A little boy asked his Daddy, who was a preacher, “Daddy, every Sunday morning when you come out to preach, I see you sit up by the pulpit, and you bow your head for a long time. What are you doing?”
The father replied, “I’m asking the Lord to give me a good sermon to share with the people.” The little boy then asked, “Well, why don’t he?”
It seems that sometimes a preacher just can’t win. Do you ever feel that way? If you have led a church through the chaos of Covid, the riots of racial protests, and the pandemonium of political elections, then you have! It’s tough being a preacher in America these days.
Several years ago, I ran across this satirical article titled, A Preacher to Suit Everyone, which was subtitled The Perfect Pastor.
After hundreds of years of fruitless searching, the perfect pastor has been found. He is guaranteed to please all the people of any church.
He preaches exactly 20 minutes and then sits down. He condemns sin but never steps on anybody’s toes. He works from 8 in the morning to 10 at night, doing everything from preaching sermons to sweeping the floors.
He makes $400 per week, gives $100 a week to the church, drives a late-model car, buys lots of books, wears fine clothes, and has a lovely family. He always stands ready to contribute to every other good cause, too, and to help panhandlers who drop by the church on their way to somewhere.
He is 36 years old and has been preaching for 40 years. He is tall on the short side, heavy-set in a thin sort of way, and handsome. He has eyes of blue or brown (to fit the occasion) and wears his hair parted in the middle – left side, dark and straight, and on the right side, brown and wavy.
He has a burning desire to work with the youth and spends all his time with the senior citizens. He smiles all the time while keeping a straight face because he has a keen sense of humor that finds him seriously dedicated.
He makes 15 calls a day to church members, spends all his time evangelizing non-members, and is always found in his study if he is needed.
One of my early mentors in ministry, Bruce Heller, would often say to me, “John Allan, no one understands a preacher like another preacher.”
Are you in need of someone who understands what it’s like to sit where you sit and deal with the things you deal with? Between my best buddy, David Vaughan, and myself, we have over 80 years of combined local church experience. We have led churches from 25 in attendance to over 2,500. There isn’t much we haven’t seen. That’s why the mission statement of D. Vaughan Consulting is “Providing practical guidance from proven leaders who are passionate about the local church working right.”
We would love to hear from you and help you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to either of us. Everyone lives with their own definition of hard. Just remember, you don’t have to do it alone.