“I can’t believe you’re a pastor.” Yeah, I get that a lot. And, you know, it’s really ok. In fact, it’s one of the highest compliments that I can get. I guess it’s mainly because I don’t talk the way a pastor does, or act the way a pastor does, or do all the things a pastor does. Or at least what everybody thinks a pastor should say, or act, or do. But, as they say, there is a method to my madness…
The Apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 9:19-23, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.“
In other words, I will do everything I can, short of sin, to win as many people I can, to Jesus Christ. It’s the preconceptions that people have that make people wonder. I don’t say the things people THINK I should say. I don’t act the things people THINK I should act. I don’t do all the things people THINK I should do.
Paul’s contemporary Mark says in Mark 10:43-45, “… whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
What preconceptions keep YOU from making an impact for the kingdom?
