It didn't take long to figure out why
this guy was spiritual,
but not very religious.
I was having pizza with my dad
and this older couple that we had just met the other day.
And my dad and I were kind of
giving each other some grief and
I was making fun of him
and he turned to the couple and said,
"Hey, a son is supposed to respect
"and honor his father.
"That's in the Bible, right?
And before they could answer,
I said, "Yeah but
"my dad goes to my church
"so I'm his pastor, and he's supposed to honor me.
"Right?"
And we both laughed but
the couple didn't laugh.
The guy kind of scowled back at me and he said,
"You don't have to honor your pastor.
"That's not in the Bible."
And gently, I kind of suggested,
"Well, I'm pretty sure it is."
And he snapped back,
"Well, I suppose you want me to give money
to your church, too?"
Wow.
I don't know the story, but
I would bet you a thousand dollars that there is one.
Sounded like this guy had a
really, really bad experience with someone
like me and maybe with a church like mine.
And I know so many people are in that situation.
They've had a bad run-in with a leader of a church.
Someone who was overbearing.
Someone who was too judgmental.
Someone who was quick to speak
and so slow to listen.
Someone who plunged into adultery or immorality.
Someone who was greedy and stole from the church.
Someone who really didn't care about the poor
or they didn't care about people at all.
Someone who was in it for himself.
And maybe that's your story.
Maybe you consider yourself a spiritual person
and you pray and you talk to God
but you just don't have a connection
because of something that happened.
And it that's true for you,
I want you to know that,
that Jesus gets it.
Jesus has some really specific descriptions
of what a pastor should be like.
You know pastors are people
and they're not perfect.
But he has a very high standard
because he knows how much
a compassionate, loving, patient
pastor can draw people
to the Word of God.
Or how quickly he can push them away.
So, let's think about pastors.
Let's pray for them today as we read
that description in 1 Timothy, chapter 3.
It says:
Part of me is
terrified by those words.
That's a really high standard.
But that's a great thing for us to,
to pray about today.
Some of you have been away from the church.
You haven't had a really great spiritual community
to encourage you and keep you accountable
for a long time.
Let's ask God to help us forgive
the pastors of our past and
reconnect in a really intentional way.
And even more, let's pray that God
would raise up really good people to pastor churches,
to draw people to the grace of God.
And especially our Savior Jesus Christ.
So, let's pray.
Dear God.
I think about the power of pastors.
I think about how many people love gathering
every Sunday with a community
because their pastor has loved them well.
And I think about all the people who have
walked away because they haven't been loved well.
I pray, God, for a spirit of
forgiveness for all those who have been wounded,
those who have been hurt. And,
God, you know so many who've been abused.
I pray that you could remind them
that that was a person.
That was not a church
and that definitely wasn't you.
I pray that you would draw them
back to your word and your people.
That they would find hope and encouragement
and a great community to pursue you together with.
And Father, I pray for pastors today.
I know that the temptation,
you say in the Bible that if
the shepherd is struck then
the sheep will scatter.
And if I'm struck and I give in to temptation,
only you know the damage and
the fallout that will happen.
So protect me and protect all of us who lead churches.
Help us to be respectable.
Help us to be loving people.
Help us to be gentle.
Help the doors of our homes to be open.
That we be hospitable.
Help us to not be proud but humble
as we serve just like Jesus did.
God, without you,
churches are going to be so dysfunctional.
It's going to push people away from you.
So, please God,
fix what needs to be fixed.
That people would be drawn
to the cross of Jesus.
We pray this in His beautiful name.
Amen.