This week, I had a chance to meet with several colleagues and friends. Our meeting was a part of the ongoing ordination process for several of the participants. I am one of the mentors of the group. My role is to encourage and guide my candidate through the final phase of their ordination. Let me tell you, I am greatly encouraged!
I get a chance to hear these pastors share a word from the Lord, how they are finding their place as pastors in the church, and how they are reflecting on what it means to be a witness to Jesus. They are faithful, discerning, thoughtful, and serious about their calling. Some are young. Others aren’t as young as they used to be. One candidate is actually from a church I once served and was in elementary school the last time I saw him.
Yesterday’s conversation centered on conflict. Of course, conflict is natural, normal, and I believe necessary. What I’ll tell you is conflict in ministry is heavy. Not that it’s any worse or demanding than what you might face in your work or vocation. People are people, after all. But there is something about the intermix of normal human behavior and our religious inclinations. Just a couple of years ago, at least one study indicated that more than 40% of pastors considered quitting ministry. And that’s not accounting for those that actually have.
I say all that to ask you to make to pray for our church’s leadership. They are praying for you. And we need you to pray for the spiritual discernment, self awareness, and faithful grounding in Christ to walk through the valleys of distress, stress, conflict, loneliness, and pressures related to politics, our prophetic tasks, and even maintaining the institutional stability of the church.
After leaving our meeting, I heard a great study on Psalm 2. The psalm opens like this: Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
As we reflect on what’s happening in our world today, it’s easy to see why that’s something to ask of every generation. The psalmist has some strong words to say to the nations and their supposed power in the world.
I left with the encouragement of the last line of the psalm: Happy are all who take refuge in him.
And I guess that’s where I want to land after saying all this. My encouragement to our new pastors is the same I give to you. No matter how far from and how strongly the world pushes against the way of God, find your strength, identity, peace, and calling from the happiness of following God.
Stay blessed...john
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