One Pastor’s Open Letter to God
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Fri, July 29, 2005
- Viewed 539
- (17) comments so far
Why are some called to labor among the poor, the wretched, drug dealers and prostitutes while others serve in the comforts of suburbia, far from crime and gangs? Why do some suffer heart break, loss, anxiety attacks and bodily harm while others have luxury cars, million dollar houses and hefty bank accounts? Why do some endure ghastly pain, perilous nights and sullen days while others see victory after victory? I know that all people who truly serve you suffer in some way. There is joy in suffering when it is done in Your name. But some people seem to suffer a lot more than others. There is a disconnect going on here God that I am not quite understanding. Why do some preach in tailored suits behind oak pulpits while others cover themselves in rags before mounting a wooden crate beneath an oak tree? Who decides who gets to pastor the mega churches and who plants the church in the inner city surrounded by gang warfare? This is not a matter of jealousy God; this is a matter of life and death. I just want to know why some of your servants will toil for the rest of their lives in what seems like mundane futility while others will see substantial fruit yielded day after day. I know that all true rewards are eternal and perhaps this is the part of me talking that is all too human. I'll take whatever mission you give me not because I am a cold foot soldier merely taking orders but rather because I love you deeply. But please answer me this; why do some people get harder assignments than others? Amen.
Thoughts?
I like honesty… and I think God does too… Read this from "Wright off the Bat": God. I love you. You know that. But sometimes I have questions that seem to almost border on disrespect. May I ask one of them now? Why do you give some people harder assignments than others? Why do some people who serve you seem to get a "harder lot" in life? Why are there some ministers who live in shacks for houses and labor tirelessly for rewards that are eternal while their stomachs are starved for food?
Comments
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pjlr on Fri, July 29, 2005
I’m not God but I think the answer is clear to me. Because God can trust you with those assignments.
I have often said that God couldn’t trust me with a mega-church so he has allowed me to be faithful to a smaller church. I’ll love it, tend it, nurture it, inspire it, pray for it and lay my life down for it. It’s the same requirement as for the mega-church but without all of the bells and whistles:)
N. Lowry on Fri, July 29, 2005
I’ve asked God a similar question many times. I’ve been a music director for many years and have been a part of the mega church craze since it began. I’ve watched pastor after pastor pick the “perfect” surburb to “plant” his church. I’ve watched men “morph” into something other than what they started out to be. Many of them started with a passionate desire to be pastors in the Biblical sense of the word…and ended up being power hungry, greedy CEO’S. I’ve watched them go from men who said, “Lord what do You want me to do?”....to men who said, “How dare you question what I do! I’M The VISION KEEPER!!”
I’m glad I’m the music director instead of the pastor. The big salary, the prestige, the power that comes from being a mega church pastor would be hard to resist. I would probably blow it too…...
The truth is…I haven’t worked with even ONE pastor in the last ten years who seems to truly love the Lord with all of His heart, who wants people to grow in the Word of God more than grow in numbers, who cares more about ministry (true ministry) than buildings and programs, who truly cares about me as a person more than what he can “get” from me to make his church grow.
It’s all very disillusioning…..BUT God is good…..and He is still allowing me to fulfill the calling that He placed upon my life. I praise Him for that…and I pray that He takes me safely through the rest of the church “roller coaster” ride.
If you are one of the pastors who suffers, has no money, has a heart that is still truly God’s…...then you’re better off than the others in my opinion!!
Art on Fri, July 29, 2005
I wish I had an answer to his question, but I don’t. I have felt at times that God loves the big church pastors more than me. He must, or He wouldn’t have me in a church that can’t pay me a livable amount of compensation. He must or He wouldn’t have me driving cars that barely run. He must or He wouldn’t have us in a house that isn’t big enough to allow us to have any more children. He must or we wouldn’t be so strapped financially that, again, we can’t have any more children. He must not love me as much, or things would be different.
Ellen on Fri, July 29, 2005
Those who are first shall be last and those that are last will be first.
I would encourage this pastor to remember that those that labor among the “least of these brother of Mine…” Christ had them in mind.
BeHim on Fri, July 29, 2005
What do we deserve?
I imagine God would respond as He did to Job although Jesus might respond: “He who loses His life gains it.”
But God is in no way contradicting His Nature in both His Sovereignty and Compassionate Attributes/Charachteristics.
rmw on Fri, July 29, 2005
Wow, I just sent an e-mail to my closest prayer partners that ended this way “It seems like no matter what my family tries to do, it seems harder than when other people do it”.
My situation is a little different. After 10 years as an associate at the same church, the place had gotten so dysfunctional, I had to leave. In the last year in a half, I’ve been the silver and bronze medalists for many different church positions. (The 2nd or 3rd candidate.}
I’ve run all the possibilities—sin in my life/sin in my family/lack of faith/poor interview skills/etc. It’s awful confusing.
My theology tells me all will be well in the end. My theology tells me God is good and He loves me and my family. But this post just nailed me. I read it less than an hour after I found out I “finished second” for a position I really wanted.
