I\u2019m burnt, I\u2019m tired, and I\u2019m almost ready to give up on my faith. But if nothing more than out of habit, I\u2019m coming to your church tomorrow. Here\u2019s how you can help me:<\/p>\n
1. Realize that my love for God is still at the core of my life, <\/span>but my anger toward how I\u2019ve been treated is getting in the way.<\/p>\n 2. Make sure you have something really meaningful to say<\/span> that takes the gospel and the grace of God and gives me hope that there\u2019s a future for me somewhere out there, even though things have not worked out in the past.<\/p>\n 3. When you speak, speak with a broken heart<\/span>, that you understand what it\u2019s like to fail, what it\u2019s like to be betrayed, what it\u2019s like to be turned out.<\/p>\n 4. If you\u2019re the pastor, be accessible.<\/span> By that I mean, be touchable. Be someone to whom I would dare reveal who I am and where I\u2019ve come from.<\/p>\n 5. Help me realize that what I\u2019ve gone through is not something strange<\/span>, that other people have gone through it and that I\u2019m not messed up in a way that no one else is; that God does have a future for me even though my past experience in church has been anything but pleasurable.<\/p>\n 6. Talk like you love what you\u2019re doing<\/span>. The last thing I need to hear is a pastor or staff member complaining about how bad they have it. I already feel that way. I need to see someone who\u2019s found joy in their calling.<\/p>\n 7. Don\u2019t spout off a long stream of your successes<\/span>, and how great God\u2019s been to you without understanding that many of us don\u2019t feel that way right now. Our emotions are over-ruling our hearts and our minds.<\/p>\n 8. If you find out I\u2019m there, don\u2019t embarrass me<\/span>, but reach out to me. Invite me for a cup of coffee and convince me that you\u2019d like to hear my story and that you would listen without judgment or offering quick fixes, or \u201cI told you so\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n 9. I am in the valley of decision<\/span>. Do I walk away from the ministry and my calling justifying it with \u201cI can serve God just as well by having a real job?\u201d So help remind me why I committed to the ministry in the first place.<\/p>\n 10. Don\u2019t talk around Jesus<\/span>; talk about Jesus, who He is and how relevant to the present moment He is. Remind me that He loves me for me, not for what I do for Him.<\/p>\n I am a burnt out brother or sister and how I am received in your church could make all the difference in the world, if I make it or just become another statistic who washed out along the way!<\/p>\n It was Robert Kennedy who said, \u201cOnly those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.\u201d For the glory of God and the good of mankind dare to fail greatly in a great cause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m burnt, I\u2019m tired, and I\u2019m almost ready to give up on my faith. But if nothing more than out of habit, I\u2019m coming to your church tomorrow. Here\u2019s how you can help me: 1. Realize that my love for God is still at the core of my life, but my anger toward how I\u2019ve … Continue reading “Hello, I\u2019m \u201cEx Church Staff Member\u201d Guy And I\u2019m Coming to Your Church”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"series":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}