Thom Rainer:
You are my pastor. You are not perfect. You get frustrated like everyone else. You don’t always say exactly what you should say. You do indeed make some mistakes. On that reality you readily agree.
But your imperfections are often magnified in the light of your leadership role. When you please one congregant, you often displease another. You can’t make everyone happy, and you hear criticisms more times than most of us could endure.
You Are My Pastor Who Loves
Despite your imperfections and the critics who vocalize them, you still love the people in the church you serve. You sat by that man whose surgery was a matter of life and death. You gave him the assurance that God would be with him. Your presence gave him the calm and peace he needed to come through the procedure safely.
You also met with that homeless man who came to the church. You could have ignored him, but you saw him as one of “the least of these.” You ministered to him. You gave him food. You found a place for him to stay. And you shared the gospel of Christ with him.
You are my pastor who takes calls in the middle of the night. You were awakened abruptly by the teenager’s parents when he was in the terrible automobile accident. You arrived at the hospital in time for his mom and dad to fall on your shoulders . . .
Read the rest here (please!).
