Longing For People

Not that long ago, our church spent some time working through Paul's letter to the church in Philippi. He opens that letter saying, 

"It is right for me to feel this way about all of you since I have you in my heart.... God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:7-8).

Never have I resonated with those words more than I have these last six weeks. 

Most pastors I know go into pastoral ministry because they genuinely care for and desire to help people. But because we're always connected, plugged in, and just one click away from everyone else in the world, it's easy to take for granted the people we are called to lead and love. 

And because it's easy to take our people for granted, we can easily get caught up in the busyness of ministry. There's another meeting I need to attend or lead, a program to start and run, a dozen emails to return. And those things are important because the people we are called to lead are associated with those things. Still, it's easy to treat them as though they are tasks to accomplish and boxes to check off on a list rather than opportunities to guide those under our care.  

One thing I'm learning again in this season is that the call to ministry is a call to people rooted in a community.  

This isn't true only for pastors, but for everyone. We are called to each other. It's part of what it means to be human and made in the image of God. We all have the responsibility to care for those in our neighborhood, church, school, workplace, etc.  

There's the old saying, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” That certainly has been true for me in this season. I hope it has been for you too. And when we can gather again, I hope that it causes us to be more patient, compassionate, and appreciative of those around us.