What Being a Pastor Means to Me

I am so grateful for God’s call into the ministry.  After just over 28 years of full time ministry and the previous 21 under my father’s ministry, I am still excited about serving the Lord!

As I sat this morning doing my devotions I began to think of all the things that as a pastor I get to do that I am grateful for.  Please let me list some of them.

1. I get to be one of the first at church just about every service!  I know that some would see this as a burden, but there is something special about entering into the empty Lord’s House with anticipation knowing that it’s about to have people come to hear the Word of God taught and preached and that they might fellowship together too.  To be honest, there is always a bit of anxiousness to see who actually will make it on any given service too. (Hebrews 10:25)
2. I get to help people that no one else gets to help at that moment of time!  People will often come to church services or call the church looking for help in some area of their life.  It may be, like the call this week, a fellow laborer from out of the area who called to just talk about their hurts and struggles.  They were not looking to me for answers but just an ear to their hurts.  And out of the over 7.5 billion people in the world I am blessed to share their burden and heart.  This is a joy not a burden because I get to point them to their Savior over and over again. (Galatians 6:2)
3. I get to share in some of the most important moments in people’s lives!  I have watched people bow their head and trust Christ as Savior, like the woman who did so just a few weeks ago on Wednesday evening after service.  There is no greater privilege than that!   I have been the first non family member to see new born babies because “I am their pastor.”  I have watched as young men and women unite in marriage because they wanted their church and pastor to bless their union.  I get to watch young people go off the college to prepare for their lifetime for service for the Lord Jesus Christ after years of watching them grow from children to young men and women.  And I also have the solemn duty of honoring a saint of God who has graduated to Glory.  It is a privilege to share in these watershed moments in people’s lives.  These are moments I treasure from being a pastor.
4. I get to preach the Word of God regularly!  I love God’s Word and though I fail to do it justice, I love to share it to those hearts which want to learn His truths.  I will once again be honest enough to say that I grieve when hearts are cold and shut off to the truths I am trying to share, but I must leave that in God’s hands and simply do my part.  Knowing that God’s Word will not return void is a joy I can not always describe. (2 Timothy 4:2)
5. I get to stand for right and stand against wrong.  Because I am not a politician and do not have to be politically correct, I can stand against what the world says I should stand for and vice versa.  That ought never be a point of pride, but it gives freedom to do what I know is right regardless of what the world system around says.  I should NEVER stand for just what I believe but should ALWAYS stand for what God says. (2 Peter 2)
6. Even though many pastors have marred the testimony of the position of the man in the pulpit, I get to represent positively the pastor’s position to an unsaved world.  I get the privilege of proving to them that not all preachers are crooks or liars.  I get to show them that men of God CAN be trusted and honored, not because of me, but because of my God Who is faithful. (1 Timothy 3:1-7)

I guess it is a matter of perspective, but that’s how I see it.  It is a joy to be a pastor and joy to pastor the people I am called to pastor here at Valley…even if they are human and do human things from time to time like I do.