I have been a pastor at various levels of church life for 17 years.
Some of those years have been filled with occasional good moments - people getting saved, healed, changed. But most of them have been extremely difficult years.
Im tired of trying to get people who love their sin - to stop sinning.
I'm tired of feeling like I am a cheerleader in a pep rally with an uninterested audience.
I'm tired of being asked questions - and then when I genuinely give advice - I am ostracized for it. (That has even happened here on this forum).
I'm tired of pretending these things do not bother me.
I'm tired of explaining basic biblical concepts to those who call themselves Christians.
I'm tired of those people then rejecting those concepts (as if they were my idea).
All I ever hear is about this Pastor falling - or these people who were hurt in church - or this argument against a supposed heretic.
No one ever stops to consider that there ARE good pastors out there slaving away in churches - trying their best to love people who just complain all the time - dealing with the constant barrage of problems that would make most people run and hide.
** I had a young couple who said they were Christians come and ask me if I would marry them. They are fringe in our church - but I of course agreed to meet with them. At the initial meeting my wife and I asked the standard questions of purity. They responded they were pure - but just bought a house and planned on living together - sleeping in the same bed (but have no sex) for the next 6 months until the wedding. When we told them we could not support that as their pastor - they left the church and now are stirring up that we are "Pharisaical" among the body. Then people wonder why pastors just want to bury their heads in the sand and ignore it all.**
I'm...... just...... tired.
I have no one else who can handle me saying these sorts of things... so I unload them here among those of you who do not know me personally - nor need me to be a Super Spiritual Giant for you.
I hope it doesn't offend anyone.
Some of those years have been filled with occasional good moments - people getting saved, healed, changed. But most of them have been extremely difficult years.
Im tired of trying to get people who love their sin - to stop sinning.
I'm tired of feeling like I am a cheerleader in a pep rally with an uninterested audience.
I'm tired of being asked questions - and then when I genuinely give advice - I am ostracized for it. (That has even happened here on this forum).
I'm tired of pretending these things do not bother me.
I'm tired of explaining basic biblical concepts to those who call themselves Christians.
I'm tired of those people then rejecting those concepts (as if they were my idea).
All I ever hear is about this Pastor falling - or these people who were hurt in church - or this argument against a supposed heretic.
No one ever stops to consider that there ARE good pastors out there slaving away in churches - trying their best to love people who just complain all the time - dealing with the constant barrage of problems that would make most people run and hide.
** I had a young couple who said they were Christians come and ask me if I would marry them. They are fringe in our church - but I of course agreed to meet with them. At the initial meeting my wife and I asked the standard questions of purity. They responded they were pure - but just bought a house and planned on living together - sleeping in the same bed (but have no sex) for the next 6 months until the wedding. When we told them we could not support that as their pastor - they left the church and now are stirring up that we are "Pharisaical" among the body. Then people wonder why pastors just want to bury their heads in the sand and ignore it all.**
I'm...... just...... tired.
I have no one else who can handle me saying these sorts of things... so I unload them here among those of you who do not know me personally - nor need me to be a Super Spiritual Giant for you.
I hope it doesn't offend anyone.