Mike Edmisten Follower of Jesus. Husband of Nicki. Father of Ryan & Brock. Communicator of the Word.

The Prize or The Paycheck?

One of the things I try to do on my blog is to give ACCers (and anyone else who may visit) a little insight into my life. We're all doing life together in our church family, and as your pastor, I want you to know me. I want you to know what's happening in my life.

The life of a pastor is interesting. There are some great parts of my job. And there are some downright dangerous parts of my job. I've become more keenly aware of one of these danger points recently. As a pastor, it is very easy for my faith to become my job. It's easy to just become a professional Christian. My faith and my job are so intertwined that sometimes it becomes almost impossible to differentiate which is which. And this is a dangerous spot for me to be in.

Mark Driscoll said that ministry has to be the fourth priority of the pastor. Not the first, the second, or even the third. The order of priorities in a pastor's life looks like this:

1 – Jesus
2 – Husband
3 – Father
4 – Ministry

The problem is that priority #1 and priority #4 tend to go together so much that they become one and the same. As a pastor, it's easy to start believing that I get paid to pray. I start to read my Bible only when I'm prepping a sermon. The other books I read are all about the profession of pastoring. My faith becomes my job.

But wait a minute…what if the day comes when I'm not a pastor anymore? What happens then? What would happen if I got my paycheck from someplace other than a church? Would I even know how to be a Christian outside of vocational ministry?

I'm really wrestling with these issues in my life right now. The problem stems from the fact that I'm passionate about what I do. I'm passionate about ministry. I'm passionate about people coming to Jesus. I'm passionate about preaching God's Word. But in my passion for ministry, I cannot lose my passion for Jesus.

On a comforting note, I know that I'm not the first person to ever struggle with this. In fact, even the Apostle Paul had this struggle. In 1 Corinthians 9, he wrote:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, NIV, bold mine)

It is possible to get so focused on ministry, to be so passionate about preaching the gospel, that after the pastor has "preached to others," he himself will be "disqualified for the prize."

I don't want that to be me. I want to win the prize myself. The prize is not a bigger church. The prize is not preaching better sermons. The prize is eternal life. The prize is Jesus.

I want to be a faithful pastor, but I want to be a faithful Christ-follower first. I want to be faithful to my family before I am faithful to ministry. I want to pray because I'm hungry for God, not because it's what a pastor is supposed to do. I want to read the Bible because it is God's love letter to me, not because I have to preach on Sunday.

I want to win the prize…not just earn a paycheck.