Christian Life and Your Pastor

Come in, I’m Busy

Too often Pastors hear from their congregants that they would come and talk to the pastor but, “[he’s] always so busy! I wouldn’t want to waste your time!” Nothing sounds more like nails on a chalkboard to a Pastor’s ears than those words. Too busy! Bologna.

There is certainly a lot that goes into the Pastoral Office. Some of those activities are divinely ordained: preaching, teaching, conducting the service, administering the Sacrament, hearing confession, and study. But, some of them are not: answering the phone, making the bulletin, cleaning the Church, making coffee (and, of course, drinking that coffee), maintaining the website, answering emails, answering letters, planning the services and Bible studies, church maintenance, and the like. The second list of things is certainly important, don’t get me wrong. Tasks like making the bulletin and planning directly impact the work of the ministry, that is, they creep up into the first list of Divinely ordained activities. But, they really are secondary and the activity of the Church — what God has placed the Church on earth to accomplish — may still be accomplished without those activities taking place.

So, sure, your Pastor is busy. But, the things your Pastor is doing are not all of superior importance or divinely mandated! Your Pastor is busy, he wants things to go well at Church, he wants people to have the best experience they can on Sunday, he wants the barriers to entry as low as possible for the people who may be visiting the Church for the first (but we pray not last) time! However, to confuse your Pastor’s working a lot with his not having time for you is terrible!

Taking care of the souls of Christians is the primary responsibility of the Pastor. Too often parishioners will come to the Pastor after their lives have blown up, they’ve been caught in some terrible sin, or they feel depressed, lost, and along. And, in coming to the Pastor after these things have transpired, their comment to the Pastor is something like this: “oh, yeah, um… Just so you know, Pastor, I murdered a guy last week.”

“WAIT. What?” the Pastor sputters, “didn’t you think about talking to me before you killed the guy?” The parishioner likely stopped by, but the Pastor looked busy. Or, they didn’t even stop by because they knew the Pastor would be busy. There are two problems here:

1. The parishioner thought that what the Pastor spends his time on is more important than the parishioner.
2. The pastor was not doing his due diligence in knowing his congregation well enough to sense that “Bob” was going to commit homicide.

What your Pastor wants you to know about being a Pastor is this: Come in, I’m busy.

I work between 60 and 70 hours a week. That sounds like a lot but its not the same as a nine-five job. “Work,” for the Pastor involves reading, praying, and administrative tasks. It also involves going to lunch with a parishioner, visiting shut-ins, and spending time with members of the congregation. So, what may sound like a lot, 60-70 hours, has perks that other jobs don’t. I live right next to the Church, that’s fantastic (cheaper car insurance, thanks!). Spending half of the day out making visits is a blessing. I am blessed to have the joy of sharing the Christian life with other Christians constantly. I am blessed to share in the sorrows of our Christian brothers and sisters and bring them the Word of God which binds up and comforts all. I am blessed to have difficult, unpleasant, uncomfortable, conversations with people who struggle in the faith and war against the Spirit’s work in their members — that’s not a walk in the park, but God be praised that He has asked me to do this and given me the tools to accomplish His will.

So, again, business does not mean that I don’t have time for you. When I get back from visits, I cram as much administrative work and study in as I can before I go home. So, if it seems like I’m busy, I am. I’m not lazy, I’ll find a way to fill my time. But, wouldn’t it be nice if instead of filing papers, we could spend an hour or two together talking over your life, sharing in the forgiveness of sin, and strengthening the power of the Spirit at work in our members for our Sanctification? I think so and I pray that you never fall prey to the whisper of demons: “Don’t wasssste hisss time! He’ssss to bussssy for ssssomeone like you!”

I am busy, but not too busy for you. So, come in, I’m busy. It’s actually necessary for the proper functioning of the Pastoral Office for your Pastor to know you, care about you, and talk to you — and he loves doing it! Please pray for me, that I would be able to carry this out and retain the vigilance necessary to shepherd the flock of God.

Success in the Church Does Not Look Like Perfection

Too often people imagine that success in the Church is simply perfection of the external life. That is, if they can manage to live a life that is relatively publicly “righteous,” (however they define that) then they have arrived at success. Or, the concern becomes more corporate (ecclesial would be a better word) and they assume that life in the Church is successful when the Church building is full, the programs of the Church are bustling, and when everything that isn’t happening on Sunday clicks along busily, the same every year. Of course, people who are minded thusly wouldn’t disagree that Sunday morning is important but they wouldn’t measure the success of the Church through the activities of Sunday morning.

We shouldn’t think like this. Success in the Church does not look like perfection in any way. A full Church is not a healthy Church, a busy Church is not a healthy Church, and the things that occur in the life of the Church outside of Sunday morning impinge in no way on the success of the Church. Moving more close to home, the life of a Church member is not successful when they have achieved a sort of outward perfection. How easy is it to keep up appearance? Relatively easy. But, how destructive to the soul is the outward appearance of the individual. Assuredly, there are plenty of Scriptural passages that attest to this fact.¹

No, success in the Church and success in the life of the Christian run in parallel courses and they run inwardly; not outwardly.

Successful Christian Life

For example, a successful Christian is a dead Christian. You wouldn’t want to say that about the Church! A successful Christian life on this side of the grave is one of repentance. It means that our focus is on the Cross of Christ and the benefits that it bestows on us. The cycle of Christian life is this: Sin, Repent, Live, Repeat. For the psychologizing world, that sounds like a vicious cycle. However, for the Christian, whose gaze is fixed ever on the Cross and who receives again and again the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, this cycle is not vicious but restorative and healing.

When a Christian sins, they know that they may receive their forgiveness directly from Christ Himself as He works through the Divine Service. Beyond this, they know that God has placed a Pastor in their life to deliver these gifts to them. This is why, in the explanation of Confession in the Small Catechsim, it says the Christian should regard the Pastor’s words as Christ’s words. The Pastor is placed into the office Christ occupied while he walked this earth. So, the custom of confessing one’s sins to the pastor arises from the understanding that handling sins by yourself is foolish. Of course, the Christian confesses and repents only to the Father. But, as Christ is the advocate of the Christian before the Father, so the Pastor speaks those advocating words to the Christian. It is not that the Pastor has power over the sins of the Christian, these belong only to Christ. It is the case, rather, that the Pastor is charged to speak the decrees of Christ to the forgiven sinner who has confessed and repented of their sins. “Jesus’ blood has covered this,” is the kind of thing the Pastor says in confession. It is similar to the beginning of the service when the Pastor says, “in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” These are not the man’s words but the words of the office God has called the man to occupy.

Within the matrix of confession and absolution, the heart of the life of repentance, there are other tools which aid in a successful Christian life. Another one of these tools is found in the moment of confession, or the rite of confession and absolution. What I’m talking about is the moment that the Pastor aids the Christian in self-discovery and directs them back toward righteousness. It may come in the form of assisting the Christian in their confession. Perhaps, the Christian is aware of the sinfulness of their actions and desires but doesn’t understand how they have actually sinned. Or, they know they have sinned but do not know how to tame the flesh, rise with the new man, and combat their sinful actions, dispositions, and desires. The Pastor is there as a spiritual guide to apply the Scriptures to the individuals who come with the burden of sin, in need of relief.

In addition to this, Pastoral counseling combats shame. Guilt is the feeling we get when we do wrong. Shame is the feeling we get when we have been sinned against. Both are equally destructive to the conscience. Both damage Christians. Both can, and do, damage faith. The complexities of being sinned against are best dealt with in conversation with the Scriptures, with your Pastor, and through prayer.

That leads us to another aspect of a successful Christian life: Prayer.

