Wouldn't it be a surprise if you showed up for church on Sunday to find no one there to lead the service?
It's as automatic as turning on the light switch and expecting the ceiling lights to flash on. If the power is out, who doesn't flip the switch a few more times just to make sure the initial lack of power wasn't just a fluke. You show up at church, you expect the pastor to pass out some spiritual food for thought.
The pastor shows up week after week. Their Sunday is spent building you up spiritually. Just because the individual is a pastor doesn't mean that they don't need a spiritual boost themselves. When does the pastor get the opportunity to sit in a pew and soak in a worship service? Rarely is my guess.
I've been working on a big project in our church. I've gotten lots of, shall we say, critiquing. Not that it's a critique of the kind to improve the work; it's the critique of the sort from people who don't really want to do the work but want it done their way just the same or want to add even more work to an already overwhelming job. My project has an end date. The pastor and staff keep going year after year. If I'm getting that kind of critiquing, I can't imagine how much more the pastor receives.
For example, complaints about the sermon length—too long, too short, you should have added this or left that out. Suggestions for programs, Bible studies, or projects dropped on the pastor without any offers to back up the ideas with actions it seems would drive a pastor crazy. Maybe they have just learned to let those things roll off and not be bothered by it. I know that a plethora of "suggestions" every week would drive me crazy.
Some pastors of small churches are dually employed, carrying a second full- or part-time occupation to pay the bills. You've got to respect someone with that level of dedication to their calling.
Bottom line, our pastors work hard. It's not the breaking rocks type of hard work, but difficult work just the same. They show up week after week to feed our souls. They help us find peace in grief and share our triumphs. And most of them will set aside whatever they are working on at that moment to simply talk for a while.
In a way, pastors are much like farmers in that farmers deal with moving targets like prices, weather and politics while pastors deal with a different kind of moving targets like relationships, people, joy, grief and spiritual highs and lows.
Maybe this week instead of offering suggestions for the next sermon, how about thanking your pastor for all the work they do to insure your eternal future?
Bev Berens is a mom to 4-H and FFA members in Michigan. Do you have a story to share? Email her at uphillfarm494@yahoo.com.