"For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake."
(2 Corinthians 4:5)
No matter what people say, there's a tendency for those in positions of leadership to begin to crave attention. It may not be a strong characteristic at first, but over time the pull of fame and/or power becomes greater & greater. W in the "pastoring profession" are no exception. Paul knew this, too. That's why he made it a point to always stay on point - it's not about us, but Jesus.
We pastors know this in our head. But it's still hard to live out all the time. Whether we have a "big" or "small" congregation, it's compelling to want to be the one people look to for advice, inspiration, and vision. And in some ways, that's our job as pastors... BUT (and this is a BIG 'but')... we must be zealous about pointing others to Jesus, not ourselves. And we need to do it first, not AFTER we draw attention to ourselves.
Because, let's face it... even the best of us pastors will still let others down. We're human... and sinful, at times... and imperfect (like EVERYONE ELSE!). But God is not. Go is gracious, compassionate, and The Almighty! He's the One we ALL need to be pointing to and proclaiming.
No comments:
Post a Comment