I found out last week I am losing a staff member. We have a wonderful staff at our church and we have been very fortunate to have a low turnover rate. This particular staff member is a tough one for me to lose. He is the one I worked most closely with so he has become a good friend as well. Dave is leaving to go and serve at a church in Austin, Texas. I think as a pastor I tend to be particularly sensitive to voluntary leaving. In our area it is not uncommon for someone to be transferred to another area. As a pastor and shepherd it always makes me grieve some when anyone leaves. But sometimes people simply leave the church. They aren't transferred, they simply decide to leave the church and go to another church or no where at all. That is a different kind of grieving because as a pastor there is a distinct feeling of rejection that comes with the grief and many times overshadows it. So in that case I grieve not for them but for myself. So, that is what I have been feeling with Dave. There is a profound self-centeredness in me and it comes out at the most inopportune times. I want God to just leave me alone in my own little pity party but he won't. It is times like these that God loves me too much to just leave me in my room. He calls me to himself and asks me what is wrong. As I tell him he looks at me until I finally look back. I think of the song that says, "His face is all I see." It is all I ever need to see. God calls to us in virtually every way. He calls to us through the laughter of life, through the beauty of his world, in the tears of grief, even in the moments of complete self-absorption. So, whatever is going on in your life right now, listen for the voice and follow that voice to the face because his face is all you need. It is all you have ever needed. And that is the gospel truth.
Join in realizing the vision of Christ Community Chapel with Senior Pastor Joe Coffey
5 comments:
I'm going to miss Dave too. Amazing how feelings of rejection pop up out of nowhere when we think we should be beyond that. We had a next door neighbor move over the winter and we didn't even realize it until we got a Christmas card...they sold their home privately so we had no clue they were leaving...just figured they'd been out of town a lot. It's a weird sense of loss and thoughts of "what ifs"...We wish God's very best for Dave and his family...and will trust Him to get us past our pity parties.
"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see."
— Corrie ten Boom
And every person we meet -- or must say goodbye too -- is an opportunity for my further conversion.
You should be proud, Joe. You took in a bird with great potential but wounded wings. You cared nutured and cared for him until he could realize his potential and fly as he was destined to do. Now he his flying as one of yours. Glory to God and his faithfulness in using us in unimagined ways! Thank you for listening to God in his coming and his going.
I just wanted to say that I am so thankful to hear your honest vulnarabilty. It is very comforting to know that even pastors have moments where they try to push God away because we just want to be left alone because we are hurt and angry. Thank you.
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