Holiday Season Heartache

"Tend ... the flock of God ... Not domineering [as arrogant, dictatorial, and overbearing persons] over those in your charge." (1 Peter 5:2a, 3a; Amplified)

Can I just be honest with you? If you're a minister, preacher, on staff, even a volunteer at a church, the holiday / Christmas season can be (and is many times) a burden. It's true.

This is how it happens. You have outreaches planned, parades, free meals you're offering, etc., that you must and will be a part of. You've spent the last six months preparing for a holiday play ~ and in some churches with real animals to boot! (I don't know where the idea of competing with Hollywood crept in.) And all these other holiday season type things you're offering beyond what is already an overflow of regular commitments and expectations. (I've lived it.)

And if you daresay you can't participate / choose to do something else, you will be frowned upon and thought of as not very committed to Christ's cause. ("What's wrong with you?") If you don't think it takes place in the church, well....

And what happens is the holiday season, Christmas and Jesus at the center of it ~ it all becomes a blur for ministers and their families. It does! And you're really just trying to survive until you can have some alone time with your wife and kids (and personally). And you lose a piece of yourself. (Selah~pause to reflect)

Pastor's kids become bitter over it. Good, caring (and called) ministers eventually leave the ministry. (Many of them do.)

It simply ought not to be. It takes compassion (and courage) to change it.

You might also be interested in:

• Favored One
• There Was No Room?

When Sheep Beat Up The Shepherd

(This is a follow up to the post: "When Shepherds Beat Up The Sheep" -> click here.)

They are in the line of fire. They are on Normandy Beach pinned down. The heavy guns are trained on them. They won't come out alive. They are not meant to. (A professor in college told us: "Don't go in the ministry unless you're ready to die.")

And the very ones who are meant to be fighting alongside the Pastor (shepherd) have turned against him. (Huh?)

Here's how it happens. The devil says, "He's preaching too long." And the sheep start thinking and saying it. The devil says, "He's spending your tithe on luxury." And the sheep start thinking and saying it. The devil says, "You were in this church before him. What does he know?" And the sheep start thinking and saying it. On and on it goes. Minds muddied, hearts turned against the Pastor (shepherd).

And so what if he preaches too long (just to speak to the first issue)? You fool. (Yeah, I said it. In Christian love, of course.) You fool. (There. I said it again. It's kind of like a slap to wake someone out of a stupor.) So what? You've fallen for the devil's lie. Can you not see far enough beyond yourself to the person who's in church for the first time, he is sitting in the far back row and God planned that overtime in the sermon (that you have a problem with because it's making you late for lunch) to be the very five minutes of preaching that's going to save him from hell and give him hope when he was about to end it all.

Whose side are you on anyway?

When Shepherds Beat Up The Sheep

Have you ever been injured in church? I'm not talking about tripping on the steps or getting a splinter from the pew (we don't use those anymore, but it fits). Rather, I'm talking about when the Pastor (shepherd) starts (quote) "throwing blows" from the pulpit.

Here's how it happens. The Pastor is upset over something. (He's human. That might be a revelation to some of you.) He carries his "upset" into church. He gets up to preach. He starts speaking. Everything seems normal up until - whammo! You don't know what hit ya. (And it wasn't the Holy Spirit that fell.) It came out of no where, left field, from over the rainbow. A cold cock (with words). POW! And you're on the ground (figuratively speaking). You're down for the count. 8, 9, 10. You're out! (Where am I?)

And when somebody says, "I'm not trying to make you feel guilty," it's because they are, they know they are and they know it's wrong. But I digress.

Now it would be one thing if none of us ever beat up (with what came out of our mouth) another person in our lifetime. (Romans 3:10) Then we'd be free to condemn, hold a grudge against, poo poo a minister who treated us wrong. Right? (I always like to do that.)

It's not that I'm condoning what took place. It's not that I'm minimizing your hurt. I'm just reminding you of Jesus' words: "'I do not say to you, [forgive] up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven'" (Matthew 18:22) and "'For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.'" (Matthew 6:14-15)

Could it be there's a Pastor (shepherd) you need to show mercy to? (And if you're a Pastor reading this, maybe you need to confess your sin to your people/sheep?)

Discerning False Teachers (in 30 seconds)

Pastor Mike talks about the difference between a faithful teacher and a false one. Do you know how to tell?

Discerning False Shepherds (in 30 seconds)

Pastor Mike talks about how it really does matter who your spiritual leader is. Are they faithful or false?