White Water Rafting and the Pastorate

I remember reading, long ago, a book on being a good father. One of the illustrations that the author used was white water rafting. He explained that to succeed at white water rafting – by which I think he meant being able to stay in the raft – it’s important to watch further down the river. If you notice rocks and the like when they are close, you will not be able to avoid them. But if you see them at a distance you can act wisely and avoid trouble. Anticipate the future. He applied this illustration to being a good father. It also helps me to understand something of what it means to be a pastor. A good pastor is watching ‘further down the river’ to anticipate what the people of his church will encounter. That applies to the church as a group as well as to individual families. And because of what he sees, he speaks to the church, telling them to paddle harder on the right to avoid the upcoming obstacle. He is able to do this, to some extent, because of training, but more because God has gifted him in certain ways, and because of what the Spirit has already taught him. Gifting and experience. So, he sees what’s coming and sooner than the rest of the people in his church. As a result he speaks words of warning and instruction. But what happens if they don’t hear what he is saying? What if, for whatever reason, they don’t heed his instruction and advice? If the pastorate is a matter of one man building his own little kingdom then the pastor gets angry. ‘These people aren’t following my plan!’ Been there, done that. But if there is a true love for the people, then there is a bit of frustration and a lot of concern. When a raft hits one of those rocks, and that with some speed, bad things happen; ‘bad’ as in ‘Ouch, that hurt’, or ‘bad’ as in fatal. Sometimes it happens just to the one family and sometimes it happens to the whole church. So, the pastor is shouting, ‘Paddle harder on the right! No, on the right!!’ He wonders if they will hear in time and fears that they won’t.

The only hope for pastors is that Jesus is in complete control and He exerts that control with a deep love for the saints, individually and as a church. Without that it makes no sense to be a pastor. Unless you just want to build your own little kingdom.