This was a week of many lessons. Perhaps the most important was the reminder that “We are the Church.” During a Kairos weekend, one of the most memorable talks is entitled “We are the Church.” The purpose of the talk is to remind inmates that the church is not a building, organization or denomination, not a pastor or youth director, worship team. We are the church. This is particularly important to the incarcerated who have often had a bad experience with “church” and have thrown out Christianity with the bad taste they have for a church experience.
It’s also an important lesson when you lose your pastor. Many in a good church have had a bad experience with church somewhere else. One of the new elements of the church in which they found Jesus is the pastor. But it’s just an element. Jesus is the imnportnt part. The pastor is not the church. For some who have equated the Pastor with the Church, this was a harder week than it needed to be. I pray especially for those.
The rest of us need to remember that lesson, for it is easily forgotten. In the weeks and months ahead we need to remind ourselves, and each other, that We are the Church. We need to act as the Church and as we look for a new Pastor, we need to keep the true nature of the church in mind.
The most important attribute in a pastor is not his preaching ability, organizational skills, or even the love in his heart. A pastor has to convince us that we are the Church and never let us forget that. It’s a tough job, but then, that’s why he gets the big bucks.
See I’ve kept my sense of humor. Hope you have as well.
Be blessed.
Nick
Be the first to reply