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As a pastor you will meet a lot of different people throughout the course of your ministry. I have met fighter pilots, professional athletes, contractors, school teachers, stay-at-home moms, accountants, politicians, musicians, children, students, and the like. Some of these people have had more interesting lives and vocations than others. I can remember talking with one person who was involved in business and politics. He played football for a top southern university under a famous coach, played professional football in the NFL, and served as an Army Ranger in Vietnam. He told me that after a brutal firefight he and other soldiers were assessing the battle and one of his friends quipped, “I bet you wish you were back at school playing football rather than being here!” This person responded, “No way! You’ve never been through a summer football camp with that coach—he was brutal—this is easy compared to that!” I find such stories and observations fascinating. But one of the pitfalls in all of this is that you naturally gravitate towards the interesting and move away from the mundane. Who wants to hear a story about a plumber fixing a toilet when you can hear about how someone accidentally blew up a whale (true story!).
As a pastor you need to ensure that you show interest in the lives of all of your church members. You can certainly show interest by asking people about their vocations and the unique events in their lives, but sometimes you might have to explore someone’s interests and hobbies to find a point of contact. Once you find that point of contact, you can then get to know a person better and show genuine interest in their lives. In all honesty, you will undoubtedly sit through some conversations that are boring. People can and will prattle on about some of the least interesting things. But during those times I try to remember two things: (1) how often do I prattle on with the Lord in my prayers about things that, in all reality, are not all that important. Yet, our heavenly Father cares about the smallest of our concerns; (2) the Lord Jesus knows each and every one of us by name—he knows us intimately—as a pastor, shouldn’t we model these characteristics? Shouldn’t we show interest and concern for our sheep? Shouldn’t we know them very well?
These days our culture seems to be wrapped up in themselves—“Let’s talk about me.” Buck the trend and express interest in others. Whether you’re a pastor or someone in the pew, get to know the people around you and build stronger bonds within the body of Christ.
