15 THINGS I LEARNED FROM MY PASTOR OF 15 YEARS

I’m ashamed to say I have not always loved my pastor. I generally find pastors intimidating and years went by when I avoided personally interacting with mine. There were days I wanted to walk out in protest from sermons I found offensive and there were times I wished God would call him elsewhere but today, I think differently, I live differently, and I am a fundamentally different person because God used him in my life and it change me.

I don’t take notes so only one of these is a direct quote. He may not agree with some of my summations but these are 15 random things I took away from my 15 years under his teaching that I didn’t know before. Some may seem a little obvious but all of them represent a change that occurred because something I had previously believed was challenged. God has given me a love for him as a shepherd unlike any I have ever had.

15. It is OK to have questions about God you cannot answer with certainty. 14. Jesus may have given up his omniscience to become a man leaving him dependent on the leading of the Holy Spirit much like we are. Some would consider this heresy but for me, it makes Him a much more sympathetic figure and gives more depth to passages like Hebrews 4:15. 13. Dispensationalism is an interesting theory which became popular in the 19th century and is distinctly American. It is not long-standing church tradition nor should it be regarded as infallible Biblical truth despite the fact that it is somewhat foundational to the belief system practiced by many evangelical Christians. 12. The modern notion of the rapture rose to prominence with dispensationalism. There is very little in Scripture to support it. 11. Prayer is a vehicle we can use to seek God’s revelation regarding lies we believe which prevent healing and through which God can reveal the truth to overcome them. 10. Conservatism is not the political branch of Christianity. There are aspects of conservatism that have probably done more harm than good when it comes to advancing the cause of Christ in our culture. 9. The so-called ‘high standards’ to which I ascribe are not a sign of spiritual maturity but rather my lack of freedom in Christ is a sign of weakness. (1 Cor 8) (This was perhaps the most infuriating sermon I ever heard him preach.) 8. All those times my dreams seemed like more than random thoughts from an overactive mind, they probably were. 7. When bad things happen, it is not necessarily God’s wrath, vengeance, punishment, tough love, or His attempt at correction or instruction. 6. Context isn’t limited to the verses immediately surrounding a passage. Biblical interpretation needs to consider the larger context of a book, the overriding themes of the Bible, the example of Christ, as well as the culture to which the passage was addressed. 5. A relationship with God is not just a static knowledge of Scripture undergirded by faith in the Gospel of Christ but a dynamic, active lifestyle which listens for and responds to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. 4. You can have saving faith in Christ without being filled with the Holy Spirit but you can have both and I do. 3. Shame is a tool of the Enemy. We should not use it to encourage better behavior in our children, youth, or peers, and we should seek God’s truth to resist it in ourselves. 2. Grace: delicious, scandalous, amazing, transforming – once you wrap your mind around it, you can’t let it go. “She had not known the weight, until she felt the freedom.” (A Scarlet Letter) 1. “Just do the next thing God shows you.”