Truth for Rookie Pastors: Humility

This is part of a larger series: Truth for Rookie Pastors.

Underneath it all is pride.

If you trace all the failings, all the pain, all the bumps in the road large and small you will find a prideful person inflicting damage on themselves or others.

Rookie Pastors think they have things figured out. And it isn’t completely their fault.

Youth Ministries communicate just how special they are to pursue ministry.

The Christian college culture breads healthy, but unbalanced optimism.

Conferences that are attended, books that sell, and blogs that are read tell the incredible stories of the outlier that succeeded and we see ourselves in those stories.

We are bred and trained to be leaders and in our youthful arrogance we think that means asserting ourselves.

Looking at the end result we want to jump to that without putting in the ground work.

I had a notion that I would leave school and immediately lead a church. After that I set the artificial goal of leading a church by the age of 30. Telling myself that this was when I would be ready, delusional at best.

You and I have no real idea what is next.

We make plans that line up with our gifts, passions and context as we should, but these plans become pride filled idols that we bow down to.

Pride is a prison, humility is freedom.

You don’t have to be tied to the plans and expectations you are putting on yourself.

In humility when you are truly free and open to what God is inviting you to join him in, it is then and there that you are able to discern and know what it is next.

Humility isn’t just about being willing to serve. For Rookie Pastors to be humble, for you to be humble, stop worrying about what is next and be free where you are.

Find some freedom.