Sincerely, Scotty – Perfect Pastor

For those who know me, you know I’m not a preacher, minister, or priest. I’m merely a layman in the Methodist church. I try to make my contributions, and do my share of work, but since my wife and I travel a good bit, I admit to not being able to contribute as much as I would like to my local church. However, that is not what I want to address. Regardless of your denomination or faith, I would like to ask you, “How do you like your pastor? What do you expect of him or her? And does (s)he live up to your expectations?” Hopefully, you would answer, “I like him (or her) and most, if not all, of my expectations are met.” That would indeed be an unusual congregation if everyone answered like that. It would be a pastor’s dream come true. But unfortunately, it’s only a dream, a wish, a hope – something to work for.

There was a small article in the St. John’s (Episcopal) church (Bainbridge, Georgia), newsletter that describes the perfect pastor. It goes like this:

He preaches exactly ten minutes and condemns sin without hurting anyone’s feelings. He works from 8 a.m. ‘til midnight and is also the church janitor. The perfect pastor makes $40 per week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, and gives $30 per week to the parish (church). He is 29 years old, has 40 years experience, and is always in his office. If your pastor does not measure up, send this to six other parishes (churches) that are dissatisfied with their pastors, then bundle up your pastor and send him to another church. In one week you will receive 1,643 pastors and one of them should be perfect! Have faith in this letter. One parish broke the chain and got its pastor back in three months.

Although humorous, that pretty well describes the layman’s idea of a pastor. I think it is impossible to please all the people all the time. Some will never be satisfied or pleased. Some of us think the pastor should give us, as an individual, his undivided attention. Still others put on blinders and think, “If he doesn’t agree with me, then there’s something wrong with him and we need to get someone who does agree with me.”

The career of a pastor has to be one of the most rewarding and yet one full of frustrations. He is the “CEO” of the church and, as such, is both the spiritual leader and the chief administrator. Oh yes, he has a lot of committees to help him, but it ultimately falls on his shoulders to see that they function as they are supposed to. It often takes more effort to do that than if he simply does it himself. And once again, ‘Super-Pastor’ comes through, while everyone else comments on what a good job the committee did.

It has been said many times that 20% of the people do 80% of the work. That, of course, is a generalization, but in many cases it is true. As in every organization there are followers, leaders, and those on the sidelines who watch. More simply put, there’s those that do and those that don’t.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to put down anyone. It’s simply that in all the places I’ve worked, organizations I’ve belonged to, and all the churches I’ve been a member of, there always has been and always will be leaders, followers, and watchers. In some cases, members of churches and other organizations are waiting to be “asked”; they don’t want simply to jump in and do something. So the pastor or committee chairman must look to see no one is overlooked. One of the “watchers” may have a special needed talent waiting to be used.

So I would ask you to think about what you can offer to your church or community organization. As I was writing this, I kept thinking about the old western comedy movie, “Support Your Local Sheriff.” Let me rephrase it to, “Support Your Local Pastor.”

Sincerely,

Scotty