A Pastor's Life?

It’s been one year since I first started theologypirate.com, and I’ve been thinking about the point of this blog. I would like to revise it somewhat. I will continue to write about theology and youth ministry, but I am feeling called to write in more of an auto-biographical style about my calling to ministry.

If I have not made it clear up to this point: I am in the process of becoming a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I have already completed two years of seminary, and I have three to go: two of which will be academic and one will be an internship.

As I think of the people in my social networks: family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, etc., I can’t help but think that many of you must wonder: Why do you want to be a pastor?

The other day a friend of mine at church said that I must love Jesus more than him because I want to be a pastor. I simply said, “No.” My friend did not believe me at first and so he explained his point more clearly. He said, “I am interested in learning more about who Jesus was, but you want to learn about Jesus because you love him more.” Again I said, “No.” My friend looked really confused and said, “Then why do you want to be a pastor?” It was a very good question.

I have faith in and love Jesus Christ. Yet I don’t think that on the whole my love, faith, or devotion is any greater than my friend’s or any other believing person. I love my wife, my children, and so many other things that oftentimes love of God is not duly attended to. I know that I could love God more. But it is my love of God and my love of God’s people which are at the heart of my calling to ministry. I feel called to lead a congregation, because I enjoy listening, preaching, teaching, administering sacraments, visiting the sick, working for justice, and eating potluck dinners.

So there you have it, that is why I want to be a pastor. It is not for a greater love or a deeper faith – these things I share with all followers of Christ. No, it is more simply the particular skill set I have been given and spent time working on, and the simple joy of experiencing church and the divine with people that are at the heart of why I am on this journey.

What say you? Have I missed something big? Am I over-simplifying a mysterious aspect of the faith?

Future post: Clinical Pastoral Education…