Joy

The Privilege of Being a Pastor #1: My Personal Joys!

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I have enjoyed and still do, this wonderful role of being a pastor serving a local church. I want to share a few posts about the privilege of being in this role. Some will be more practical, others more spiritual, but I hope these couple of posts encourage pastors or potential pastors.

As I work with churches during their transition times from one lead pastor to the next, I am very aware that there are not as many people out there looking to serve a local church as there used to be. Less young people are pursuing a role as pastor, and many pastors are leaving the position.

While there have been some very difficult times in my pastoring career, overall, it has been a good life for me and my family.

  1. I have received respect and love as the person in this role.

      Some pastors no longer want to be called by the title of “Pastor,” yet there are still many churches and members out there who respect the role and want to honour you in it. For them, it is a term or respect for your calling and you as a person. People value your input into their lives because they see you as a professional called by God to serve as their leader and teacher.

      2. I have experienced kindness from church and community members because of my role.

        My family has experienced many acts of kindness from our different churches. One church asked for a specific Christmas list for my wife and I and our two daughters. Because they asked, we gave them a list with options. They didn’t choose, they got us everything! Others have given us financial love offerings at Christmas.

        People want to pay for my lunch. Just the other day, a member walked past my table in a restaurant as I was finishing my lunch and grabbed the bill the waitress had left on the table. And I hardly know him! I recognized him but don’t remember his name because I haven’t spent any time with him yet.

        We have been blessed with many gifts, including a grocery shower, a side of beef, a portion of a pig someone just butchered, and all kinds of garden produce. Many people have invited us to their home to share a meal with them.

        3. The role has given me freedom.

        The flexibility of my schedule has allowed me to coach my daughter’s soccer team. Most men couldn’t take time off work to coach a 3:30 pm practice or game, but I could.

        4. I have travelled, often with expenses paid.

        I know not everyone gets to experience this, but I have been able to travel a bit because of my role as a pastor. When I was a Youth Pastor, I got to go to the Philippines to scout out a possible missions opportunity for my youth. I was asked to officiate a destination wedding in Mexico for my niece, at no cost to me. I worked with a few other pastors to establish a Rural Church Pastors Network. As the leaders, we had an opportunity to go to North Carolina to check out a rural ministry program that ran out of Duke University serving United Methodist churches. Again, no cost to me.

        I have attended many Pastors Retreats with our denomination in Banff and Lake Louise! What a privilege to enjoy retreats in these great settings.

        5. Working with my wife is a joy.

        As a pastor, I have had many opportunities to work together with my wife as we have served churches. Lynnette and I have been able to work together in ministry in ways that many other jobs do not allow. We have worked on projects for the church together, led many worship services together, and enjoyed many visits with church members together as a team.

        The joys of pastoral ministry have outweighed the difficulties. God has given me wonderful opportunities to serve him and an enjoyable life in the process. If you are considering pastoral ministry, realize that it can give you great joy.

        Keep looking up,

        Andy Wiebe

        Fruitful Leadership #2: Joy

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        Would you include the word joy in your description of your workplace, or to define your leadership? In Galatians 5: 22 -23 we read a list of nine fruits of the Spirit. These are characteristics that should be evident in anyone who is a follower of Jesus. In this second post on fruitful leadership we will focus on how joy can be evident in your leadership.

        Joy. Somehow the word just makes me smile. It elicits happiness even in those three letters. Its funny how a smile on your face can take a load off your shoulders. Just try it. Smile. Doesn’t that simple act make you feel a little happier already?

        Joy is not often a word used to describe one’s workplace. More common would be words like boring or duty or frustration or feeling useless. 

        Joy is defined in the Miriam Webster dictionary as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.” It is about delight. Maybe that is why joy is not often present in a workplace because we always want more. We do not often possess our desires or even accomplish the goals of the company. There is always a push for more. It is more common to experience a sense of frustration than joy because there is always another goal to push for. As a leader, we can get so caught up in climbing that next hill that we don’t take time to enjoy the accomplishments of today.

        Now, if we want to be a Christian leader who is radiating the Holy Spirit’s fruit, our joy cannot be dependent on our accomplishments or about having everything we desire. Our joy has to come from our relationship with Jesus and the experience of His Spirit in our lives. Our joy is then not based on our work and the level of success we experience but in our relationship with Jesus. Being in a state of is not dependent on outside influences or accomplishments but primarily on the fact that we have a God who loves us and cares for us. Our joy comes from knowing that we are in God’s hands, and He will look after us whether business is going well or not.

