A Pastor’ s Life
~ by Jeff Tryon
I
’ ve always preferred the title of“ Pastor,” and feel it is a higher honorific than“ Reverend.” Once, I heard a man concisely explain the difference this way,“ A pastor has his congregation on his heart.”
The pastor of a small country church is a sort of a jack of all trades; they preach, they teach, they visit the sick, and sometimes, the jail. They preside at weddings and funerals. They visit the nursing home. But I think the most important thing they do is pray for their people. They have them in their hearts. That may not seem like a very important thing to some people, but I believe, as James, the brother of Jesus, wrote, that“ the fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” In a crisis, I would rather have my church praying for me than have the support of all the nefarious powers of all the lawyers, the financiers, and political fixers in the world.
Maybe you have faith, and maybe you don’ t. I consider it an important tool in my kit, and it has proved to be quite a useful one. But I believe in religious freedom. And freedom of religion incudes freedom from religion, if you so choose. That’ s what America was founded on. I’ m not angry with you if you don’ t have religious faith. It’ s good if you’ re honest about that— especially with yourself.
Sometimes people will ask for prayer in times of crisis: when a loved one is ill, when there is unexpected tragedy, when modern life comes crashing down around our ears. You’ d be surprised how often people who essentially have no religious component in their everyday lives will ask the preacher to say a prayer for them at these difficult times.
Here’ s something you may not have considered— the preacher doesn’ t have some kind of“ inside track” to God. His prayers aren’ t any different than yours. God is an equal opportunity listener. As a Baptist, I believe in the“ priesthood of the believer” and“ soul competency.” You don’ t need a go-between. Talk to God yourself, from your own heart.
There are certain times when an officiant is wanted and needed— someone who knows what to say at a funeral or how a wedding should go. People are nervous. It’ s unfamiliar territory. It’ s nice to have someone there who’ s“ in charge” and knows the customs and procedures, what needs to be said and done.
As a pastor, you often find yourself sharing life’ s most intimate moments with families. You get a real good ground-level look at humanity in its raw state, the good and the bad, the uncouth and the noble, cowardice, and courage. It’ s all mixed together there in that stew we call human society.
Maybe I’ m being optimistic, but I would say the good far outweighs
44 Our Brown County • Jan./ Feb. 2020