When Harry Truman was thrust into the presidency at the death of F.D.R., Sam
Rayburn gave him some fatherly advice; "From here on out you're going to have
lots of people around you. They'll try to put a wall around you and cut you ff
from any ideas but theirs. They'll tell you what a great man you are, Harry. But
you and I both know you ain't."
When I read that I thought of the importance of having a friend who knows "you
ain't"
Such is true in the pastoral office as well. We are tempted to think that we are
really important, and that even when we sin, we are still "holy by ordination."
We are surrounded by people who tell us that we are "so wonderful and so Godly"
when we know that we aren't The value of our support group is revealed in that
we know that there are several humans who don't take us so seriously, and know
that we might be able to fool our churches, but we can't fool them.
So, when someone says . . . "My, how wonderful you are!" The other three of us
know "you ain't." And also . . . When someone says . . .
"My, what a poor excuse for a pastor you are!" The other three of us also know
that "you ain't"
You are a person
You are a human
You are a sinner
You are a struggler
You are a minister
You are someone for whom Christ died . . . . And that makes you very special.
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please
authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances
dictate.
Thanks to WITandWISDOM(tm) - May 24, 2000
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