Red Lip Society

No!! Not THAT change!

I still have some years to go before that happens.

I’m talking about a different kind of change.

As a rule, I have always handled change well.  My family moved a lot when I was a kid. Every time I would finally start to feel settled somewhere it would be time to move again. A different house, a different town, a different school.  But, hey, that was just life.  It was constantly changing.

However, the past year I have been going through a change that snuck up on me. (Snuck was the only appropriate word to use there.) A change that I never thought about having to process. This week I said goodbye to my pastor.

Oh not forever! I mean he didn’t die or move away or anything like that.

For several years now our church has been going through a transition. The senior pastor of our church has been moving into a new stage of life. He has moved into the role of serving and coaching other pastors and churches all over the world.  I am so excited for him to be sharing his wisdom and gifting with so many!

In the meantime, someone else was brought onto the staff to begin stepping into the role of the new senior pastor.  This transition took place over several years.

Change is never easy.

I can’t fully explain to you in a blog post what the former senior pastor means to me. I can tell you that I don’t know that I would be the woman I am today if I hadn’t walked into the church he pastored and sat under his teaching. The way God has used the ministry of this man to mold me….I will forever be grateful for his obedience to the Lord. It was under his ministry and teaching that God began to change and challenge me.  He holds the place of a father in my heart.

And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.  Jeremiah 3:15

But now we enter into a new era for our church and a new vision from the Lord.  I have loved our new pastor since the first time I met him and his family.  He and his wife are caring and compassionate people and I am so excited to be here for this new chapter of what God is doing through our church!

During the celebration service for the pastor that has stepped down, I thought to myself, “I sure am going to miss that man.” That’s when I felt the Holy Spirit speak to me softly and say, “Remember the day I asked you who you are following? I told you that you were not called to serve this man, but this church and me.”

I could remember the exact moment…..at a time before we knew that there would be a transition.  God had started to prepare me for something that was coming before I could even see it.

I also remember the day when I decided the new pastor was going to be MY Pastor.  I don’t know how anyone could sit and listen to him for long as he shares what God has on his heart for our city and not make him your Pastor.

But still….we don’t chase after a person. We chase after Jesus. Is there a place for spiritual authority over you that a pastor should hold? Absolutely.  Of course there is!! God gave us those people to help keep us accountable, to equip us to do ministry, and to help guide us in serving Him.

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19

It is so easy to put someone up on a pedestal and let them become an idol in your life.  God designed us all for relationships and it is natural for us to form emotional attachments, especially to people that are tied to significant experiences in our lives.

Again, we are not here to chase after people. Leviticus 26:1 says, “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.”

What am I trying to say?  I’m trying to say that you need a Pastor in your life! But I am also saying don’t be easily uprooted and chase after a style of worship or preaching when God has you planted right where he intends for you to be.

If a “changing of the guard”, if you will, in senior pastoralship (my computer says that is not a word….but I like it) of your church rocks your world and/or faith, you have an idol in your life and we need to ask ourselves a few questions.  Your life is clearly out of balance and out of alignment with the Word and it is going to effect every area of your life.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; Psalm 16:4

Those questions to ask yourself might be, “Who have I been following? Who is it that I have been serving?” or even, “Where do I think my salvation comes from?”

The answer to all three of those questions should be the same: Jesus.

Love, respect, honor, and listen to your Pastor.

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

But chase after Jesus.  He is where the answers are and where the help comes from.