That means that there will be days in my life that I am happy, days when I am sad, and days in between. I'll react to events and to people in various ways depending on what's happening in my life - always with grace (I hope) - but in a realistic fashion - not fake.
However in the smaller church, I'm not sure that authenticity is valued very highly at times. It seems that people would rather have a pastor/cheerleader.
When something goes wrong, I can deal with it and do. The analytical in me looks to see how it happened, what the effects were, and how we can keep it from happening again. But we don't pretend it didn't happen.
In small church, things are magnified. People leave, even one person leaves, and people react like the entire church is dying. I find myself having to stop and explain who we are again, how God is in control, and that we exist for His glory. not for man's preferences. I find myself doing this again, and again, and again.
I remember reading an article a while back on "Smiling Pastors", focusing on Joel Osteen's appeal. The writer seemed to thing that one of the major appeals Osteen has is his ever smiling face. I must be the most cynical pastor alive, but I'm calling that a made for TV effect. But CEO's apparently suffer from the same expectations. In an article Wired magazine quotes a CEO:
When you're the CEO, you've got to get off the elevator each morning with a big smile on your face. No matter what's going on in the company. Everyone looks to you for a temperature reading.
So what about it pastors?
Do you feel that sort of pressure? And if you do, how do you handle it?
Is this limited to the smaller church?
I'd love to hear some answers.
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