In trying to reflect on what makes the call to ministry satisfying despite the long hours and low salary, I begin with the church’s concept of itself. Each church has their unique set of challenges and both strengths and weaknesses. That is not what is disheartening to a pastor. What would lift my spirits as a pastor is a church that had a sense that they were more than just another organization. While there are practical decisions that have to be made to enable a church to function, I want a church that sees itself as something more than an organization. Not in a superior tone, but with a sense of both humility and awe, I want a church that senses that God is calling them to something greater than themselves.
As a pastor, I want a church that believes that they are part of the Body of Christ. Because I believe that the Word of God was incarnated in the body of the person of Jesus, I also look for how God is being expressed in the Body of Christ. I don’t believe that God made some colossal error in forming the church as an expression of the continuing ministry of his Son. In the same way that God and God’s word was not defeated by the sins of humanity that led to Jesus’ crucifixion, so I believe that God’s word is not blotted out by the sinfulness of humans in the church. So the task of a pastor is to enable the members of a church to exegete the Body. In all our humanness, God’s Word is still being embodied. Not everyone will see it as many did not see it in the person of Jesus, but it is still being fleshed out. Our task is to seek to hear it and give witness to it.
Consider how this changes our response to the various successes and failures of a church community. In our successes we are to celebrate what God is doing among us. In our failures, our first response is not to identify who is at fault but to listen to what God is saying to us in this situation. To be a pastor of such a church is a worthy calling.