It is too easy to forget prayer. Especially in an American context, prayer often falls under the reading of Scripture when we rank aspects of the Christian life according to importance. However, we are not only commanded to pray but know that there are promises attached to prayer. A dedicated prayer life fosters a healthy inner life. A rightly ordered prayer life is indicative of a healthy relationship to the doctrine of the Church and the teachings of Scripture. That being said, prayer is difficult, demanding, and often so much so that many Christians don’t pray even once a day. Strikingly, only one in about a thousand couples pray out-loud together. This should shock us but, in reality, its not that surprising.

For too long the Church has not modeled prayer very well. We rush through the liturgy, our prayers are all written out, and we go through the rite as if it is rote. Now, these things in and of themselves don’t militate against a strong and healthy prayer life. Rather, these are helps to us that form an inner life. Praying written prayers (or even writing your own prayers out before you pray them) is like helping a man learn to walk again after he lost the use of his legs for a time. Perhaps your interior life is too noisy to think of prayers on the fly. Well, memorize a prayer. Perhaps your self-control is too weak to spend an hour in prayer. Well, go through a written prayer service with plenty of distinct parts and petitions to hold your focus. Then, as you begin these practices, you will learn again to walk on your own.

SIDE NOTE, having a place set apart in your house for prayer is a very helpful practice.

Beyond prayer, a successful Christian life includes the part of confession and absolution that comes after the absolution; namely, rising to new life. We ought to put to death our flesh and our sins. This requires the modification of our behavior and our speech. Now, remember, we’re not judging success by outward perfection but by an inward change that leads to outward behavior.

Fasting is an ancient practice of the Church. The earliest Church, the Church of the Apostolic Fathers, (the disciples of the Apostles) would fast every week of the year on Wednesday and Friday. And, during penitential seasons, like Advent, Lent, and Holy Week, they would fast for upwards of four days. Putting to death the flesh requires modification of behavior. Jesus promises blessings to those who fast and do good works, even calling them wages, which are stored in Heaven and not here on earth.

Fasting falls under the category Discipline and is only one of the ways that the Christian may exercise discipline. Perhaps you struggle with hate. Perhaps you hate somebody. Well, another type of discipline that could help you leave off of hate would be praying for, speaking kindly of, and doing acts of charity for the person that you hate. In this instance, you’re causing your flesh to go against its own desires and incline toward the desires of the Spirit.

Disciplines like fasting and prayer contribute to the Christian life in this way: they incline the believer toward Christ and away from themselves. Its a way that the Holy Spirit heals the individual. They are blessings in and of themselves.

Success in the Church Corporately

Success in the corporate Church is more difficult to gauge. As the parable of the ten virgins reminds us, everyone in the Church basically looks the same. So, lets break the purpose of the Church down a little bit.

Hospital for the Sick

The primary function of the Church is the divine service. That is, what happens in the Sunday service is what the Church is for. Christ has given us His gifts through the Service He preforms for us on Sunday. The hearing of the Word, preaching, and the reception of the Sacraments are necessary for the healing of the Sick — sinners — and the restoration of the fallen. If the Church is faithful in her reception of the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation; not despising the gifts but gladly receiving them, then she is a successful Church. This requires Pastor and People to be humble servants, dutiful slaves, and submit to the authority and power of Christ.

Newspaper Stand

Often times, more liberal Churches will use code words like: The Great Commission to mean a whole host of things. For our purposes, fulfilling the Great Commission means publishing God’s decree of Salvation for all men. I’m borrowing a KJV word there. Rather than proclaim the KJV translates κηρύσσω (Kay-ru-so which means to preach or proclaim) as publish and I think that is helpful for us. As the Christian Church in this place, Edgerton, we are called by God to publish the good news of Salvation. Success in the Church corporate requires this command to be being fulfilled. And this, successively, requires the Pastor to equip the Saints in the Church to do this work. Now, the Pastor is the chief missionary, every Pastor is a missionary, but that does not exclude the individual Christian from the command to preach the Gospel.

A Church corporate is successful when the Pastor equips the saints to proclaim the Gospel and they work together to reach those who have never heard, refused to hear, or have had no chance to be reached by the Church before. This, as you can imagine, is subjective.

