Downward Mobility

I came to Christianity later than most, and there are some things that I’ve just never understood. One is why God always seems to call pastors to bigger, more thriving churches. Basically every time I heard of a pastor leaving a church, it was to go to a bigger church. Kind of like a sports coach working his way up from High School, to College, to the Pros.

But it didn’t make sense to me. Why would God do that? If I were God I think most of the time I’d call pastors who had proven themselves to struggling churches, or to start new churches. That way they could get something thriving, rather than just continue with something that already is.

Okay, I’ll be honest. I think in many of those cases, God hasn’t called the pastor to the bigger church, the pastor just wanted to go to the bigger church.

So I’ve thought that, and talked about it quite a bit. Then last month when I was clearing out my nice spacious office at Forefront with the big desk and the table, and this month when I was setting up my new office for Verve … in my garage, I realized, “Wow, be careful what you think and talk about!”

And I wonder if maybe the reason God called me to take what seems to be a big step down is because I thought and talked about that. Maybe it was because he knew I’d do it, or so my actions would match my words.

I don’t know, but is there something that bothers you about how things are? And how could your life become a living example of the way you think things should be?