I’ve been a pastor all my adult life. As a matter of fact, I started when I was 18 years old. I’ve been a pastor through college, seminary, and graduate school. I’ve been doing it for so long that I need to sit down and just list the reasons why I still have great passion for it and love doing it. Here are my reasons why I love being a pastor:
1. I love knowing what I was created to do; to be a speaker for God, and love people.
2. I love seeing what happens when you give people hope. I love how they flourish and respond.
3. It is a great honor when someone calls you their pastor, which means they trust you to give them spiritual encouragement, leadership and advice. I take that very seriously.
4. I love being a pastor because it forces me to take God’s words seriously; not just as a casual reader, but a lifelong student.
5. I love being a pastor because it causes me to pray: to pray outside myself, to pray for those who are a part of my growing network, and those around the world.
6. I love being a pastor because it gives me a bigger view than just my little thing. It helps me understand that I am a part of a worldwide movement, a missionary movement that takes the hope of the gospel and Jesus Christ to all the world.
7. I love being a pastor because it identifies me as a follower of Jesus Christ with a lifelong commitment to teach, lead, inspire, and move, in the lives of people.
8. I love being a pastor because it allows me to be a builder of people, not just a builder of buildings.
9. I love being a pastor because I know fulfilling that calling is a rare gift and God has given it to me.
10. I love being a pastor because even those who treat me with disrespect are people God loves and I need to love too. This is a discipline. It doesn’t come easy.
11. I love being a pastor because it allows me to invest my life in something that I know will outlive it: the church of Jesus Christ and the cause of the gospel.
12. I love being a pastor because it helps me see past the current events and the day’s headlines to realize God is at work.
13. I love being a pastor because it gives me opportunities to carry on conversations with people in everyday normal places.
14. I love being a pastor because it allows me to use my gifts and abilities in the best way I possibly can.
15. I love being a pastor because it’s a God-ordained office, one that the world desperately needs. We need good ones, loving ones, ones who are sold-out to the gospel of Jesus Christ, ones who are committed to love people, and I love being a part of that group.
These are just some of the reasons I love being a pastor. Let me hear from you. Why do you love it?