This is a follow up to my previous post about ministers and how Satan attacks as a roaring lion.
My view of ministry is based on being a pastor for almost 20 years. The first three churches I served fired the pastor prior to me. I’ve seen a lot in each church. During my pastoral ministry, I’ve been in deacons, business, and committee meetings from hades (and good ones too). I’ve had church people say things to me that were anything but Christian. I’ve had them threaten me on a number of levels. They have lied to and about me and my family. At times they have been down right mean… if not evil.
How can things be that way at church? Well… there are wolves among the sheep and tares among the wheat… just as Jesus said there would be. But it is impossible to tell who is in which camp. That is alone God’s determination. I don’t even venture a guess.
My experience as a pastor is no different from what many people go through at work in the corporate world. I don’t see what I’ve been through as worthy of any comment more than… “That’s life.” There have been people who’ve had to deal with much worse than me in their jobs. And there are pastors who have had a much more difficult time than I have in ministry. Shoot… I’ve never been stoned and left for dead! I’ve never been run out of town. I haven’t been arrested or beaten one single time. Till that happens, I don’t qualify for anything of special note.
In fact, I must say that I have had tremendous joy in every church I’ve served! I’ve seen God do many wonderful things for His glory. I’ve met many (!) great, loving, merciful, precious, and mature brothers and sisters in Christ through the years. There are people who will be my friends for life from every church I’ve served. I wouldn’t change anything, even if I could. I have not regretted a single decision about going to, and serving, any of the churches I’ve been in. If I had it to do over again, I would take the same path. God has been good to me and my family! I love church… I love church people… I love doing what I do as a pastor! There is no greater joy than serving God in His church! Now…
There are two lions mentioned in Scripture… one describes the way Satan prowls around looking for someone to devour. The other lion describes Jesus as found in Revelation 5:5, “Weep no more; behold, The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Jesus, described in Rev 5:5, has overcome and destroyed Satan (the lion of 1 Peter 5)… to God’s glory!
It is written in Scripture, “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.” The strong lion of the Tribe of Judah conquers the other lion… who is Satan. My friend Dr. Ryan Whitley made a good point in his comment to my other post that those who abandon the ministry were in all likelihood not called into the ministry. Those who would do something in the secular world, were not called by God into the ministry either! Those who have been called cannot do anything else in life… ever.
The reason I say that is because there is only one thing I can do and be in God’s will… and that is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And God willing, that is what I will do until the day I die. And the catch is this… I LOVE IT!!