The Leaf is a the favorite smoke shop of Abilene locals. It is an old-fashion smoke and coffee shop located downtown specializing in cigars and pipes. Frequently visited by college students and cigar aficionados it is a quiet place to grab a cup of coffee or a good cigar. The owner of The Leaf is a man named Bill. Today, while working on my disciple now material across the street at Monk's (a local coffee shop), fire trucks began pulling up to The Leaf, sirens blazing. Rushing outside to see what the commotion was. I caught up with Bill and inquired into what had happened. He said to me, "There is smoke coming out of the walk-in humidor and not the kind that we want to smell in there." The fire department inspected the situation and determined that the blower motor in the humidor had burned up. The blower was shut off, the fire trucks left, and The Leaf re-opened. But the incident made me think about Bill.
Bill is a very intriguing man and today isn't the first time that his work has burned him. Bill has a Bachelor of Science degree in Ministry as well as his Master of Divinity degree. Bill is a former pastor but now he owns a smoke shop. He had a bad experience at a church that he pastored and since has left the full-time ministry. Talk to him long enough and you will find out that Bill is bitter. He once saw me wearing a Logdson Seminary t-shirt and told me that seminary is where young men go to get their minds corrupted. Bill went through an experience that many pastors go through, he was burned by a church.
As someone who is aspiring to go into the pastorate having a bad experience at a church is something that is always at the back of my mind. I earnestly pray that God brings me to people who will love me. Currently, I love my job. I love the church that I work for. I love the people in that church. I don't want to be like Bill. I want to love the ministry. For those of you who are or are going to be ministers let me encourage you to burn proof your ministry and that starts with loving people. For those who are church attenders, fight for your pastors not against them. To many people who have surrendered to the call to ministry are surrendering their ministries. I feel bad for Bill but am inspired because of him, inspired to work hard for a lasting ministry, inspired to encourage others in their ministries, and inspired to help make myself and others burn proof.
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1 comments:
Unfortunately, for every guy like Bill who's looking back at ministry from the outside in, there are two or three who are just as bitter, and who see people in just as hostile terms, who are still preaching at them every Sunday.
I remember literally having a chill in my chest just before you were born when a guy in a church was interviewing at asked, "Preacher, how thick is your hide?" Later I found out what he meant.
I definitely know there are killer churches out there, and I've experienced them. But our responsibility is to continue to speak the truth in love, and to relentlessly pursue the glory of God, even when we're feeling out-politicked (I sure was in that church), criticized, and lied about (ditto for all that there as well... I'm starting to get a bit ticked off).
I would suggest, however that the alternative can also be as deadly. Proverbs 27:21 says, "The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, And each is tested by the praise accorded him." After 30 years of doing this, I still crave the praise of people at times. Okay, well, nearly all the time.
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