As a Discipleship Minister, I'm often placed in a position where I need to reach out to local churches, in order to help create a smooth transition from my care as a Shepherd, over to a long-term Shepherd. At any given time, I have between 5 and 25 people from around the world who seek out my guidance on discipleship. Once I get people to a certain point, I encourage them to find a local church to get additional fellowship.
To date, I've had ZERO PERCENT SUCCESS at accomplishing what should be a ridiculously simple task...
WHY?
Good question!
I blame the Pastors for this problem. All Pastors? Probably not, but out of all the Pastors that I've encountered, I've been unsuccessful at EVER getting past their secretaries! And let me be clear.... Most of the churches I've contacted are SMALL... Every now and then I contact a larger one too, but so far the situation has been pretty much the same...
Oh Pastor Keith, our Pastor X would love to speak with each and every member of our church, but it's just not possible. What-with outreach and sermon prep and hospital visits and baby dedications and funerals and bingo to prepare for, there's just no time! He does make himself available after every Sunday service in order to shake everybody's hands though! Isn't he the greatest?!
REALLY?
Let me get this straight... The secretary is tasked with telling SHEEP (and other Shepherds) that the Shepherd is TOO BUSY FOR THEM? How on earth is the Shepherd too busy for the SHEEP? Is this some kind of sick joke? IS THAT THE MODEL CHRIST GAVE US TO FOLLOW?!
Is there Biblical support for this insanity? Something in the "book of Pomposity" that states, "Hire thyself a secretary in order to prevent the sheep from contacting you. Only then shall thou be able to fleece thy flock!"?
I'm raving mad about this... RAVING!
I told another Minister (who's a friend of mine) to SMACK ME if I EVER make myself unavailable!
AND I MEANT IT!
I told him that God forbid that I should ever make myself so self important, that he should smack me as hard as he could in order to snap me out of it. God forbid I say, God forbid...
Proverbs 30:32-33 - If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth. For as the churning of milk produces butter, And wringing the nose produces blood, So the forcing of wrath produces strife.
To date, I've had ZERO PERCENT SUCCESS at accomplishing what should be a ridiculously simple task...
WHY?
Good question!
I blame the Pastors for this problem. All Pastors? Probably not, but out of all the Pastors that I've encountered, I've been unsuccessful at EVER getting past their secretaries! And let me be clear.... Most of the churches I've contacted are SMALL... Every now and then I contact a larger one too, but so far the situation has been pretty much the same...
Oh Pastor Keith, our Pastor X would love to speak with each and every member of our church, but it's just not possible. What-with outreach and sermon prep and hospital visits and baby dedications and funerals and bingo to prepare for, there's just no time! He does make himself available after every Sunday service in order to shake everybody's hands though! Isn't he the greatest?!
REALLY?
Let me get this straight... The secretary is tasked with telling SHEEP (and other Shepherds) that the Shepherd is TOO BUSY FOR THEM? How on earth is the Shepherd too busy for the SHEEP? Is this some kind of sick joke? IS THAT THE MODEL CHRIST GAVE US TO FOLLOW?!
Is there Biblical support for this insanity? Something in the "book of Pomposity" that states, "Hire thyself a secretary in order to prevent the sheep from contacting you. Only then shall thou be able to fleece thy flock!"?
I'm raving mad about this... RAVING!
I told another Minister (who's a friend of mine) to SMACK ME if I EVER make myself unavailable!
AND I MEANT IT!
I told him that God forbid that I should ever make myself so self important, that he should smack me as hard as he could in order to snap me out of it. God forbid I say, God forbid...
Proverbs 30:32-33 - If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth. For as the churning of milk produces butter, And wringing the nose produces blood, So the forcing of wrath produces strife.
Good post pastor. Love You.
ReplyDeleteThank you David...
DeleteMake no mistake, I love you too!
On a side-note, I can't help but wonder if you realize that this post is directly related to someone we all know and love! :)
And as a follow-up, I had 1 more since I posted this blog entry...
"Oh Pastor Keith, our Pastor X is just so busy! How about I have our "Men's Minister" reach out to you? Would that be okay?"
1st of all, I'd consider that the "booby-prize". Read John 10:11-13 for my reason why!
2nd, I agreed to have their "Men's Pastor" call me back. I've now been waiting for over 2 weeks. Needless to say, I will not be calling *them* back.
These churches and "pastors" should be ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES! Pastors..... You should only be doing this WORK if you are BEING CALLED TO DO SO. Acting in this way shows a CLEAR LACK OF CALLING. And trust me... If I can see it, EVERYONE WHO HAS EYES can see it too....
Repent I say....
REPENT!