Baptized!

Yesterday, our eleven year old son was baptized, along with seven others at our church.  We were excited to see him go into the waters of baptism, as would any parent.  Our church was in a festive mood as we celebrated the broadening of God's kingdom.  Blessings, son.

Do You Know Your Pastor's Faults?

Here's an odd question: do you know your pastor's faults?  By this question, I mean to ask if you know your pastor's everyday personality flaws, even if minor.  Not necessarily the kind of faults that would disqualify one form being a pastor, just faults and flaws that all of us share to one degree or another.

Do you know what riles your pastor up?  Do you know which buttons to push to get a rise out of your pastor?  What are the hot topics, the points of theology that cause him to flinch, the political ideas that run cross grain?  Do you know what issues he keeps pressing?  What are his hobby horses?  Where does he fail in communication, organization or ability to lead?  Is he less than perfect in how he treats his wife and children?  Okay, I could go on here, but I hope you could supply your own extended list.

In short, what I'm getting at is this: Is your pastor human? Or is he a spiritual robot?

If he is human, and you are able to get to know him well enough to know his flaws, then he's probably got a good chance of being a decent pastor.  Is he perfect, never showing the slightest instability?  Does he have all the answers?  Is he always right? Does he refrain from showing his human side?  Do others praise him in ways that go beyond the realistic?  Does he relate to people in ways that they can't easily learn his flaws?  Is he the center of attention at your church?  Then you should probably run for the hills.  Greater flaws lie beneath the surface.