        When I first became a pastor, I was told by a few people that I looked mad all the time. I did not realize this. It may have been my nervousness or my determination to focus and do a good job, but my expression on my face communicated that I was mad. I think I am smiling more. I have not had that comment for many years, and I am glad. Yet we do need to realize that people read our expressions and make assumptions. As leaders, we need to be aware of what we communicate – intentionally and unintentionally – and how this reflects the fruit of the Spirit.

        For a two-year period, I worked at a job I did not love. I dreaded going to work every day. So, I began praying that God would give me joy at work. A few days later, as I was busy loading deliveries onto my truck, I suddenly paused. I had been whistling as I was moving pallets around! God was giving me a joy that I was not finding in my work. I was feeling lighter and not carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. It may be that we need to pray diligently that the Holy Spirit would fill us with His joy so that we can produce the fruit of joy as we lead people.

        Joy in the workplace lifts people’s spirits. As leaders, we have a large role to play in creating the atmosphere in which work takes place. Let’s make sure that we are doing all we can to contribute to a joy-filled environment.

        Keep looking up,

        Andy Wiebe

        Growing Your Joy

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        A new year often brings New Years resolutions. Many people make them, and while few keep them, the idea of making commitments to improve your life is a good one. Resolutions are often about our personal health like losing weight or becoming more fit. Again, not a bad idea. Some may make commitments about their career. Maybe they want to pursue another level at their job or more education hoping that will result in a financial boost in income down the road.

        But what about personal growth? What about growing in your joy? We all know that people of joy are much more fun to work with than people with no joy. And we personally feel better if we have joy inside as well.

        Are you a person of joy? Do you share joy or do people sense a dark cloud over your head every time you walk by? What is it in your life that affects your Joy?

        Our joy can be impacted by a number of things. If you always spend time with negative people, it will be hard to stay positive and maintain joy. It is not always possible to avoid spending time with negative people, especially if your co-workers or family are negative. What you can do, is choose to seek out and spend time with joyful people. If you have to look for them, then do that. Notice the people in life that make you feel just a bit happier and find ways to connect with them. You could even initiate a coffee date to deliberately spend some time with them.

        Our joy may be impacted by the news. If you always consume the news, you will have to work at being full of joy because the news rarely shares positive stories. Make a commitment to cut down on how much news you consume. You might need to reduce your time on social media. Rather than cut these habits out completely, identify new habits that can take the place of the time you typically spend consuming new or other media

        Some of us have a hard life. Things have not gone the way we hoped and dreamed. Our realities include single parenting, the loss of a child, or unemployment. The circumstances of our life can affect our joy. We can become sad, or discouraged, or even angry about what life has thrown at us. We look around and see happy people with good families and healthy children and perfect jobs and we get even more discouraged. The truth is, there are some things that we encounter in our life that are not good, terrible in fact. And yes, they drain all our joy. What can we do about that? I’ve been there, where I questioned God about what He was allowing to happen to me. I get it.

        What do we do when we cannot change our life circumstances right now? How do we find joy?

        One of the things that has helped me a lot is my faith in God. Yes, I said earlier that I have had times where I really questioned God, wondering if He really cared for me or not. But I have always come back to God because He and I have history together – a history of him being faithful in the past, and answering prayers. When I come back to God, I can trust Him to take care of me. I know that I am safe in His hands. I remember that He loves me, even when it seems others don’t. I remember that He has a future for me.

        I can go to the Psalms in the Bible and receive encouragement there, that begins to open up the possibility of Joy again.

        Psalm 62:8

        O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

        Psalm 46:1

        God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

        Psalm 2: 12

        What joy for all who take refuge in him!

        Psalm 4:7

        You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.

        Psalm 28:7

        The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

        Our joy can be affected by our circumstances. Sometimes we can change them, and then we should. Sometimes we can’t. I would encourage you to turn to God. Turn to the Bible. Read the psalms. And ask God to give you new Joy.

        As you make commitments for personal growth this year, I encourage you to choose to develop more joy.

        Keep looking up,

        Andy Wiebe