This is a good video as we look at Stewardship, which confronts consumerism in our culture...and, indeed, in our church. This short video is also about how we get the church to avoid idolatry.
It is to feed sheep…that men are called to churches and congregations, whatever they may think they are called to do. If you think that you are called to keep a largely worldly organization, miscalled a church, going, with infinitesimal doses of innocuous sub-Christian drugs or stimulants, then the only help I can give you is to advise you to give up the hope of the ministry and go and be a street scavenger; a far healthier and more godly job, keeping the streets tidy, than cluttering the church with a lot of worldly claptrap in the delusion that you are doing a job for God. The pastor is called to feed the sheep, even if the sheep do not want to be fed. He is certainly not to become an entertainer of goats. Let goats entertain goats, and let them do it in goatland. You will certainly not turn goats into sheep by pandering to their goatishness. Do we really believe that the Word of God, by His Spirit, changes, as well as maddens men? If we do, to be evangelists and pastors, feeders of sheep, we must be men of the Word of God.
So, how much of what I do on a Sunday...or on a daily basis...is feeding sheep?
While I think this must resonate with anyone who is "a boss" and they see their employees having fun or making plans as they sit in their office with the barrier of the "boss" label, I think it has great ramifications for pastoral leadership. I do not lift myself up as a great leader. I often feel like I'm merely muddling through in my roles; oftentimes much more content to "coast" or "tread water" than actually lead anything or anyone to anyplace at anytime. Let's get that straight. But, at times, I'm acutely aware that my designation of "pastor" limits my ability to be a friend. I heard this when starting out in ministry and it's true 17 years later.
There is nothing in my life right now that has made me feel this way any more than any other time. I have not looked out the window at a loud party and wished I was invited and I have not heard voices hush from their laughter as I walked in the room. Both of these have happened at other times, but not recently.
But the quote resonated with me.
I love the pastoral role. I really do.
Just, sometimes, it's kind of lonely.
And I've been OK with that.
So...if you're reading this and you have a pastor or priest, why not drop him or her a note, letting them know that they are appreciated. Make sure they have time to immerse themselves in their family...whatever that may be for them. Invite them out to coffee for non-work purposes. Invite them to a movie. Strike up a conversation about sports or books or TV or a hobby. Encourage them to find the company of other pastors where they don't have to be defined by their clerical hat that they wear. And, if you really want to help...help lead.
I just finished with an hour and a half meeting with a University of Alaska, Fairbanks student at The Grind here in Girdwood. She wanted to talk about "Leadership" with someone who was a leader in the community...but not in a way that was based upon financial leadership. Apparently, I qualified. This was a good exercise. It forced me to think about leadership qualities in general and what specifically it meant for me. And, as I thought about it, I'm not sure I'm a great leader or even a very good one at times. I can think of so many instances where, if I had been a better leader, better stuff would have happened. However, as I look back, I've found myself in leadership positions for much of my life...youth group...college fraternity...church...Lions Club...PTA...etc. And I'm not so sure I was the best person for those positions at the time but I was the one who was willing. Perhaps a willingness to lead is part of it.
The think I kept coming back to is vision. A leader needs to be like the champion chess player who is thinking 20 moves ahead. A leader needs to be able to see the whole playing field. A leader can't suffer from myopia. A leader needs to see what's coming, have a vision, and be able to cast that vision in such a way that persons follow along. A leader needs to communicate in such a way that others can "catch the vision." Otherwise, you just have one crazy person with an idea and no followers. It's like the following TED video:
Without followers there is no leading taking place. It's just one crazy person with an idea. Our scriptures tell us in Proverbs 29:18:
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Leaders need to realize this and be able to look beyond what's right in front of their faces. For us in the church, this means being able to see, demographically, what's coming. It means knowing who it is that sees the bigger picture and listening. And, again, presenting this preferred future in such a way that persons embrace it and go along for the ride.
I talked about a lot.
Another thing I spent some time talking about is recognizing who it is that needs to be on board for something to happen. In my first church, I recognized that the United Methodist Women's Group was really the gatekeepers of the church. If they were on board, it could happen. But, as pastor, if I didn't have their support, I was going to have difficulty proceeding with whatever idea, vision, thought, plan, program it was that I had. I remember the story of Under Armor, the athletic wear. When that company was starting out, it had what they thought was a good product and thought it would prove beneficial to athletes. However, they had to convince them to wear clothing that was, in a real sense, modeled on female undergarments -- nylons -- stockings. The plan of the company was to get some big stars on board and, if they liked the product and used it, others would join up. That's what they did. That's what happened. And Under Armor is everywhere in the sporting world now.
So, for the church or our communities, we need to see what groups or persons need to be on board as early adopters. We need to know who our first followers will be. They are the ones that become the best evangelists for us. Even Jesus needed his disciples and the apostles. He needed someone to get on board and share the vision and message that was proclaimed to them.
photo © 2007 hobvias sudoneighm | more info (via: Wylio)
Image via WikipediaGot this great quote from over at DashHouse.com. It's from William Still's book, The Work of the Pastor:
Image by Aditya Grandhi via Flickr“Part of leadership is having to face your fears and loneliness.” 