The Church as a Home

Another code word used by evangelicals is: Fulfilling the Great Command. And, I don’t mind borrowing their terminology as long as we fill it with good content. The Church corporate is successful when the Christian is formed in a way that inclines them toward love of neighbor both inside and outside the Church walls.

Don’t read that and think that it requires us to participate in some kind of programmy organization that ships our “love” overseas or across state lines. (There’s nothing wrong with doing some of that as long as it doesn’t hamper the Church in the local doing mission work and charitable work). Rather, it requires us to be God’s hands and feet in the community, to care for the poor, the downtrodden, the abused, and the destitute in our own community. This is often difficult work, it often requires lots of hard work, and it is in no way glamorous. But, it is glorious. Too often communities think that Churches don’t care about them because the Churches don’t do anything that shows that they do, in fact, care about them. There was a Church in South Carolina that aided a local public school in purchasing instruments for the school band and the relationship between the Church and the community quickly changed because the Church demonstrated that it cared about the community. The Church demonstrated that it is a home with a family inside that loves each other and their neighbors.

Again, this is subjective. But, the Church corporate is successful when the Great Commandment is being fulfilled primarily inside the Church walls and secondarily outside the Church walls.

The Successful Christian Life

Successful Christian life is simply the life of repentance and forgiveness, a life that more and more inclines to love and turns away from sin, a life that shares its faults with Christ and receives healing for those faults from the Cross. It is not a glorious life, it is a painful sacrificial life. It is a life that draws others into its beauty not with wealth, flashy signs, or a put together appearance. Rather, it draws others into the beauty of love, sacrifice, and healing, always focused on the Cross and always bearing Christ about in our redeemed flesh.

The take away is this: Don’t let perfection replace success in your eyes, don’t let your failures obscure the Cross, and don’t fixate on yourself. If you do, you are warped away from Christ and the corporate Church becomes warped in on itself as well. It becomes sick, but not beyond healing.

I am Human Too

This section is brief. Your Pastor is human too. He will make mistakes. He will sin. And, he will repent to you. Life in the Church is one of Grace and we must always forgive each other. Your Pastor is not surprised by your sins so, do yourself a favor and expect him to let you down as well!

Your Sins Don’t Surprise Your Pastor

Believe it or not, the title is true. Fleeing confession and absolution because your sins are shocking is not the right move. Fleeing counseling because your sins are too severe is another wrong move. Your sins won’t and cannot surprise your Pastor.

If you’re reading into that, you might think that means he has a low opinion of you to begin with. That’s not the case. Rather, he, like you, is human. He, like you, is a sinner. He has the same need of forgiveness that you do.

If Pastor and People are focused on the Cross, sin cannot obscure the view. No matter how great a sin one might commit, it cannot be bigger than the Cross. And, that’s the attitude your Pastor takes to your sins. No matter how big they are, they cannot be bigger than the Cross. And, lets face it, no one is surprised when they themselves or others around them sin: no matter how outwardly perfect their appearance may be.

Even though you have a young Pastor, as fate would have it, he has heard more confession than some seasoned pastors. He has counseled more than some seasoned pastors. And, he’s been involved in quite a few dire situations. So, if the above doesn’t convince you maybe this will: its not surprising.

Here’s an old saying that was put on many placards around the Church:

The Pastor’s Study is a symbol of the calling of the Christian minister to be a shepherd of the flock of God. Here sermons are prepared to feed the congregation on God’s Holy Word. Here the work of the Church is planned so that the congregation my grow in grace and bear fruit in fellowship, teaching, and witnessing. Here you will always find a friend and a counselor in time of need. He will not be surprised at your sins, nor will he judge you in them, but he always invites you to share in the wisdom and love of God, the knowledge of forgiveness of sins, and the saving Grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

You are always welcome.

Besides, your sins don’t belong to you or to your Pastor; they belong to Christ.

Maybe this was too wordy but I hope it was edifying and helpful to some. See you in Church or in Bible Study!

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1. Matthew 23 for example. ↩︎