Dear Pastor: What "And" Can Do
A reminder for the "ands" that you may be carrying today.
“Dear Pastor” is a recurring series written for pastors about the issues that they face. While this article is written for pastors, I think you too will glean from it. I encourage you to forward this article to your pastor today and invite them to follow the work of Live Beloved!
Dear Pastor,
It is Monday and I am thinking about you.
Just a few short hours ago you walked through the events of Sunday and while I’m not sure how your day went, chances are you might identify with one of these common responses that I often hear (and I myself have felt) on a Monday.
It was amazing celebrating with so many who were being baptized!
It was encouraging to see people in the service that we had not seen for some time.
It was so good to gather with friends.
It was hard as the steady drip of criticism regarding the “direction of the church” continued to be expressed.
It was exhilarating as we broke ground on our new facility.
Recently, I have discovered that we all have the capacity to experience a multitude of emotions simultaneously. A mere addition of a single word can expand the spectrum of our feelings in a profound manner.
What is this magic word?
It is the word and.
Think again about the responses above, but now add the word and - when you do, a doorway is opened more widely into your internal world.
It was amazing celebrating with so many who were being baptized and frustrating as some core volunteers called in sick.
It was encouraging to see people in the service that we had not seen for some time and discouraging as so many shared the weight of what they are carrying.
It was good to gather with friends and it was disappointing, as we had dreamed and prayed for so much more.
It was hard as the steady drip of criticism regarding the “direction of the church” continued to be expressed and routine as it just seems like we are stuck in a rut.
It was exhilarating as we broke ground on our new facility and exhausting as preaching seemed to drain me deeply.
I want you to know this today, no matter how many ands you might have in your internal world, God is God of all of the ands.
In fact, just this morning I heard Tauren Wells on the radio and he agrees that God is God of the ands, as he so powerfully reminds us of it in his song, Hills and Valleys.
Notice the contrasts in verse 1 of the song:
I've walked among the shadows
You wiped my tears away
And I've felt the pain of heartbreak
And I've seen the brighter days
And I've prayed prayers to heaven from my lowest place
And I have held the blessings God, You give and take away
Even more than Tauren Wells, The Apostle Paul would echo that ministry often comes with an “and” attached.
In II Corinthians 6, the apostle Paul describes the high calling of doing work for the Lord. He is profoundly candid about the realities of the stress and joy that come with the work of ministry.
God reminds us, I heard your call in the nick of time; The day you needed me, I was there to help. Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped.
Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing. Our work as God’s servants gets validated—or not—in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we’re telling the truth, and when God’s showing his power; when we’re doing our best setting things right; when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.
Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
2 Corinthians 6:1-13, The Message
“And” is powerful.
A pile of positive “ands" can be a source of great joy.
A heap of challenging “ands” can be downright discouraging.
If your ands have you winded and wondering, then know this, you are not the only one.
So many, including Charles Spurgeon, the famous 19th-century London preacher, have carried the weight of a pile of challenging ands. For Spurgeon, his ands were so wearisome that he would write at various points of his ministry:
“I have suffered many times from severe sickness and frightful mental depression seeking almost to despair. Almost every year I’ve been laid aside for a season, for flesh and blood cannot bear the strain, at least such flesh and blood as mine. I believe, however, the affliction was necessary to me and has answered salutary ends.”
“Even the sight of the Bible brought from me a flood of tears and utter distraction of mind.”
“I have gone to the very bottoms of the mountains, as some of you know, in a night that never can be erased from my memory . . . but, as far as my witness goes, I can say that the Lord is able to save unto the uttermost and in the last extremity, and he has been a good God to me.”
No one is immune from a bad case of the ands.
All the ands can get heavy and have a way of weighing us down and wearing us out.
Live Beloved is here to provide a safe space where you can share your ands.
If the ands are piling up in your life today, I encourage you to reach out.
If you are weary under the weight of the ands I invite you to give me a call at 317-515-7956. It would be an honor to walk with you.
Live Beloved,
Chad McCallum | Founder of Live Beloved.