I am normal

I don't tell people that I am a pastor.  Many people have no idea what to do with that knowledge and they start to act weird when they find out.  I love it when members introduce me as "their friend, Jeff."  I love it when months or years later, a person finds out that I am a pastor....... They got the chance to know me as a person, without the trappings of being a minister.  When I am introduced as someones pastor, I always follow up with, "but I am normal."

I am normal.  What does that mean?  It means that many people have a preconceived notion that pastors are going to guilt them or pressure them or act holier than thou.  I refuse to do these things.  I don't wear the ministry garb, I won't guilt you and I am certainly not holier than anyone else.

We are all on this journey together.  We are all the same.  Pastors are people too.  They are all normal, whether they know it or not.

Thanks for keeping me around to be your pastor, and thanks for allowing me to be normal.

It's a beautiful normal day in God's world, be sure to see the good.