Tuesday I drove about 3 hours to a funeral of a pastor friend. Pastor Loren had been a pastor for over 39 years (11 years at his current church). He always pastored in a bi-vocational role. Whether working construction, farming or driving a school bus, he took various jobs so that he could afford to pastor in small country churches. He was a pastor that at 69 years old, finished well.
In the 4 years that I knew Loren, I learned something, he was a better Christian than he was a pastor. This is by no means a slight to his pastoral abilities, but he wasn't defined by his Sunday occupation.
Several years ago, after my Tebow conversation, I started a list of names of various people that I know who are in ministry. Some are previous pastors of mine and some are friends, but the list is all people that I know personally. Usually about once a month I open this list and pray for these people. The prayer I pray is simple. "Lord, help them to be a better Christian then they are a (fill in their occupation)."
I don't pray for Tim Tebow to be a great QB, I pray that he would be a great Christian. As I search my own heart I see this area as a need for myself as well. One of the dangers of ministry is to identify spiritual success with ministerial success. We take group success as personal growth, when the two aren't necessarily connected. With all of the effort we put in to being good at our occupational field are we missing out on investing in the one area that really matters?
No matter what your occupation, no matter what your pay grade or seniority status, strive to be a better Christian than you are a ___________!
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