Monday Morning Pastor

There are times when it seems like Jeff and I share a brain. Like we're twins, only separated by 23 years. Like we're so completely on the same page and our thinking is totally in sync.

And then there's sports.

I love sports. Huge Cubs fan. Love the NBA finals. Can't get enough March Madness. But above all else, I love football.

Jeff? He couldn't care less.

"Monday Morning Quarterbacking" is an expression (for those who don't live in SEC country) that describes the act of critiquing and second guessing every mistake and misstep that a quarterback--or team as a whole--made the previous day during their game. The idea is that hindsight is 20/20, and everybody can see the right way to do things after something has been done the wrong way.

How often do we Monday Morning Pastor ourselves? Did you wake up today running back the part of your message that didn't work? Or worse, did you start your day with a critique of how your volunteers led their ministries yesterday? Your music director? Heck, maybe you even Monday Morning Pastor your spouse about the way they treated you before you walked out the door!

If I start to think about it, I can Monday Morning Pastor (lets just call it MMP) myself crazy. Did I give our guest missionary a proper introduction? Did I get a little too glib during my announcements? Did I offend someone with some random offhand comment? SHOULD I JUST PACK UP MY OFFICE NOW BECAUSE I KNOW THE ELDERS ARE CALLING THE MOVING TRUCK??!

Okay. Just breathe.

We're not perfect people. You're not a perfect pastor. I'm DEFINITELY not a perfect pastor. But that's the point.

When God called you to ministry, He didn't call you because you were perfect and polished and pressed. He didn't call you because you never flub your words or because you couldn't offend someone if you tried. He called you because you're real. Because you're a real live person who can interact and impact other real live people.

We're called to be authentic. We're called to be real. We're called to stand up and share the love of Christ with people. And we'll mess up sometimes. God knows I've offended too many people to count. But it's okay. Because it's only by the grace of God we're called, and it is only by the grace of God that we can have significant Kingdom impact.

Don't MMP yourself this morning. Instead, give yesterday to God and move forward with a new week, and new opportunities to impact people with God's love. God doesn't measure us according to some rigid quarterback efficiency metrics, so we shouldn't measure ourselves that way either. Live in grace this week and extend that grace to others.