little more malicious. They have an axe to grind and he seems to be an easy target.
But let me tell you something about your preacher. Ministry to him is not a job…it is a way of life. Ministry consumes him. Most everything he does, he does with ministry in mind. Most conversations he has, he has with ministry in mind. Most relationships he forms, he forms with ministry in mind.
You see, ministry is not something that he does. It is who he is. Yes, he goes “to work.” He spends untold hours doing what he needs to make sure the church stays fed? He studies his Bible, pours over resource materials, and prays fervently that his efforts develop a product worthy of your attention each week.
But the most effective times of his ministry are often when his car isn’t parked outside the church building. He’s sitting at the bedside of people who are sick. He’s visiting in the homes of people who are hurt. He’s in the community, doing what he can to represent the church and reflect the light of Jesus into a lost and dying world.
Even his time at home often isn’t spent relaxing. His mind is always working on that next sermon, developing ideas for that next project, thinking about that next person, praying for that next soul. But he doesn’t ask for praise. That’s the last thing on his mind. All he asks is to be understood. He is your preacher; but it’s not what he does, it’s who he is.
-Andy Brewer