Confessions of a Pastor: Possibly the dumbest ad I’ve ever seen.
Gmail provides the “service” of offering customized ads geared toward one’s particular fields of interest. Basically, their servers pick up on keywords in your email and then select advertisements that match those words. So, I frequently get political ads, ads from Forbes.com, mac-related site links, discount travel offers, etc. Today, however, I saw the dumbest ad I’ve ever encountered. Here’s a screen shot:
In case you can’t see the image, I’ll describe it. A link says “Pastoral Studies Online – www.eLearners.com/Pastor – Become a Pastor From Home. Get Free Info Today!”
Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? Become… a pastor… at home?
Look, I believe you can learn a lot of stuff online. Learn a lot of good biblical theology, church history, even language studies. But I’m quite convinced that no one becomes a pastor from home.
I’m by no means a top-notch pastor. I’m a better teacher / preacher than pastor (not that the two are opposed, but by “pastor” here I am thinking more about the practical care and shepherding of church members than biblical teaching and instruction). But I am working on it. I want to be a good pastor. And I am certain that I won’t become a pastor from home.
In my limited experience of six years, I’ve found that one learns to be a pastor in emergency rooms, funeral homes, and the post office. I’ve had several pastoral lessons around dinner tables, on back porches, and the hallways at church. A few instructive experiences consisted of phone calls, usually waking me up from a dead sleep. I learned to pastor one time in a courthouse, and another couple of times during post-hurricane recovery efforts.
It wouldn’t be fair to say that none of my pastoral training has come from home. I’ve had some really good periods of prayer for my church family at home, and that is part of pastoring.
Anyway, to any of you readers who aspire to be pastors, let me give you this word of wisdom: If the link above appeals to you and you think it’d be great to “become a pastor from your home,” do us all a favor and pick a different vocation.
This didn’t roll to my google Reader, so I missed it. Good post, Jake. You are a good pastor and you are constantly growing as a pastor and as a preacher. God is gracious to be patient with us all as our church grows together. I’m thankful that we have you to watch over our congregation.