I hope others have wise and encouraging words here—cause I need them.
bernie dehler on Fri, July 29, 2005
And the Lord answered:
Luke 12:48
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
...Bernie
http://freegoodnews.blogspot.com
Paul Tedesco on Fri, July 29, 2005
I certainly don’t have all the answers but many more questions. At one point I felt guilty for asking “WHY?” questions until I remembered Jesus himself used the “WHY?” word while on the cross addressing the father.
Maybe the Parable of the three servants who were given the talents to invest could help answer something here.
Or the Lord only gives us what we can handle??? But then some don’t handle the wealth, fame and power very well, do they?
Could it be they are being tested one way while some of us are tested in another way?
I felt I took ma beating for four years ina church following the foundign pastor who died suddenly from cancer. That in itself was tough. But then the leadership who asked me to come serve said they wanted CHANGES made. Style changes. So I began the transitioning phase. A challenge I felt I was ready, willing and able to do. After four years, the transitioning was complete and so was I. What a draining experience. My senior associate took over after I left and I recently asked how it was going. Exceptionally well. He made the statement that he couldn’t have stepped in when I did and he is doing so well now because of following what I did. My statement to him was, “Some plant, some water, some harvest and I fertilized (spread the manure).” I completed my email to him by asking this, “How does the fruit taste?”
Yes, I would have wanted to taste the fruit of my labors there. I left very tired, emotionally drained and disappointed that some in leadership didn’t recognize what I did or what I went through. But hindsight is wonderful. The church is better today than it was at one time. Maybe someday I’ll get to follow the sacrificial lamb and enjoy the harvest. But until then, I keep my hand to the plow. No one ever told me it would be easy.
I share my friends questioning. It’s OK to question. Just keep looking forward and not back. ROOTS are unsung, unseen and unheard but man do they do the job as they go deep. Some of us are roots and some of us are fruits. After that statement I guess it’s time for me to quit blogging.
rev-ed on Fri, July 29, 2005
I have often said that God couldn’t trust me with a mega-church so he has allowed me to be faithful to a smaller church.
Perhaps there is also a sense that God couldn’t trust a mega-church pastor to be faithful to a smaller church… just a thought.
Great question, but it’s not a new one. Ever sit and wonder why you have wonderful kids and the “other” family has no kids or serious problem kids? Ever wonder why you have the comforts of life while in Africa you would be looked upon as incredibly wealthy? Ever wonder why you have only minor health issues while the lady at church has gone through 3 cancer surgeries, two bouts of chemo and two series of radiation treatments only to have the cancer reappear? Or do you wonder why you were led to accept Christ while the majority of people in your town were never convinced?
I’m sure it makes sense from God’s perspective, but it’s always gonna seem odd down here.
Jason Nelson on Fri, July 29, 2005
I recently returned from a trip to Australia. I specifically went to attend the 2005 Hillsong Conference and visit Hillsong Church. Australia is a very non-religious nation, and even worse is that Christianity is way low on the religious totem pole.
I was amazed at the number of Australians I met that could not believe I got paid to lead worship. Many would ask, “What do you do for your church?” And I would answer, “I lead the worship.” Their very next question would be, “And what do you do for a living?” or “What do you get paid to do?”
You talk about an eye opening experience! I have never before felt so grateful for being in the position I am in. I serve at a large church, but certainly not a mega-church (by today’s mega-church standards). I have never been interested in “climbing the corporate ladder”, but after the response I got from MANY Australians I became humbled very quickly.
So, I now have a prayer that says, “Thank you, God! I feel like the most fortunate person in the world to get paid for what I love.”
For those of you who serve bi-vocationally, and for those of you who serve without pay at all, I tip my hat to you! You are my heroes and I pray that God shows you your blessings in his time!!!
Bernie Dehler on Sat, July 30, 2005
Paul says:
“Some of us are roots and some of us are fruits.”
To make it Biblical, in John 4 our Lord Jesus says:
34"My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
...Bernie
http://www.freegoodnews.com
bernie dehler on Sat, July 30, 2005
Author asks:
“But please answer me this; why do some people get harder assignments than others?”
What’s the alternative— we all get exactly the same work, life, and abilities? It makes sense when you consider the options…
...Bernie
http://www.freegoodnews.com
Kenny on Wed, August 03, 2005
The greater the trial the greater the compliment given by God. (First Corinthians 10:13-the word “temptation” was an Old English word for trial or test).
Kenny on Wed, August 03, 2005
The greater the trial the greater the compliment given by God. (First Corinthians 10:13-the word “temptation” was an Old English word for trial or test).
Charley on Wed, August 03, 2005
In the scheme of things the question “why do some get harder assignments than others?” assumes first that those in the big churches, or suburban or what ever have an easier ministry than those in the smaller or urban or city or dysfunctional churches. Sometimes that is true but we don’t often hear of the struggles of the pastors that have it easy. I served a great congregation in a rural area, wonderful time and wonderful ministry but it was also difficult. the needs the concerns the hurts and pains were great and not easily healed. so it was a mixed bag.
I think the question is more important than the answer. For “why” questions send us to God, His Word and prayer and as struggle with God we may come away with a limp but also a blessing.
Charley
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