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6 Ways Leaders Sell Jesus (and Their Calling) Short

We Want Comfort.

About a year ago, I was in the process of trying to recruit a student pastor for our church. I pastor just north of Denver, Colorado, but being from Kentucky most of my connections are in that part of the country. So initially, most of the candidates I pursued where from there as well.

Our church reaches out to many unchurched individuals, and after sharing this with the candidates I spoke with, each of them claimed that that was how God had wired them, with a passion for the nonbeliever. Yet, I was shocked when I couldn’t convince these youth pastors from Kentucky (a highly saturated church culture) to consider coming to Colorado (one of the least churched states in the country). 

It’s not that Kentucky doesn’t need youth ministers; I just felt a slight contradiction in some of these particular candidates’ callings. Then it dawned on me: I was asking them to leave home, to move across the country. 

My cynical side couldn’t help but think about the irony in saying to Jesus, “I’m all yours. Where you lead me, I will follow. I want to be at the center of your will … as long as it’s within an hour’s drive of my wife’s parents.”

One of my good friends was recently commenting on how many of those he went to Bible college with, mostly students who pursued degrees in missions, ended up staying put right there in that little college town because the cost of living was so low. They never pursued the mission field, opting instead for reasonable milk prices. 

I know it sounds as though I’m being judgmental, but truth is, I’m as guilty of this as anyone.