Secrets

I can keep a secret ~ I’m just afraid I’ll tell someone who can’t.  RELAX ~ that is called Monday morning humor. 

Being a pastor has some interesting paradoxes.

First, if people do not trust you to keep their secrets ~ they won’t confide in you.  If they won’t be honest and confide in you, then you can’t help them ~ so this is a “deal breaker”. 

Second, once they have confided in you and share their deepest darkest secrets, then they have a hard time looking you in the eye and tend to avoid you. This is an odd experience.    

Third, some people want me to “think” they are sharing their deepest darkest secret but are really only telling me (a) their side of the story, or (b) a perversion of the truth that they are comfortable with.  I pray that in their hearts, they are warming up to the “truth” but are not ready to embrace all of it “yet“.  I suspect O.J. is dealing with this.  Anyway, they are on the road to truth but it is simply further down the road. 

So part of being a pastor is having the perspective to be patient and allowing people to travel their path to healing and a healthy relationship with God.  There are no shortcuts. 

So WHY for Pete’s sake am I writing a BLOG about this on a Monday morning? 

It is simply this, “When God calls someone to be a pastor ~ part of the calling involves what we call equipping.”  That simply means that God wires us different that most people. 

For a pastor to be God’s “spokesmen”, he needs a different set of tools than a salesman at Sears or a professional welder at Hewscraft. 

A pastor must be able to experience tremendous compassion. 

A pastor’s must be able to experience tremendous discernment.  A pastor’s must be able to experience tremendous….  (this is a long odd list ~ so I will spare you the rest).

My point is this, WHEN you come to me or a minister in your area, KNOW THIS, God has prepared him to meet you where you are ~ without judgment, prepared his mind by saturating it with wisdom found in His Word, prepared his emotions through life experiences, prepared him…. (again, this is a long list and I will spare you) ~ God has prepared this pastor to set aside his personal issues and view your situation from God’s perspective.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. 
Who comforts us in all our troubles,
so that we can comfort those in any trouble
with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” 
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

“He who conceals his sins

does not prosper,
but whoever confesses
and renounces them finds mercy”
Proverbs 28:13

“The way of a fool seems right to him,

but a wise man listens to advice”
Proverbs 12:15

“Plans fail for lack of counsel,

But with many advisors
They succeed.”
Proverbs 15:22