“Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people” – Mark 6:7
I was in the produce section of Wal-Mart the other day when I saw Pastor Charles from another church in town. As is our custom when we run into one another, we stood there talking about God, church, Scriptures and life. We can’t seem to find the time to have a lunch together, but we have the time to share and encourage one another for half an hour while we lean up against the banana display. Weird.
While we were talking about teaching the Scriptures, Pastor Charles reminded me of the scene in Mark where Jesus couldn’t do many miracles in Nazareth, His home town, because the people there lacked faith. Mark 6:6 says, “And he was amazed at their unbelief.”
I know how Jesus felt. And so does Pastor Charles. We spend so much of our time as pastors soothing the saints and reassuring the redeemed we are the first to be amazed when people still doubt God and His Word and make the life of the church fifteenth on their list of important places to get involved in. We listen to people claim to love God’s Word but fail to show up consistently to Bible studies when they are offered. We hear people claim that their life is not their own because Jesus is their Lord, and then they complain when life isn’t going their way all the time. It is about this time in the life of a pastor when we wonder if we are doing anybody any good. Continue Reading