By Mark A. Taylor
Usually he”s talking to us about us.
He”s asking us about our health or commenting on our children”s good looks. He”s thanking us for our solo or help with the food drive or leadership of VBS. Or he”s telling us why we”d be perfect for the job he has in mind.
Sometimes he”s listening to our latest complaint about volume, color, people, or policies.
But seldom does the minister talk to us about himself. His job is to serve us, after all, and we”re usually glad to just let him. Either we don”t know him well enough to ask him about his family, his goals, his fears, or his dreams. Or he doesn”t trust us enough to let down his guard and allow us to see him as he truly is.
That”s why this and next week”s issues are something special. Six different ministers talk about their ministries and give us an intimate, personal look at how they feel about their calling. Some of them speak about their own spiritual journeys. Some of them talk about difficult days in ministry. Some simply offer advice for coping with particular types or seasons of ministry.
All of them open a window on themselves””their ideals, their struggles, their passion for their ministry. They talk in a way you may never have heard your own minister talk.
And if you are a minister reading this issue, we think you”ll resonate with the challenges these writers put on paper.
Ministry is a unique calling, demanding a set of skills so diverse that few ministers excel in all of them. Most of us served by them don”t realize all they must know and the wide variety of tasks they”re called upon to perform. Their job may look easier than it is.
So we encourage you to read these articles and then make a resolution. (Good decisions need not be limited to New Year”s.) Give your minister a break. Pray for him at least as much as you criticize him. Encourage him face-to-face, or (even better) in a written note. Volunteer to help with a project he”s promoting. Give a few dollars extra to a cause he”s lifting up.
Invite him to dinner, show him this editorial, and tell him you”d like to hear about the biggest challenges he”s anticipating for his ministry in 2010.
And then do something unique. Listen to your minister talk to you about himself. You”ll probably decide it”s an experience you”d enjoy more often.
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