What I Love About Being a Pastor

Sometimes I find myself complaining about expectations people have for pastors (me especially), but there's so much I love about this calling.

I love proclaiming God's good news. Though I do believe in calling a sin a sin, I'm not much of a hellfire and brimstone preacher. What I really like is telling the Good News - that Jesus died so we could be reconciled to God and live life to our full potential, the potential that God sees in us, the potential that He created in us.

I love being there when people "get it." It's awesome to see someone finally get it, whether they've just met Jesus or if they've been in church for years. When they get that it's not about us, but about Him; when they get that they've been given the responsibility and privilege to share the Good News... that's awesome.

I love singing praises to God. He deserves all our praise, and in my role, I get to lead praise singing. I'd always wanted to play the guitar, so when I finally got one and took lessons, the goal was to lead worship. I'm no Chris Tomlin - there are tons of great worship leaders (or lead worshippers) out there, but I know that I lead people to the throne of God.

I can't say I love funerals, but I really appreciate the ability God has given me to speak His words of comfort when celebrating a life lived for Him. Not much more to say about that.

I'm a people pleaser, my love language is "words of affirmation," and I want to make people happy - I know that I can't make everyone happy (especially while spurring them to greater Christlikeness), but I like the affirmation I receive. Sometimes it's "few and far between" and sometimes it's flattery, but I'm pretty discerning on that. And one of the biggest affirmations I get is being allowed to share in someone's life.

I meet some really interesting people. This is definitely both a plus and a minus of being a pastor!!! However, I have an automatic "in" to tell people about my love for Jesus Christ. When I tell people I'm a pastor, they have one of a few reactions. Sometimes they high-tail it out of there; they have a preconceived notion of what I'm going to be like, and they don't like it. Or they tell me everything wrong about the Church. Or they're open to hear about why I'm a pastor. Many have told me that I didn't fit into their preconceived notions about what a pastor is like - I'm all about that!! But it allows me to share how God has called me and how He is calling them (maybe not into the clergy, but to be reconciled to Him and to help reconcile others to Him as well).

I get paid to study the Bible and to listen to God's voice. What more could anyone ask for? I'm living a dream.

These are just some random thoughts about why I love being a pastor. I'll probably add to this at some time.