Outgoing Links is a series in which we share interesting articles about the church (or whatever we please). Follow the links in the title to see the original site. Be sure to leave comments below with your thoughts.
Mark Lauterbach has a series of insightful posts called Bleatings from the Sheep. In it he describes how, as an elder, he learned many, great lessons from God through his congregation. You should check out each of the posts below.
One of the great temptations of pastoral ministry is to treat the congregation, the members, as "stupid". We may not use those words, but we act like either they are slow to grasp truth and need constant prodding or nagging, or they are children and we pastors are fathers who must care for them.
I had some lessons to learn. Most of all, I was to find that the people I served had good noses -- they may not know all the nuances of theology, but they could smell the stench of pride and the fragrance of true worship in my heart. And they could also tell me if I was helping them or hurting them.
Large corrections are the opposite of nit picking. Nit picking is detailed correction -- tone of voice, choice of words, order of ideas, song selection, typefonts. Yes, I have heard all of those and more over the years. She observed, prayed, observed more -- then offered her observation in a grace filled way. In the years we knew her, she made just two or three corrections. They were all game changers.
I was about 5 years into pastoring this particular church. I came to them as a young man of 31. I was in the midst of rethinking the Gospel and its role in my preaching. I was seeing that my primary motivational tool was law, not grace. And then this -- some of my people were living under a burden of being disappointing to me.
One of the marks of arrogance is viewing all of life through my eyes, not considering how others see things. I find it all too easy to assume that my perspective, my abilities, my limits are the truth for all. It is not so! I am not the center of the cosmos.
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