The President and the Pastor
10.26.09
Today I was reflecting on the difficulties of being
President and thinking about similarities of the position to
that of a pastor. Right now the biggest domestic issue
that faces the President is the issue of health care.
He can approach the task in a couple of ways. He can
decide that first and foremost he is a leader. As a
leader it is his job to get what he feels is the best health
care plan for the American people regardless of what the
opposition may feel. As a leader he must stick to his
principles and do what is best. Or the president may
decide that his main job is to serve the American people and
because of this he should try to find a health care plan
that pleases the most people possible.
Likewise the pastor has many different roles and
often it depends on the perspective of the people in the
pews if the pastor is effective. Should the pastor
be a leader who casts vision and takes the church where
he believes God has directed them. Or is the main
role of a pastor a caregiver who visits and takes care
of the sick. Or possibly the pastor is expected
first and foremost to be a preacher and act like a
prophet of old who boldly proclaims the Word of God and
calls the people to repent. A pastor is expected to do
all of these duties from time to time but each pastor is
different and will view their job with their own priorities
according to the way they are gifted. This can cause
problems when the expectations of the church is not the same as
the expectations of the pastor. The same is true of President
Obama. Most democrats desire for him to lead because it
means pushing an agenda that they are behind. But even
among democrats the President has already shown that he won't
toe the party line just to keep them happy. He has sought
consensus with republicans, including on the issue of health
care. Of course politics always come into play as
republicans will say that he does not seek their opinion often
enough and democrats will state that he looks to appease them
too often. We need to pray for our President as he makes
important decisions every day. We won't always agree with
his decisions but there is no denying that he has a difficult
job for him. |
