The Dangers Of Being A Pastor

Being a pastor comes with it’s own unique set of problems and obstacles. It comes with it's own set of dangers.

One of those is that you can begin to read and study the Word of God because it is your “job”, and not because you desire to grow closer to God, and in your relationship with Him.

Rather than read your Bible because you are in love with Jesus and His Word, you wind up reading it only in an academic sort of way as you prepare for a message or a study each week.

While that must be done if you are going to preach and teach Biblically, if that is the ONLY time you spend in the Word you wind up with a sort of clinically sound, theologically correct religion rather than a life changing vital relationship.

The thing is, this can happen before you realize it.

I know.

It happened to me.

In October I celebrated my fifth anniversary as the pastor of Loma Rica Baptist Church. I felt a renewal in my calling and my mission. I felt a revitalization in my relationship with Christ. I was excited, passionate and on fire.

And then….it happened.

I got distracted.

I began to settle into my “job” as a pastor instead of living my life as a child of God. I worked hard on my sermons and Bible studies, but little on my relationships.

And then I hit the brick wall this week.

As I read through the text for this weeks sermon, nothing was happening. They were just words on a page. White page….black letters. I read it….but I couldn’t see how to apply it. I read it….but I couldn’t see how to LIVE it.

After a week, all I had was an introduction, but no real message. I knew what it said in my mind, but could not seem to move it from my mind to my heart.

So, I began to pray. I prayed for insight. I prayed for wisdom. I prayed for knowledge. I prayed for something…anything that would make these words more than just something from a spiritual textbook.

And after a little while, as I was reading the text for the sermon AGAIN…something happened.

The only way I can describe it is that I felt as if something that was hidden was suddenly found. I felt as Saul must have when it said in Acts 9:18 that “…something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again.” I could really SEE the passage. It came alive to me.

Of course, this is the way the Scriptures should be-alive. It says in
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

These should never be just words on a page, or another dusty religious book….these are the WORDS OF GOD….in fact they are “God breathed” words…inspired by the Holy Spirit.

I cannot describe how this felt.

There was activity all around me, as I was doing this at my home computer, but I was absorbed in what I was discovering, in many ways oblivious to what was going on around me. I was sitting in a chair and at a desk on the outside, but on the inside I was dancing, and leaping, and shouting and rejoicing. If this has never happened to you, I suppose you cannot understand it, and maybe you think I’m a little bit crazy….but that’s ok….because once again the Word became REAL to me. It revitalized my relationship with Jesus once again.

I don’t know where this is going to take me (who knows, maybe I will start to blog more often)….but I’m going to hold onto Jesus real tight….because I have the feeling I’m about to be in for the ride of my life.

Ok, I’m done now.
Pastor Dave