Patiently endure it...

So I'm talking to someone this week, and he says to me, "Being a pastor has been the source of some of my greatest joys in life. It's also been the source of some of my greatest heartaches. But the thing is, I don't do it because it makes me happy any more than I'd stop doing it because it makes me sad. I do it because that's what I believe God has called me to do; the results to me personally become irrelevant. Don't get me wrong- I definitely like the joys better than the heartaches. Even for a pastor, that's a no-brainer. But this week has been an especially tough one. A roller coaster ride of ups and downs. As I try and step into the shoes of the folks I deal with, sometimes I just can't connect with where they are. There seems to be such a disconnect between what they say, who they claim to be, and what they do. The inconsistency drives me batty."

I know what he means. Been there; done that; have the t-shirt (and the scars under it). This Sunday we'll be observing the Lord's Supper at our church. I plan to share a brief message before we approach the Lord's table. It'll be based on 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body."

Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

As I've been reading, studying and praying this week, the truth of that passage hit me hard. The personal agendas we push? The petty grievances we bear? The grudges we hold onto so tenaciously? The ugly things we say in revenge for the sole purpose of hurting others? They're all so wrong. We lost the rights to those actions long ago when we accepted the salvation Jesus purchased for us when He was put to death on that cross. He paid the price for our sins. He purchased our freedom. We no longer belong to ourselves. We are not our own. We now belong to Him. And when we act otherwise it calls into question the reality of that transaction in our life. I guess we all live to varying degrees in a constant struggle. Christ on one side, our self on the other. In the middle is our heart... our soul... our being. Jesus extends His hand for it, for He has purchased it with the shedding of His own blood. Yet we grip tightly and refuse to relinquish it. We want it both ways- we want the life He offers, but we also want to continue to live it our way. The fact it, we must choose. We can't have it both ways.

I told that pastor, "Do what you can to help others see the light. The ultimate choice will be theirs- but so will the responsibility for the outcome of that choice. You do what God leads you to do. It is His right to call the shots. Trust Him to protect and provide. He's faithful to the task."