Engage Who You Have

Treat every gig as an opportunity to create art

- Seth Godin

It was my first speaking gig under the Rookie Pastor banner. My talk was ready, but that’s all it was, a talk. No visuals, no slides, just 20 minutes of me talking.

I showed up early. Too early in fact, they had changed the conference schedule and the handful of attendees were out to lunch as the previous speaker was a no show. My slot was pushed back and while I waited my anxiety started.

This is going to be embarrassing.

What am I doing here?

What a waste of time, this is going to be horrible.

And of course, it was.

The anxiety came through. I rushed through my talk without engaging as I should have. The only reason my talk would have been memorable to the 10 or so people in the room was that I was the nervous kid who didn’t look like he wanted to be here. It was brutal.

When my session was over I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Maybe you haven’t sweated through a talk in front a room with more doors than people, but you have been in some spots where it didn’t go the way you were expecting and you wanted to bail.

People didn’t show up.

Those that didn’t wished you had canceled it.

Leading “Pharaoh, Pharaoh” with 3rd graders wasn’t the worship leading you were expecting.

The green room or your office becomes your hide out.

VBS. Camp. Leadership Retreats.

Your neighbor finally comes to church and your Lead Pastor decides to talk about politics.

While you are waiting to get picked you are missing it. See our pride has told us that we are literally God’s gift to preaching/worship/small groups/youth ministry and when we don’t live that out we retreat.

We thought we would be working with other people.

So we hide. We avoid. Things suffer while we distance ourselves from the reality. We fail at being pastors as we pine to be someone else’s pastor. 

Don’t go into your office or sit backstage in between services.

Make “Pharaoh, Pharaoh” fun because most of the kids think it is lame too. Don’t let them accept that worship is lame.

I know you are tired because your cabin wouldn’t shut up. So is the new mom and the parent working two jobs. You just got paid to go rock climbing.

Quit pouting and start pastoring. Engage with who you have where you are. This isn’t a gig, this is ministry. It doesn’t matter if you are selling something or inviting a person to live into the Kingdom you owe it to yourself and (if you believe in it) the message to create something worthwhile with your efforts.

Create. Serve. Pastor.