I have learned over the years, not to get too excited by every compliment I receive. There was a time I believed each one was about me and my greatness. Then something strange happened that had me looking at both my compliments and critiques differently.
I regularly preach in the congregations I serve, sometimes as the primary speaker at an alternative worship service, other times to fill-in when the lead pastor is away, and other times as part of the regular rotation. At one church, I would receive compliments after I preached about the way I told stories in my sermons. I heard how I connected with people where they were, and made the gospel easily applicable. I was beginning to think I might be the next Billy Graham. Then, suddenly, the compliments started to change. I started to hear from other people about how good I was at preaching the Bible – sticking to and expounding upon the text. No more would I be Billy Graham, but now I might be the next N. T. Wright. What changed?
Leave a Comment
Being an associate is like walking a tightrope. Well, I’ve never actually walked a tightrope. I’m afraid of heights. So I guess I’m saying that being an associate is like what I imagine it would be like to walk a tightrope. Or maybe it is more like a Johnny Cash song. Either way you have to walk the line.
Caulk is the gooey stuff used around windows and sinks that fills the gaps. It stops water from seeping into cracks, getting behind your tub, and doing damage that would be costly to repair. Caulk is also used to seal window and door frames to keep the cold air out in the winter and the cool air in during the summer, making those in the home more comfortable. Caulk is wonderfully useful around the house, but it is a terrible ministry model.
New Year’s Resolutions are passé. Many of us tend to make the same ones each December, and find that we have broken and forgotten them before February. We have been frustrated by them and defeated by them. But the idea of starting the year with a list of things we would like to change or improve in 2012 is a good one that intrigues many of us.
“The only person you have the power to change is you.” You have probably heard this more times than you care to count. I tell my children it is “Dad’s Secret to Life” (please don’t tell them I didn’t come up with it). Our recognition of this truth helps guide our relationships with our spouses, our children, and even the members of the congregations we serve. But I have met many associate pastors who have a great deal of trouble applying it in their relationship with their lead pastor.