I'm Not Able to Use My Gifts
How do I maintain a sense of pastoral vocation in a community of people who hire me to do religious jobs?
Eugene H. Peterson
One of the worst years I ever had was in the early days of this church," recalls Eugene Peterson. "I realized I wasn't being a pastor. I was so locked into running the church program I didn't have time to be a pastor.
"The precipitating event was when one of my kids said, 'You haven't spent an evening at home for thirty-two days.' She had kept track! I was obsessive and compulsive about my administrative duties, and I didn't see any way to get out of the pressures that were making me that way. So I went to the Session one night and said, 'I quit.'
"'I'm out all the time; I'm never at home,' I said. 'I'm doing all this administrative work, serving on all these committees, and running all these errands. I want to preach; I want to lead the worship; I want to spend time with people in their homes. That's what I came here to do. I want to be your spiritual leader; I don't want to run your church.'"
Not doing what I came here to do was not one of the potentially discouraging items listed on the Leadership survey, but it mounted an impressive write-in campaign. Pastor after pastor wrote of not being able to concentrate on the spiritual work he or she was gifted in and felt called to do —preaching and teaching, studying and praying, listening and offering guidance. They went into the ministry because they felt called to use these gifts and felt fulfilled when they did.
But somehow, after a few years in a church, they found to their dismay that they were spending large chunks of their time shuffling papers, putting out fires, administrating an organization. Illustrator Larry Thomas captured the feeling in an early ...
Like the preview? To read this complete article
and 20,358 more in the archive—JOIN NOW!
Easily find high-quality, well-researched materials that provide a Christian perspective on topics ranging from headlines to history.
Start using this invaluable tool TODAY for preparing your Bible studies, presentations, class lectures, sermons, meetings, and more.
|
It's easy and quick to join:
Brought to You by Christianity Today Int'l |  |
|
| 
Find similar articles
E-mail this page
