The Preacher Doesn’t Want to Tell You to Go to Church
There are some interesting things that go with the job of being a preacher. Some people act differently around you when they find out what you do for a living. There are also some assumptions about your vocation. People think you are different than them. They expect you to say and do certain things that they believe naturally coincide with your position. One of the things they expect is for you to ask them why they haven’t been to church lately. (I could go on a tangent here and talk about how it’s not “go to church, it’s “go to worship” and how the people are the church, et cetera, which is what you would expect the preacher to do – but I will refrain for the moment).
I would like to clue everybody in on something about church attendance. The preacher doesn’t really want to talk about it. He also doesn’t want to ask you where you have been, as if you were reporting to your college professor. He also doesn’t want to make you feel guilty for not coming. You see, it’s not that the preacher doesn’t care. He cares about you a great deal. And he cares about the church, and every person in the world. That’s why he’s preaching. But the preacher just knows that his job is not to help you check a box by filling a pew. His job is to preach the gospel so that you will fall in love with God.
In a church family, we are going to have our ups and downs. People are going to have struggles that will cause them to miss worship. Sometimes these are physical struggles and sometimes they are spiritual. These struggles may last for extended periods of time. When this occurs, it would be natural for the members of a local congregation to have enough concern or care for each other to notice when people are missing. In that context, it is often a blessing when people ask us where we have been.
But I never look forward to that awkward moment when I run into a member who has been out of services for a long time. It’s as if they wished I hadn’t seen them. We both know they haven’t been there, so I try not to mention it at all. Instead, I ask them about their life. It makes me wonder how many people have seen me coming and quickly walked around the corner. I don’t want to be one of those people others hide from. I don’t want folks to say in their heart when we make eye contact, “Oh, no, it’s the preacher.”
Individual Christianity has absolutely nothing to do with the preacher. While the preacher must proclaim the message it is only the message that carries weight. I want people to disassociate me from the message as much as possible. I want them to see me as a regular guy, just like them. I want them to realize that I don’t think anyone answers to me. To be considered an authority figure is, in reality, the very last thing I would ever want.
If we are doing our job as preachers, when we have finished our sermons the only person people will see is Jesus. When we talk about worship, it will not be considered a chore but rather a privilege. When we check up on missing people, it will be determined that we are loving, not scolding. When we talk of righteous living, we will be encouraging, not judging.
Take my word for it. The last thing the preacher wants to do is to tell you to go to church. He just wants to tell you about a love that is so transcending, and so wonderful, that you will never want to miss.
“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.” – Psalm 122:1
————————————
AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum
