Seven Things Your Pastor Asks of You
KEEP THE FOCUS ON JESUS, AND JUST LIKE HE DID, LEAD WITH LOVE.
It was Jesus who famously said, “You have not because you ask not.” A lot of folks have done a lot of good and a lot of harm with that scripture, but I am going to take it at face value and let it – and Him – direct my path on this one.
I have a habit of assuming that folks I love and lead pretty much know what I desire, and even sometimes expect, from them. For a lot of leaders, that can be a faulty assumption. I have spent the last seventeen months getting to know you and watching our ministry relationship grow. Thankfully, we are also seeing growth in a lot of other areas: attendance, giving, development of our children and youth, spiritual formation, impactful care in and beyond our church. The seven things I am asking of you will help us advance in all these areas in one way or another. But most of all, they can serve to make us more like Jesus and the faith community He wants us to be.
So, let’s start with Jesus. Let’s own up front that He alone is the reason we exist. Jesus, by all accounts, is the perfect object of our shared identity. We are, after all, Christians. Read all about Him from the source. Pay attention to His teachings. Notice what He valued. How He treated people. What made Him happy. What made Him mad. What broke His heart. Then get busy being as much like Him as you can be. (Fortunately, through a living relationship with Him, we will also get some help with that from the Holy Spirit and the Father who art in heaven.)
When we do that, we will stand out, because, if you haven’t noticed, the world is not like that. Sadly, neither are a lot of churches. But He wants it to be, and He wants to use His people to make it that way. And how can we do that?
KEEP THE FOCUS ON JESUS AND, JUST LIKE HE DID, LEAD WITH LOVE.
I’ll have a lot more to say about that and the other six things I will implore of you. But that’s enough to get us started. Individually and collectively, let’s just agree to that as a more than worthy pursuit. If FBC is going to be all that I dream it can be, that’s the foundational value we will build it all on. Let’s get busy.
Dr. Glen Money
Senior Pastor