I found some old DVDs with old home movies. One of them read “Park Lawn Appreciation Night.” I found an old DVD drive, plugged it into my computer, and converted the movie into a file on my computer. As I watched it, I was amazed.
I was in my mid-twenties, pastoring for the first time. I wasn’t a very good pastor. Somehow the church had decided to hold a banquet to express their appreciation for my ministry. My mentor and professor Stan Fowler spoke. Some friends, also pastors, attended. I left that church some 24 years ago, and many captured in that video have since passed on.
That church chose to love me even when I was a young, immature pastor.
Watching that movie for the first time in years, I realized a couple of things. First, I didn’t know how good I had it at the time. If you are a pastor, and you have people who pray for and appreciate you, count yourself blessed. That church wasn’t perfect, of course, but I think I spent too much time looking at her faults and not enough time giving thanks to God for the privilege of pastoring those people. I wish I had been more grateful, a little less restless to move on to another ministry assignment.
I also gave thanks for a loving, forgiving congregation. When that church threw an appreciation banquet for me, they knew my shortcomings even better than I did. My sermons were wobbly. I was a young man who preached on all kinds of topics about which I knew nothing. I don’t think I could bear to listen to one of my sermons back then. I’m not sure I had any business being a pastor. And yet they chose to love me.
Am I a better pastor now? Probably. I’ve suffered more. I am now much more aware of my shortcomings. But I’m still amazed at the patience of those who know my weaknesses and who love me anyway, who see me struggling to follow God even as I encourage others to follow too.
I once heard Mark Dever say that getting a new, young pastor is a little like getting a puppy. They chew up the furniture and make a few messes inside. Anyone who’s had a young puppy has sometimes wondered if it was all a mistake. Hang in there long enough, though, and you will have not a puppy but a loyal friend.
The same applies to pastors. I’m pretty sure that every church I’ve pastored has, at some point, wondered if they’ve made a horrible mistake. But people have loved me anyway. One church a long time ago chose to love me instead of criticize me. They extended grace to a pastor who didn’t even know how much he didn’t know, and I’m grateful for it.
I pray there are many more churches who find ways to love their imperfect pastors. We don’t need to be reminded of the ways that we are disappointed sometimes with those who’ve been called to lead us. We do need to be reminded to love them anyway.
